Elements
Glenn Seaborg told his students that he proposed the chemical symbol Pu (from P.U.) instead of the conventional "Pl" for plutonium as a joke, only to find it officially adopted. Unununium (Uuu) was the former temporary name of the chemical element number 111, a synthetic transuranium element. This element was named roentgenium (Rg) in November 2004.
Read more about this topic: List Of Chemical Compounds With Unusual Names
Famous quotes containing the word elements:
“The three great elements of modern civilization, gunpowder, printing, and the Protestant religion.”
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)
“There surely is a being who presides over the universe; and who, with infinite wisdom and power, has reduced the jarring elements into just order and proportion. Let speculative reasoners dispute, how far this beneficent being extends his care, and whether he prolongs our existence beyond the grave, in order to bestow on virtue its just reward, and render it fully triumphant.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)