To date, 118 chemical elements have been found. Professor Mario Markus, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology, Dortmund, Germany, takes a look at each element, presenting a poem based on its natural properties along with a scientific overview of each element.

All 118 poems – as well as some poems about elements that only exist in theoretical simulations – are published in the book Chemical Poems: One On Each Element by Mario Markus. ChemViews Magazine publishes a selection of these poems.

 

Uus		Ununseptium
When the book was written, this element had not yet been discovered. Attempts to view it were being made through astronomical observations of supernovas, i.e., exploding stars. However, during a revision of the manuscript of the book, it became known that eka-astatine was detected in Dubna, Russia, by shooting calcium at berkelium for 150 days. Five atoms, having a half-life of 14 milliseconds, and one atom with a half-life of 78 milliseconds were registered. This finding is still awaiting confirmation by other groups and a study of the properties of the element.		I At this very moment there is Eka-Astatine in a distant star. A glance at the table suggests its family resemblance: it’s Astatine’s brother, Bismuth’s uncle, Uup’s father. One hundred seventeen is, however, so large that the family means nothing. And thus the bastard breaks even the bond between him and what we guess. We can only say: There is Eka-Astatine in a star somewhere. The star, however, has not been seen.                 II The phone just rang. It was my proofreader: one hundred seventeen was sighted last week. In a star? No, down by the river, the Volga. Indeed, even poems die.

 

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Professor Mario Markus, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology, Dortmund, Germany.
www.mariomarkus.com

 

Chemical Poems – One On Each Element,

Mario Markus,
Dos Madres Press 2013.

ISBN: 978-1-933675-98-5

Perfectbound, 308 pages, English, $30

 

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Interview with Mario Markus:   Poetry and Chemistry,
ChemistryViews 2013.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chemv.201300010

The poems have also been published in German in:

• Chemische Gedichte,
  Mario Markus,
  Shaker Media, Herzogenrath, Germany, 2011.
  ISBN: 978-3868587012

 

See all poems published so far by ChemViews Magazine.