Indium - The book of science

Indium
Atomic number 49
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Commentary

Freiberg—Ferdinand Reich, Hieronymous Theodor Richter elements

Indium

It had become routine
to examine minerals
with a flame emission spectroscope.
At the Freiberg University
of Mining and Technology,
Ferdinand Reich and Hieronymous Theodor Richter
dissolved zinc ores
and looked for the green lines of thallium
but found an indigo line from an unknown element,
which they named after its color
in the spectroscope—from the Latin
indicum, for the Indian dye.

Atomic number 49

Indium has a low melting point.
Indium isn’t toxic.
Indium isn’t nutricious.
Indium tin oxide is in LCD screens.
Indium is in superconductors.
Indium can wet glass.
Indium cries when bent.

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Reich was color blind;
he relied on Richter
to read spectrums.
One man played the harp beautifully;
another listened well.
After his friend died,
the harp player cut his strings
and would not play again.

Isaac Newton identified indigo as the color between blue and violet, one of the seven colors in the spectrum and related to the seven notes of the major scale.

See also in The book of science:

1869—Periodic table—Dmitri Mendeleev

Readings on wikipedia:

“Ferdinand Reich”
“Hieronymous Theodor Richter”
“Indium”
“Indigo”
“Tin cry”
“Timeline of chemical element discoveries”

Other readings:

“Indium,” Elementymology & Elements Multidict, by Peter van der Krogt
“Mineral Species containing Indium (In),” Mineralogy Database, David Barthelmy