Welcome to The book of science. Come here each week to find poetry and commentary on another milestone of the history of science.

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This week (starting 25 April 2026)

Aluminum: atomic number: 13; weight: 26.9815385; Post-transition metal; discovery: 1825,1827—Hans Christian Ørsted, Friedrich Wöhler.

1825, 1827

Aluminium Atomic number 13 History of the name Commentary

Copenhagen, Berlin—Hans Christian Ørsted, Friedrich Wöhler elements

Recently

1823	Liquefaction of gases Processes Liquefaction of water Commentary	Michael Faraday physics
1823	Silicon Atomic number 14 Not a metal Metalloid Commentary	Stockholm—Jöns Jacob Berzelius elements
1822	Difference engine Non-fiction Weaving Commentary	Charles Babbage computer science
1822	Deciphering hieroglyphics Cartouche Living systems Commentary	Jean François Champollion linguistics
1821, 1834	Thermoelectric effect Thermocouple and thermopile Not by accident Commentary	Thomas Johann Seebeck, Hans Christian Ørsted electromagnetism
1821	Electric conductivity The electrical researches of the Honourable Henry Cavendish Electric fluid Commentary	Humphry Davy, Henry Cavendish electromagnetism
1820	Electromagnetism Secret agent Penetrations Commentary	Hans Christian Øersted, André-Marie Ampère, Michael Faraday electromagnetism

Parts of this book

You may jump to some parts of The book of science directly by selecting menu items:

• About, more about this book
• Contents, a table of milestones in the history of science, arranged chronologically
• Elements, tables for the chemical elements
  • Periodic table of the elements
  • Index of elements by year of discovery
  • Index of elements by atomic number
• Scientists, index of scientists, by last name
• Sciences, index of sciences
• Eponymous, index of milestones named after scientists
• Keywords, index of keywords in poems and titles
• Search, where you can search the book by word or phrase

Related works

You may read subsets of The book of science as separate volumes. These generally contain only the last poem on each milestone from the full book:

• Elements of elements of science
• The booklet of science

This web site also includes other works by Tom Sharp and work by other poets.