1735

Cobalt

• Egypt, Persia, Pompeii,
• and the Tang and Ming dynasties in China
• had blue glass, glasses, and ceramics
• but hadn’t isolated the metal
• whose compounds gave them the blue.
• Georg Brandt, warden
• of the Royal Mint of Sweden, showed
• cobolt was a metal
• and the blue color in glass
• was from cobalt not bismuth.

Atomic number 27

• Miners called it “goblin stuff” because
• the ore always contained arsenic and was useless.
• Try to smelt it, you get toxic fumes of arsenic oxide
• and cobalt oxide, a useless powder instead of metal.
• *
• Superalloys of cobalt with nickel, tungsten, chromium, titanium
• make turbine blades and knee replacements.
• The cathodes of lithium-ion batteries contain cobalt,
• nickel-cadmium, nickel metal hydride batteries also contain cobalt.
• Blend with aluminum for cobalt blue, with zinc for cobalt green,
• with tin for cerulean blue, with phosphate for cobalt violet.

Stuff that jinxes

• It’s not that you couldn’t
• but that you won’t try.
• It’s all in your head,
• if you think they’re out to get you.
• It’s useless or harmless,
• as far as you know, but what
• do you know? Answers
• won’t come until it’s too late.
• They say that what you
• don’t know won’t hurt you,
• but what about the witches
• stirring their pot in the woods?
• Don’t speak of the devil,
• though now it’s been done.
• Hear him knocking in the dark.
• Cross your heart and knock on wood.
• You can’t tell he’s not here.
• You just can’t see him—
• a little green man dressed in rags
• and making things go awry.