1000 BCE: Zinc - The book of science

Zinc
Atomic number 30
Anhedonia
Commentary

Zinc

Zinc is found as a copper alloy
in Judea.
Mines in Rajasthan provided
zinc ores.
Conventional smelting didn’t work
for zinc
because the metal instantly oxidizes.
Distillation
of pure zinc was developed
in Rajasthan
by the twelfth century and described
by Nagarjuna,
the metallurgist and alchemist.

Atomic number 30

Zinc is a hard and brittle metal
that burns with a bluish-green flame.
Exposed to air,
it forms a protective layer
of zinc carbonate.
*
European chemists
didn’t produce pure zinc
until the 1700s.
Alessandro Volta used plates
of zinc and copper
to make the first battery in 1799.
*
Zinc is essential for living organisms.
Its deficiency results in diarrhea,
skin problems, depression, stunted growth,
and increased cases of pneumonia and malaria.
Zinc in the diet increases one’s ability
to experience happiness and pleasure.
*
Zinc carbonate and zinc gluconate
are dietary supplements.
Zinc chloride is a deodorant.
Zinc sulfide is a white pigment
but mixed with silver luminesces blue,
mixed with manganese orange-red,
and with copper glow-in-the-dark green.

Anhedonia

In the land of Anhedonia
people are depressed.
The world is sad and dreary;
everyone is weary.
In the land of Anhedonia
there’s a scarcity of zinc.
There’s nothing to do
and pleasures are few.
In the land of Anhedonia
it’s pretty hard to think.
From despair that nothing lessens
we never learn our lessons.

A lack of hedonic tone is a symptom of zinc deficiency, as well as a variety of physical problems—thining hair, mouth sores, impaired immune function, and so forth. Consider zinc for yourself or your friends who would otherwise suffer or go to a doctor for antidepressants.