1923: Hafnium - The book of science

Hafnium
Atomic number 72
Very bad science
Commentary

Copenhagen—Dirk Coster, Georg von Hevesy elements

Hafnium

Dmitri Mendeleev predicted
a heavier analog of titanium and zirconium.
Henry Moseley predicted
an element between 71 and 73.
Georg Urbain said he found it and named it celtium,
but his work didn’t satisfy
either chemists or physicists.
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadskij
and Konstantin Avtonomovich Nenadkevich
probably found it but wars intervened
before they published their report.
Niels Bohr, Charles R. Bury, and others
said it should resemble zirconium.
So Dirk Coster and Georg von Hevesy in Copenhagen
found it in zirconium ores from Norway
using X-ray spectroscopic analysis
and named it after the Latin for Copenhagen.

Atomic number 72

Most hafnium is used in control rods
for nuclear power plants.
Small amounts are used as gate insulators
in integrated circuits,
as oxygen and nitrogen scavengers
in fluorescent and incandescent lamps,
and to strengthen protective oxide layers
of nickel-based alloys.

Very bad science

Very bad science shows
hafnium-178m2 is more dangerous than TNT.
It shows hafnium could be used
to trigger nuclear bombs.
It shows that hafnium can increase the expense
of plasma cutting tools for the garage mechanic,
and provide cathode-ray guns for the masses
that exceed the destructive potential
of automobiles and the second amendment combined.

Rhenium and hafnium were the last two stable elements to be discovered. It might be that we have not yet invented the best uses for these exotic elements.