1861-1862 Thallium
The book of science
Tom Sharp
| London, Lille—William Crookes, Claude-Auguste Lamy elements |
Thallium
- Separately, William Crookes
- and Claude-Auguste Lamy
- read that Bunsen and Kirchhoff
- discovered caesium and rubidium
- using flame spectroscopy—
- and took inspiration
- from Berzelius and Gahn
- by examining residues
- from lead chambers
- used for sulfuric acid production.
Atomic number 81
- Although it’s odorless and tasteless,
- thallium is extremely toxic
- and thought to be carcinogenic.
- It’s absorbed easily through skin,
- or by breathing or swallowing it.
My thallium
- I think I might
- have something wrong
- with my thallium.
- When it comes
- to how I feel,
- a doctor can’t
- tell me anything.
-
Sharpgiving
| Books by Tom Sharp
| Copyright © 2009, 2022 Tom Sharp
|
-
|
|
|
![[Valid RSS]](../images/valid-rss-rogers.png "Validate 'The elements of science' RSS feed")
Thallium became the third element discovered by flame spectroscopy and the third element named after the color of its spectral lines. Based on its bright green spectral lines, William Crookes named it thallos, Latin for “green shoot.”
See also in The book of science:
Readings on wikipedia:
Other readings: