Category Archives: Chemistry

What did Carl Sagan mean when he said this?

Posted on September 1, 2014 | Leave a comment

This is one of astronomer Carl Sagan‘s most famous quotes: “We’re made of star stuff” (and one of my favorites, too).

The Periodic Table (in order nonetheless!)

Posted on September 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

This ASAP Science video on the periodic table is a thing of beauty, joining the Tom Lehrer Elements song, illustrated using Google, and Lehrer’s song as sung by Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), as top nerd entertainment on this website.

(And the song is available on iTunes, too!)

Harry Potter sings The Elements song

Posted on December 27, 2010 | Leave a comment

I know that The Elements Song by Tom Lehrer was a big hit with some of you. What’s even better? How about Daniel Radcliff, of Harry Potter movie fame, singing his way through the periodic table?

The elements on Google

Posted on September 23, 2010 | 1 comment

Tom Lehrer is a singer-songwriter and mathematician who became well-known in the 1950s and 60s for writing off-the-wall smart songs. This little animation uses one of his well-known songs in which he sings the names of the elements on the periodic table. The tune is the “Major-General’s Song” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s light opera, Pirates of Penzance. Screen shots from Google illustrate the song, making it fun to watch, and at the same time, showing how useful Google is as a research tool.