I think David is mixing up Kekule's dream about Benzene with Dimitri Mendeleev's dream about the Periodic Table!
[with apologies to non-UK members]
I watched the beginnning of tonight's BBC4 programme on the story of
the elements with complete incredulity - "I'm a physicist, but I've relied
on chemists for so many years to underpin my work that I can now tell
you authoritatively about the history of chemistry" [or something similar -
perhaps the dropping jaw affected my hearing?]
Are there really no shaven-headed chemists who can wave their hands
around and sound convincing on camera? Or are they just too honest,
embarrassed or otherwise self-conscious to rabbit on about chemistry
and satisfy television producers' needs?
David
PS: Next time it seems we're promised "the dream which brought us the
periodic table" (I think - though it may of course have been just the
structure of benzene and an example of snakes without ladders . . .)
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