Disappearing Spoon Essay

Anyone who takes even a brief glance at the periodic table can see that it's massive. One hundred and twelve elements currently make up the table and there are others still to be approved. It's no wonder that this substantial structure tells the story of Earth and those who live on it. The periodic table of elements covers more than just chemistry. It expands to include history, alchemy, mythology, literature, and psychology, among others. The foundations of the table, the elements, have stories of their own. These stories range from the time of the big bang and will continue to the end of time. I will discuss the story of three specific elements: iodine, lithium, and mercury.

Iodine, a halogen, sits at atomic number fifty-three in the periodic table. Its name comes from the Greek word, "iodes", meaning violet. It is a bluish-black solid. It was discovered by Bernard Courtois in 1811. It is an element that has proven to be quite valuable. Iodine has been used to treat water in some countries, used as an antiseptic before surgeries, used in photography, as a supplement to animal feed, and a starch indicator, among other uses. Although it can be harmful in small amounts, it is crucial to our diets in trace amounts. Iodine deficiency is a worldwide problem, affecting about two billion people. Because of the importance of iodine in our nutrition, we have iodized salt. Iodine deficiency can lead to mental retardation, birth defects, and thyroid gland problems.

Iodine's history includes a well-known figure, a symbol of peace, Mahatma Gandhi. It is thought that Gandhi despised iodine. What could be the reason for this hatred? Salt is easy to produce and isn't expensive so a poor country like India could afford to make and sell salt. At this time, India was occupied by the British. The British taxed the production of salt at 8.2 percent. This outraged Gandhi and the people of India. The tax encouraged Gandhi to lead the people of India in the Salt March to Dandi. Gandhi urged his followers to make illegal, untaxed salt. This salt contained very little iodine. Western countries started to add iodine to their salt after discovering the result of iodine deficiency. Some countries began to mandate that all salt be iodized. They pressed the Indian people to iodize their salt. The people of India were hesitant about iodizing their salt because it brought a sense of colonization. They did not trust Western science. However, India began to recognize the benefits of adding iodine to their salt and non-iodized salt was banned in many parts of India. Although the ban did improve the amount of iodized salt, there are still half a billion people in India who don't have access to iodized salt. Elements may be small, but they have a huge influence on our lives. A deficiency in iodine can make someone go from sane to insane and excess iodine can poison a person.

While a lack of iodine can cause a person to become mad, lithium can cure a person of madness. It did exactly that for the poet, Robert Lowell. Lowell's madness amused the public. They loved to hear about the thing he had done. He became a leading poet. He won prizes and sold thousands of books. However, his madness also caused him to become increasingly poor. He was involved in many fights, he drank a lot, and his life was filled with divorces. At that time lithium was new to the United States as a stabilizer. Unhappy with where his life was headed, Lowell agreed to try lithium. Lithium works by stopping the next incident from happening. Lithium affects a person's mood and it seems to act to reset a person's daily pace. Lowell reacted to the lithium instantly. His personal life improved and became much stable after he started to use lithium. However, his writing has suffered due to the lithium. His old work was