UCLA chemistry lecturer and author Eric Scerri has been invited to present a public lecture at the prestigious Royal Institution of Great Britain.
His lecture, titled “The periodic table: Its story and significance”, will take place on Thursday, July 20, 2017 from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the Royal Institution of Great Britain Theater in Mayfair, London.
The event description of the lecture is “The periodic table is probably the most famous chart in all of science. But what is its history? How does it relate to quantum physics? And is there an optimal form it should take? UCLA chemist Eric Scerri will investigate.”
Scerri is the author or editor of ten books and a full-time lecturer in the UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the international journal Foundations of Chemistry which covers the history and philosophy of chemistry, and chemical education. He was the historical consultant for the 2015 PBS docudrama Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements in which he is interviewed extensively about the creator of the periodic table, Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev.
To learn more about Scerri, visit his website.
About the Royal Institution of Great Britain
Throughout its history, the Royal Institution has supported public engagement with science through a program of lectures, many of which continue today. The most famous of these are the annual Christmas Lectures founded by Michael Faraday.
The Institution has had an instrumental role in the advancement of science since its founding. Notable scientists who have worked there include Sir Humphry Davy (who discovered sodium and potassium), Michael Faraday, James Dewar, Sir William Henry Bragg and Sir William Lawrence Bragg (who jointly won the Nobel prize for their work on x-ray diffraction), Max Perutz, John Kendrew, Antony Hewish, and George Porter.
In the 19th century, Faraday carried out much of the research which laid the groundwork for the practical exploitation of electricity at the Royal Institution. In total fifteen scientists attached to the Royal Institution have won Nobel Prizes. Ten chemical elements including sodium were discovered there; the electric generator was devised at the Institution, and much of the early work on the atomic structure of crystals was carried out within it.
