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Periodic Table Table

Posted by chrisd on from the and-soon-settees-for-science dept.

Ed Pegg Jr writes "Theo Gray, a co-creator of Mathematica, was originally a chemist. Needing a conference table, he created a Periodic Table using a variety of woods." It seems Theo is missing some elements for the table, in case you have any spare europium (in a proper container, of course) lying about. This isn't Theo's first piece of furniture. It looks like he has left a few spots for new elements, and it is nicely modular, in the event an element is found not to exist.

11 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. Doc said... by grung0r · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I'm sure in 1985 Plutonium can be bought in every corner drug store, but in 1955, it's a little hard to come by."

  2. I too... by mgblst · · Score: 5, Funny

    am constructing a Periodic Table, and i am just short of a few elemnets, Au and Ag, so if anybody has any spare, can they send them to me. Perferably in an appropriate conatiner, say a large truck.

    Here we can see Theo Gray hard at work.

  3. I hope this thing stands up to the elements. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    No, not those elements.

    I hope he has a humidity /temperature controled place to store this thing. Pieces that combine dissimaler woods don't tend to last very long due to diffrent rates of expansion/contraction when they are exposed to temperature and humidity changes. They tend to break along the seems.

    That's why you never securely bolt down butcher-block. You just drill an oversized hole and let it float on the stand.

    1. Re:I hope this thing stands up to the elements. by TheodoreGray · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'm not sure which time stamps you're looking at, but actually the log was cut over a year before being worked, and it was dried at least semi-properly. Also, that log was maple used only for the noble gas element tiles, not for the body of the table. The body of the table is walnut that was sawn in 1993 and actually kiln dried twice at the yard before I got it at auction. (Oh and by the way, the Wood-Mizer isn't mine, but I wish it were....)

  4. Added bonus... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you put your plate on highly radioactive elements, your food will stay warm.

  5. I tried a similar project. by Captain+Nitpick · · Score: 5, Funny

    I tried making a mandelbrot set table once.

    I gave up because it seemed like there was always an endless amount of detail work left to do.

    --
    But then again, I could be wrong.
  6. last one at the table by lxs · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...gets the "uranium seat" (it's just a name son, don't worry about it)

  7. In a few days... by Emil+Brink · · Score: 5, Funny

    when some other esteemed editor reposts this, it'll be the Periodic Periodic Table Table story, and I will be even happier. ;^)

    --
    main(O){10<putchar(4^--O?77-(15&5128 >>4*O):10)&&main(2+O);}
  8. Other periodic tables... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting
    From a recent posting on memepool by urog. I don't think I could have said it any better myself.

    By adulthood, Mendeleev's periodic table of the elements is firmly planted in a typical mind either as a tool for study or proof of mystical forces at work in nature. There are alternative structures: some clever and others using alternate media, extensions to the table providing nuclear structure, fermi surfaces, and line spectra.

    Still others are extraordinarily cross-thematic, merging chemistry with comic books, poetry or haiku. But only the grouping-nature of the columns is retained in rejected elements, condiments and beer. Eventually the elements and the periodic qualities have been lost entirely, reducing the periodic table to a design template for topical lists of funk and rock music, comedy and TV shows, famous mathematicians and presidents, even SGI products. Soon a complete breakdown of the scientific aspect yields no similarity to the original, becoming a glorified table, a marketing tool, or hype itself. There is mounting evidence of a conspiracy.


  9. Hmmm. by Gannoc · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Hey, nice table!"
    "Thanks, it took me several w... OH JESUS CHRIST NO, DON'T OPEN THAT!"

    (screaming and choking as they both inhale florine gas)

    (dying breath): "Just...wanted...to...be...thorough.."

  10. Tom Lehrer by XNormal · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Now, if I may digress momentarily from the mainstream of this evening's symposium, I'd like to sing a song which is completely pointless, but is something which I picked up during my career as a scientist. This may prove useful to some of you some day, perhaps, in a somewhat bizarre set of circumstances. It's simply the names of the chemical elements set to a possibly recognizable tune. "

    The elements

    --
    Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.