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Laboratory experience: the analysis and synthesis of Prussian...
Mount Qiyun in China
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How did Mendeleev’s first “Periodic Table” come about?
The ancient water village of Xitang in China
William Prout (1785 – 1850): a great chemist...
Where Antoine Lavoisier’s body is buried?
The “Sacred” Stray Dogs of CHILE
Christian von Weigel: the inventor of the counter-...
The ancient rural village of Hongcun in China
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Laboratory Activities

Laboratory experience: the analysis and synthesis of Prussian Blue dye

by Roberto Poeti 29 March 2022
An educational proposal for the chemistry laboratory with historical experiences

This didactic proposal for the chemistry laboratory is intended for a basic chemistry course. The subject of the research is Prussian blue, the synthesis of Prussian blue is present on many web pages, in various versions. What they have in common is the simplicity of execution. To the synthesis of the dye is added the search for iron in the blood, an analysis linked to the constitution of Prussian blue and the synthesis of a dye other than blue obtained using copper salts. But the novelty of the didactic proposal is the reproduction of some experiences made by Macquer in 1752 which for the first time deal with the composition of Prussian blue. Here are some parts of the memoir written by Macquer, Chemical examination of Prussian blue, from 1752, relating to the description of these experiences. In this way, laboratory activity is experienced as a reconstruction of the history of chemistry which had its fundamental pivot in laboratory activity.

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29 March 2022 0 commento
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CinaTime Travel

Mount Qiyun in China

by Roberto Poeti 4 February 2022
Qiyun is the fourth Sacred Mountain to the Taoist cult

Mount Qiyun literally means ‘Cloud-high mountain’, it is a mountain and national park located in Xiuning County in Anhui Province, China. It is located at the foot of the Huangshan mountain range about 33 kilometers west of the city of Huangshan and is known as one of the Four Sacred Mountains of Taoism. Known for its many inscriptions and tablets, as well as monasteries and temples, the highest point on the mountain rises to 585 meters (1,919 feet). It is a destination that I visited during my trip to China in 2014. Few tourists and mostly belonging to the Taoist cult. Several temples and monasteries (out of 33) that promote the spread of Taoist principles are found here.

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4 February 2022 0 commento
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EuropaTime Travel

The island of Vulcano of the Aeolian archipelago in Sicily (Italy)

by Roberto Poeti 2 December 2021
The island of Vulcano

Vulcano is an Italian island belonging to the Aeolian archipelago in Sicily. Among the Aeolian islands it is the closest to Sicily, just 12 miles from Capo Milazzo. The other islands are Salina, Lipari, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi, Alicudi.

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2 December 2021 0 commento
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History

How did Mendeleev’s first “Periodic Table” come about?

by Roberto Poeti 28 July 2021
The museum  

I think there cannot be such a strong emotion for a chemist as that one feels when visiting Mendeleev’s apartment at the University of St. Petersburg. He lived there from 1867 to 1890. The apartment is located on the ground floor of the Faculty of Chemistry and was connected to his laboratory. Since 1911, four years after his death, it has been transformed into a museum. I visited the Museum in 2009 on a trip to St. Petersburg. The paradoxical thing is that I had no idea of ​​the existence of this heritage. On the penultimate day of my stay in St. Petersburg, I realized, consulting the guide for the umpteenth time, that in a corner, in minute letters, the news of the existence of the museum was reported. So in the middle of August, a weekday in Russia, I was able to find the museum with difficulty and visit it. A visit all alone, with Dr. Natalia who was my guide without speaking English, but reading the information written in English from a notebook of her notes. I felt like I was visiting a small country museum without ostentation, all very informal. When you enter the apartment, after walking through a few rooms, you arrive at the study. Here time has stopped, everything has remained as it was when Mendeleev died. On one side of the study there is his desk, his armchair, the chess pieces. And it is precisely here where Mendeleev’s first “Periodic Table” come about

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28 July 2021 0 commento
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CinaTime Travel

The ancient water village of Xitang in China

by Roberto Poeti 26 June 2021
The Venice of China

Xitang (Chinese: 西塘; pinyin: Xītáng; lit. ‘West Pond’) is a small water village with thousands of years of history, it dates back to 700 BC. It is located in Zhejiang province, two hours by bus from the capital Hangzhou and Shanghai. The village extends over the plains, there are nine waterways that divide the city into eight areas. It is a small Venice, there are no cars, the means of transport for people and goods are boats. One hundred and four bridges connect the areas to each other. Among them, there are 11 old bridges built during the Song dynasty, including Anren Bridge, Anjing Bridge, Wufu Bridge, Yongning Bridge, etc. Also famous are Wolong Bridge, Wuchan Bridge and Songzi Laifeng Bridge built in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasty. Some look like a rainbow over the river and some like a long flute. Standing on these bridges and watching the traditional boats pass by, one feels drawn into a profound meditation on the past.

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26 June 2021 0 commento
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William Prout
History

William Prout (1785 – 1850): a great chemist and physician

by Roberto Poeti 31 May 2021
William Prout (1785–1850):   a multifaceted  chemist and physician

Prout’s personal and professional history makes us known as a scholar who has made important contributions in many fields of knowledge, from chemistry to physiology and medicine. In this article we will deal with two aspects of his research both derived from his early work on the relationship between density and atomic weights of gases that he was among the first to set up. The first is the conception of the structure of the atom, the second is the idea of the diatomicity of the molecules of elementary gases.

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31 May 2021 2 commenti
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History

Where Antoine Lavoisier’s body is buried?

by Roberto Poeti 24 May 2021
The “Sepulcher” of Antoine Lavoisier

The article tells the random discovery made during a short stay in Paris, in search of the places of the history of chemistry. The visit to the catacombs of Paris, one of the many tourist destinations, made us known, through an exhibition set up there, where are the mortal remains of the father of chemistry.

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24 May 2021 0 commento
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AmericaTime Travel

The “Sacred” Stray Dogs of CHILE

by Roberto Poeti 16 May 2021
The stray dogs of CHILE

If you visit Chile we cannot fail to notice a unique feature compared to the rest of the world. From Santiago de Chile to Punta Arenas in the far south of the country, near Tierra del Fuego, groups of stray dogs roam free in the cities, colonizing squares and parks, having fun running after cars, barking. While in a country like Italy (my country) they constitute or are felt a threat, and therefore live far from inhabited centers, in isolated places, in the woods, always in search of scarce food, their companions in Chile they are accepted and respected like the sacred cows in India. The inhabitants of Chile respect them, they refresh them, they are patient for their exuberance. And stray dogs reciprocate with their peaceful, meek, and cheerful disposition. In short, they are an institution. Those accustomed to wild strays find it hard to consider them harmless, also for their size, which is remarkable. A tourist, like me Italian, had to make some effort to overcome the profound distrust towards these herds of free animals. The question of where such a Chilean habit originates from is left unanswered. I inserted a video where I filmed a pack of dogs that in the beach of Punta Arenas, surround us in a friendly way.

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16 May 2021 3 commenti
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History

Christian von Weigel: the inventor of the counter- current “Liebig condenser”.

by Roberto Poeti 11 March 2021
The chemical laboratories of the first half of the 19th century

Of the complex of Justus von Liebig’s chemical laboratories in Giessen, transformed since 1920 into one of the most interesting science museums in the world, one is struck by the size, the wealth of instruments and equipment. The museum preserves the Institute of Chemistry almost intact, where Liebig worked as a teacher and scientist from 1825 to 1852. It is a unique structure, which has survived to the present day. In those rooms and laboratories, generations of chemists from all over Europe and even the United States were trained under the guidance of a great teacher. Liebig later also taught in Munich. An important space has been dedicated to him at the Deutsches Museum in this city. His laboratory is reconstructed in real size. But among the many “objects” that fill the space of his workshops, in both museums there are two that the visitor perceives as the most important. One is the apparatus for the analysis of organic substances, the other is the apparatus for distillation. In both there is a detail that makes them original. In the first it is the Kalium-apparat for the absorption of carbon dioxide, in the other it is the counter-current condenser in distillation.

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But if the authorship of the Kali-apparat is Liebig, the condenser, which bears his name, is not his invention. His merit   is to have made it  a routine tool, precious in laboratory analysis.

But who is responsible for the invention of the counter-current condenser?

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11 March 2021 0 commento
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CinaTime Travel

The ancient rural village of Hongcun in China

by Roberto Poeti 10 February 2021
Hongcun village in rural China

Hongcun (Chinese: 宏村, pinyin: Hóngcūn) is a village located in Anhui Province, China, near the southern slopes of the Huangshan Mountains. The history of the village is linked to the ancient Wang Clan who formed its family base there. Its birth dates back to the early 12th century during the Southern Song Dynasty. The village is located in the Anhui region, rich in rivers and lakes. The village together with others, located a few tens of kilometers from each other, has largely retained the traditional physiognomy.

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10 February 2021 0 commento
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PROF. ROBERTO POETI

Hi, my name is Roberto Poeti , a former teacher . I decided to create this blog to continue the dialogue on Chemical Scienze, its history and its teaching and to share the experiences of my trips I’ve done now and in the distant past.
“Even Chemistry is a beautiful journey into the knowledge of the matter“

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