Chromatic Revolution:
This Chapter was called "Chromatic Revolution" and it is about Cadmium. Cadmium was discovered in 1817 by Friedrich Stromeyer. It was a yellowish orange color and it mixed well with blues. However this new element was very rare. The pigments created by this elements were especially favored by painters and were soon used in paint. But if these pigments were not disposed of carefully high risks would form. This caused many to put restrictions on these paints and soon they were indeed found to be poisonous. Not many pigments could compare with such rich color however. This element has also been used in attacks on different parts of the world. Although banned many of these pigments are still favorable to artists.
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| Picture Work Cited: Cadmium, http://www.chemistryland.com/CHM130FieldLab/Lab6/Lab6.html, Sapling Learning, 4/20/14 |
"Lonely-Chrome America":
This chapter was titled "Lonely-Chrome America" and is about Chromium. The first automobiles were made with chromium. It has a blue-white glow and a shiny surface. It represented glamour and excitement paving the way for the booming consumer society. Automobiles and chromium became the emblems of this time period and were flaunted around as a way to pick America up after the Great Depression. It displays a sense of speed and style unobtainable by any other element. It excited our craving for dangerous things and our love of powerful machines such as automobiles. Slowly however, Chromium lost the public interest and floated into the past. Chromium became a flashy material that was left in the dust.
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| Picture Work Cited: Chromium, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium, Wikipedia, 4/13/14 |
Abbe Suger's Sheet Sapphire:
The next chapter I read was called "Abbe Suger's Sheet Sapphire" it was about Cobalt. Cobalt was able to retain one of the hardest colors to display in nature, blue. It was discovered around 1735 by Georg Brandt and the world exploded with a need to obtain this beautiful element. Everyone who was anyone had to have blue glass. It was used to make all sorts of objects like chandeliers, windows, and glassware. Many of these objects were sought out and desired for many purposes. But one thing was for sure cobalt remained a popular element for years to come.
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| Picture Work Cited: Cobalt, http://americanfireglass.com/1-2-cobalt-blue-reflective.html, American Fireglass, 4/20/14 |
I always thought that chrome was just silver an shiny immediately not that it has a blue tint to it before it is refined or that it became popular after the Great Depression, really interesting stuff.
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