Wonderful Life with the Elements

096

MELTING POINT

BOILING POINT

DENSITY

Famous as the raw material for dry cell bat-

teries, manganese is a metal found both on

dry land and on the sea floor. But while man-

ganese batteries have been in use since the

late 19th century, they are gradually being

replaced by the alkali family of batteries

(though actually there isn’t much difference

between the materials used in these two

battery types). Manganese is also necessary

for our metabolism.

A WORKER OF OLD,

THE UNSUNG HERO OF THE

ELEMENTS

DISCOVERY YEAR: 1774

Transition

metal

Fe + Mn = a very

strong compound

Industrial

uses

Often used

in scientific

experiments

Manganese

dioxide

The cables on the

great Seto bridge

are made of

manganese steel.

Solid

H

2

O

2

O

2

MnO

2

097

Get the

lead

out!

Not a

chance.

Iron’s up

next.

Time for a

bathroom

break?

098

The discovery of iron was the turn-

ing point for all humankind, allowing us

to throw away our stone tools and set

out on the path to civilization. The first

people to use iron were the ancient Hit-

tites in 1500 BCE. After their kingdom

fell, the Hittite people spread across the

globe, taking their craft with them and

bringing a gradual but significant change

to people’s lives. Iron still accounts for

THE COGWHEEL OF DESTINY

THAT SET CIVILIZATION IN

MOTION

DISCOVERY YEAR: ANCIENT

Ships

Cars

Trains

Transition

metal

Mineral

Solid

Body

warmers

Tapes

099

MELTING POINT

BOILING POINT

DENSITY

Pots and

pans

roughly 90% of the world’s total metal

production, and since it is incredibly

abundant, easy to work with, strong, and

cheap, it will probably continue to be a

recipe for success far into the future. We

are even more fundamentally dependent

on iron, though, as the hemoglobin that

carries oxygen in our blood also con-

tains iron. It’s all around us, as well as

inside us.

There are just so many

things made of iron.

Knives

Scissors

The red in

blood

Earth’s

crust

Mantle

rock

Solid iron in

Earth’s inner

core

Liquid iron in

the outer core

Weapons

100

MELTING POINT

BOILING POINT

DENSITY

You probably know cobalt from its charming

signature color, cobalt blue, but did you know

that its name comes from the German word

kobold, which means goblin? Silver miners in

18th century Germany simply didn’t know

how to react when they encountered veins

of this ghastly blue metal that gave off toxic

fumes. Nowadays its magnetic and sensitive

properties make it ideal for use in computer

hard disks and many other items.

THE BLUE-CLAD DIGITAL

TECHNICIAN

DISCOVERY YEAR: 1737

Eye drops

No art

without

cobalt

Solid

Industrial

uses

Magnets

Transition

metal