Reaction Paper about “Chemistry: A Volatile History” Documentary

Who would’ve thought that the answer to the question “What is everything in our world made
of” will overtime be revealed to us and it is groundbreaking. An almost a total of three-hour long three-
part documentary by BBC, narrated by professor Jim Al-Khalili, will retrace the steps of notable men of
Science dating back at the 16th century and through the whole timeline of it. Since the elements’
discovery up to their order and their different use and power of the elements, I will divulge along with
this documentary into the world of chemistry to understand and have a deeper grasp of this subject. The
curiosity might not kill the cat, but it sure did endanger and actually shorten the lifespan of some
chemist and others that have contributed to our knowledge regarding the elements.

For the discovery of elements, the Greek concept about air, fire, water, and earth is something I
also used to believe. If I go outside and look around, the biggest things I can see and think of are those
four elements. What’s in the air is what you can and may inhale. Fire is the source of heat since the old
times of the first human, and all it’s other purpose such as cooking, ironing, and just keeping people
warm and alive. Water alone, specifically safe to drink one, is enough to keep us alive for days without
food at all. More importantly, it is used with washing clothes, washing produce, bathing, cleaning and
almost all basic needs, so water should not be out of the list at most. Lastly, the earth refers to the
earthy substance and formations present on the planet such as rocks, caves, mountains, and cliffs. Those
were my perspective until I watched this video. Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von
Hohenheim, an alchemist, physician, and surgeon, better known as Paracelsus’ idea about salt, sulfur,
and mercury as the 3 primary elements isn’t very convincing to me. Although, it is agreeable that these
are the three elements that are primarily used in making metals and creating medicines.

At Basel University in Switzerland, Paracelsus in the 1526 was famous, but certainly not in a
pleasant way due to his apparent rejection of the medical orthodoxy back in the day. He mixes medicine
with alchemy that I might be hard to believe in and use in this modern day. Because of Paracelsus
rebellion against the doctors has been established, so he left and went to Germany to continue alchemy.

Together by professor Jim and Dr. Andrea, they will conduct the same experiments done by
Hennig brand, which is urine. The thought process of Brand could be reasonable back in the day, but is
surely unpleasant to be his wife or be his neighbors. The urine was distilled to paste and heated at a
temperature for several days that lead to the leftover part--- phosphorus. When it is placed inside a
glass flask with a little amount of sand