[the Writing of Kuypers]    [JanetKuypers.com]    [Bio]    [Poems]    [Prose]

Americium Janet Kuypers from the “Periodic Table of Poetry” series 5/26/12 When I heard there was an element called Americium, I thought, what scientist felt possessed to name an element after the United States of America? I mean, was it discovered during a war effort when everyone rallied with national spirit? Was it a World War Two effort against the element Germanium named after Germania (even though that element was not named for Hitler’s desire to create the perfect thousand year empire)? I can’t believe the decision to name an element Americium was based on the boo-rah mentality, go fight win, U.S.A., U.S.A.... I mean, is the actual element somehow explicitly related to America? Okay, fine, I will look on line for information. Let me first check dictionary dot com before Google or Wikipedia for information about Americium... But before I scrolled down to the definition I saw the speaker icon, so I could hear the computer-generated voice say Americium for me... Oh, Ah-mer-EE-cee-um. Not Uh-MARE-ick-ee-um. Oops. But the definition says Americium is the products of high-energy helium bombardment of uranium and plutonium. Wow. I’m really going to have to research this, and maybe I can dispel the World War Two links I was apparently making up for this element. Wait a minute, Americium was discovered in 1944, but the discovery was kept secret and only released to the public in November 1945. (Okay, this doesn’t help my anti-Hitler case...) Let’s see... Americium was first identified at the University of California, Berkeley, and it was chemically identified in Argonne Lab at the University of Chicago. Okay, so it was discovered in America, but in the Periodic Table, Americium falls right next to it’s twin lanthanide element europium; so thus by analogy, they named this element after another continent, America. Hmmm, fun little story. But Americium was primarily used in nuclear tests conducted between 1945 and 1980, as well as at sites like the Chernobyl disaster. (Oh, so we go from Germany as our emeny to the Soviet Union as our enemy, because the enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend.) And elevated levels of Americium were also at the crash site of a US B-52 bomber which carried four hydrogen bombs in 1968 in Greenland. But us Americans have to come up with more practical appplications for Americium than nuclear testing... And that’s when I learnbed that the silvery-white element (which is soft and malleable, and tarnishes in the air) has isotopes that are used in smoke detectors. So an element that can help kill can also help save people’s lives. Well, I guess in a way that sounds like America, too.

Copyright © Janet Kuypers.

All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.

Like Janet Kuypers’ writing on any of these links below:

Watch this YouTube video of this “Periodic Table of Poetry” poem read live in Chicago 11/21/12 (Canon) at the Café Gallery

Watch this YouTube video of this “Periodic Table of Poetry” poem read live in Chicago 11/21/12 (Sony) at the Café Gallery

Watch this YouTube video of poems read from Janet Kuypers’ “Periodic Table of Poetry” series, live in Chicago 11/21/12 (Canon) at the Café Gallery (inlcuding this poem)

Watch this YouTube video of poems read from Janet Kuypers’ “Periodic Table of Poetry” series, live in Chicago 11/21/12 (Sony) at the Café Gallery (inlcuding this poem)

Download this poem in the free 11/21/12 “Periodic Poetry” chapbook, w/ the Periodic Table of Poetry poems.

Download this poem in the free 11/21/12 “for War and Country” chapbook (as part of the “Periodic Poetry” chapbook) w/ the Periodic Table of Poetry poems.