Elements

Cherry

By luigi_pagano

Tue, 19 Aug 2025
  • 1449 reads
17 comments
 

Tom Lehrer was a mathematician
as well as a consummate musician.
He wrote and performed a song 
about the elements. It wasn't long
and was based on the periodic table.
(A true fact, not a children's fable).

The tune of The Pirates of Penzance
offered him the opportune chance
to attain the unique accomplishment
to musically recite 102 components
from antimony, arsenic, aluminium,
hydrogen, oxygen radium, selenium

and many others, including polonium,
until the final one named nobelium.
It is entertaining but also educational;
I read it and found it inspirational.
I now wish I had studied chemistry
instead of being employed in industry.

 

 

© Luigi Pagano 2025

Certificate U
Poem
Mutevoli pensieri
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Oh, I'd never heard of that! Thank  you! It's wonderful. I assume there are no pretend ones - he speaks so fast. But very clever to sing it all. It remnds me of trying to compose history dates to verse when I was young. It's nice that you did something about the real chemical elements too.

By the way the first one is antimony, not antonym I think. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Thank you for pointing out the typo, Rhiannon. Now corrected.

Luigi x

 

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Thank you for reminding me of this, I had to look up "Elements" on you.tube just to hear it again...so wonderful. He had written many other songs in the 50's and 60's all rhyming and fun to listen to. I know one of his works was published in the Harvard magazine called, Dissertation on Education. Just reading the lyrics is enjoyable. It was sad to learn he'd passed away this July at the age of 97. 

Penny4athought

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hi JoAnne. I have to admit that although he belonged to my generation I hadn't come across his work which I understand occurred in thr 50s and 60s. It was only when my daughter Emma told me of his recent death that I loked him up andI learned how talented he was.

Luigi x

 

Submitted by insertponceyfre... on

Tom Lehrer was wonderful wasn't he? I love so many of his songs - His work was so clever and extremely funny. Thank you for this reminder of his talents Luigi, and what a perfect subject for the IP!

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hi Claudine. I must confess that I had not heard of him until I was told of his demise. As I am curious by nature, I had to research him and his work which I realise is wonderful and ful of humour. I discovered his song 'Elements' on YouTube. Its topic semed to fit in with this wek's I.P.
Thanks for reading and commenting.

Luigi x

P.S. I thought that I had made a typo with the word antimony but later realised that the computer was in auto-corect mode and automatically changed the word to antonym. surprise

 

Submitted by Tom Brown on

In my personal opinion chemistry is not really science at all it is still the same as alchemy. It seemed to me they can always correctly predict and explain exactly the result of an experiment, but then only afterwards. Essentially it is the same kind of approach.

What is more I've found chemistry professors obnoxious I believe it is from the laboratory fumes' prolonged exposure affecting the mind.

All the best Luigi! Tom

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hi Tom, I am afraid I cannot offer any coment on chemistry as I don't know anything about the subject. My knowlege and interest lay in a diferent, but equaly puzzling, direction.

Best, Luigi 

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

If you know the properties of the chemicals in the experiment you will know the result of couse. if it goes wrong you've fucked something up. 

The interesting stuff is research, but to do that you need a lot of pascience and acceptance of a lot of failures;

Can't say I disagrees about professors my first lecturer at colledge was a complete asshole but i studied in London under Professor Vögel, he was an OK man although quite demanding.

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

I notice a difference of opinion between Tom and Ed, but it's good to talk. Best wishes to you both.

Cheers, Luigi

 

 

Submitted by Tom Brown on

Although it is so my sample is very small only a handful of people, you cannot infer any kind of conclusion at all, and understandably it would always be hard to identify and isolate each variable in an experiment. More of a personal thing actually – sorry.

Tom

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

I have one album of his, but unfortunately this song is not on it;

Clever poem,  Luigi. However, as a retired chemist I would guess you would have been better off in industry. Unless you are super clever the chemical profession is not highly paid in the UK. Many chemists, like myself, used our knowledge in other sectors of commerce;

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hi Ed. As a retired pensioner, I have to say that the profession I chose proved to be equally unrewaeding but at least it brought home the bacon.

Best, Luigi

 

Submitted by marandina on

Adroitly done, Luigi.

You inspired me to look him up. Wow what an interesting man who had such an interesting life. Made it to 97 years old!

Keep well. Paul

 

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Cheers, Paul, nice to hear from you. Thanks for your feedback. I enjoyed the refreshing humour of that song of his. and am glad of an unexpected discovery.

Best, Luigi
 

 

Submitted by Mark Say on

And a very clever tribute to Mr Lehrer.

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Thanks for reading and kind comment, Mark.

Best wishes, Luigi.