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From: mikes@tekecs.UUCP (Michael Sellers)
Newsgroups: net.rumor,net.sci
Subject: 2 rumors/anecdotes (not computers :-)
Message-ID: <7204@tekecs.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 14-Apr-86 00:47:18 EST
Article-I.D.: tekecs.7204
Posted: Mon Apr 14 00:47:18 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 17-Apr-86 04:44:26 EST
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Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
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Xref: watmath net.rumor:1879 net.sci:723

*** EPLACE-RAY IS-THAY INE-LAY ITH-WAY OUR-YAY ESSAGE-MAY ***

(if-yay ou-yay ink-thay is-thay is-yay ard-hay o-tay ead-ray, ou-yay ould-shay
 y-tray itting-wray is-thay a-way :-)

My chem prof told our class (a couple of years ago) that the international
phsyicists union (the counterpart of IUPAC) had voted to do away with the
traditional names for all the elements.  A dispute had arisen over who (US or
USSR) had synthesized a new element first (number 104 or 106 I think).  The
Americans wanted to call it Neilsbohrium and the Soviets wanted to call it
Thisisourelementskium (or something :-).  As a result, the union voted to
henceforth call all elements by the *latinization of their atomic number*!
Like hydrogen = unium, helium = binium, etc.  They realized that it could
take as long as 20 years to change all the textbooks, but decided it was worth
it to head off any more Gallium, Germanium, Californium, or Einsteinium
discoveries.
  The great part about this, though, was that the chemists heard about it and
decided that they had better change over too, so as not to be out of step.
Many of the members viewed this as a large crock o' fertilizer (to say the
least), so there was a lot of dissension.  Now, in the IUPAC (Int'l Union of
Physical and Applied Chemistry) votes are given representationally to each
delegation by population of chemists per country.  Naturally the Chinese have
the most votes.  So when it came down to it, the Chinese gave the rest of the
union an ultimatum.  They basically said that if the Union went with the new
names of the elements that they would push through a resolution making the
new, international language of chemistry not English but *Chinese*!  Needless
to say, chemists still fool around with hydrogen and helium, not unium and 
binium.  

		Mike Sellers 
		{..}!tektronix!tekecs!mikes

Two appropriate quotes:
"Ni hou ma, ni hou ma, ni hou ma tsai-tsien..." 
				-- monty python

"All that glitters is not septononinium"
				-- a disgruntled physicist