Exhibition: Celebrating the Periodic Table
A new exhibition at Cambridge University pays tribute to the chemical elements and their discoverers
A glistering, shining spiral made of silver, gold, platinum, palladium and a diamond forms the show-stopping apex of the tribute from the University of Cambridge’s St Catharine’s college to the International Year of the Periodic Table. Commissioned to match George Schaltenbrand’s 1920 design for a helical gathering of the elements – albeit extended to all 118 current elements – and signed by Yuri Oganessian, it is almost certainly the most expensive periodic table in the world, and an easy reason for any element fan to make a pilgrimage to Cambridge. Yet for history lovers, the literal jewel in the exhibit’s crown is only one of the delights in store.