Chemists of the Manhattan Project were having mythology trouble. They had created two new elements, Nos. 95 and 96 (TIME, Nov. 26). But when they tried to name them, they were stumped. Uranium (No. 92), neptunium (No. 93), plutonium (No. 94) had been named after the last three outer planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto,
For a while chemists called the new elements "pandemonium" and "delirium." Then one of them took a dive into Greek mythology and discovered that Pluto, god of Hades, had a goddess-friend, Persephone. Element 95, he suggested, should be named "persephonium."
But what about Element 96? Had the ruler of...
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