The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements is a 2014 American documentary miniseries,[1][2][3] which premiered nationwide on August 19, 2015.[4][5][6] The PBS documentary, in three-episodes of one hour each, was directed by Stephen Lyons and Muffie Meyer.
The series, which took ten years to make,[7] describes the search for the basic chemical elements that form matter by focusing on the lives and times of seven scientificvisionaries.[4][5] Hosted by actor Michael Emerson, the series depicts the creative process of the scientists, with actors describing the process of discovery in the scientists' own words and reenacting their major discoveries using replicas of their original laboratory equipment.[4]
Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier discover a new gas called oxygen, discrediting the basic theory of chemistry at the time, creating the basis for the modern science of chemistry, and prompting chemists all over the world to look for more new elements; Humphry Davy introduces audiences to nitrous oxide ("laughing gas") and uses electricity to search for new chemical elements.
2
"Unruly Elements" (1859–1902)
August 19, 2015 (2015-08-19)
Dmitri Mendeleev invents the periodic table, bringing order to the understanding of the elements for the first time; Marie Curie discovers several elements, including polonium and radium, and discovers radioactivity, demonstrating that elements can change identities and may consist of previously unsuspected subcomponents.
According to Carman Drahl of Forbes magazine, "Chemists will quickly recognize the life stories of giants in their field. This show wasn’t designed just for chemists, however. The target audience includes teachers, students, and curious TV viewers."[5] The series, based on a National Science Foundation project description, tells "a 'detective story' of chemistry, stretching from the ancient alchemists to today's efforts to find stable new forms of matter".[9] Mark Dawidziak, of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, quotes the historical advisor, Alan Rocke: "[The series] portrays science as [a] very human process. People see it is a very mechanical process. A great humanity is revealed by these stories, but also the unfolding process of how science actually comes to these understandings of nature."[7] Erica K. Jacobsen, of the Chemical Education Division of the American Chemical Society, found the series to be "an excellent tool for bringing students a different view of the periodic table and those involved in its history".[3]
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