How did scientists make sense of all the known elements and turn chemistry into a system that could predict the unknown? In this episode of Compact Science, Naomi explores the story of the periodic table, from the early search for order among the elements to Dmitri Mendeleev's breakthrough arrangement in 1869. Along the way, we look at the work of early chemists, the importance of atomic weight and atomic number, and how the periodic table became one of the most powerful organising tools in science. This is the story of how chemistry found its map, and how that map changed our understanding of matter itself.

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What is an atom, and how did we figure out what it actually looks like? In this episode of Compact Science, Naomi explores the structure of the atom, from early ideas about indivisible matter to the groundbreaking experiments that revealed electrons, nuclei, and the forces that hold everything together. Along the way, we meet scientists such as John Dalton, J.J. Thomson, Ernest Rutherford, and Niels Bohr, whose discoveries reshaped our understanding of matter itself. This is the story of how science uncovered the tiny building blocks that make up everything in the universe, and why that discovery still underpins modern physics and chemistry.

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#compactscience, #sciencepodcast, #atom, #physics, #chemistry, #historyofscience, #atomicstructure, #scienceeducation

What is DNA, and how did we finally uncover the molecule that carries the instructions for life itself? In this episode of Compact Science, we explore the long scientific journey that led to the discovery of DNA, from early experiments with inheritance to the race to uncover its structure in the twentieth century. Along the way, we meet key figures including Friedrich Miescher, Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, and Francis Crick, and examine how chemistry, biology, and technology combined to reveal the double helix. This is the story of how life's code was cracked, and why that discovery still shapes science, medicine, and society today.

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#compactscience #sciencepodcast #biology #genetics #dna #scientificdiscoveries #historyofscience #lifescience #scienceeducation