The story of samarium (in song). Every element on the periodic table that's named after a real person takes its name from a famed historical figure...except one. This is the story of that one: Vassiliy Yevgrafovich Samarsky-Byhovets, who was (give or take) just some guy.

Complete lyrics are available as subtitles.

Download the song (includes instrumental version):
https://oliverlugg.bandcamp.com/album...

Or listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3n5m0r...

Join my Discord server to discuss this video and more:
  / discord  

I know I said I'd have this video done much earlier in my last video, so apologies for that. I ended up neglecting YouTube through a few months that were difficult for various reasons. But I'm back, so that's nice.

I went through a Gilbert and Sullivan phase when I started work on this, so blame that for what it has become.

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SOURCES

The inspiration for this video was the chapter 'Gadolin and Samarsky, Everymen of the Elements' from Periodic Tales by Hugh Aldersey-Williams. That and most other sources ultimately trace back to 'Composition of Uranotantalum and Columbite From the Ilmen Mountains', a Russian translation of a German journal article where samarskite was named. I couldn't find the German original.

62. Samarium: Eponymous Honorarium
T. R. Appleton, 2020
https://episodictable.com/samarium/

Chemistry in Its Element - Samarium
Richard Corfield, 2011
https://web.archive.org/web/201104081...

Composition of Uranotantalum and Columbite From the Ilmen Mountains
Heinrich Rose (translated by Iane Beck), 1847, pp104-121
https://archive.org/details/Mining_Jo...

“Historical note on the composition of the mining administration” in 1806-1861. and the reform of mining legislation in the early 60s. XIX century
Evgeniy Stanislavovich Tulisov and E.Yu. Rukosuev, 2001
https://web.archive.org/web/200709272...

Introduction to the lanthanide elements
Daniel Price, 2018
   • Introduction to the lanthanide elements  

Periodic Tales
Hugh Aldersey-Williams, 2011, pp373-378

Russian biographical dictionary. Volume XVIII. Sabaneev – Smyslov
Alexander Alexandrovich Polovtsov, 1904, p147
https://runivers.ru/upload/iblock/4b6...

Salute to samarium
Stanislav Strekopytov, 2016
https://www.nature.com/articles/nchem...

Samarium: History & Etymology
Peter van der Krogt
https://elements.vanderkrogt.net/elem...

Shark attacks: A magnetic solution?
Ari Daniel Shapiro, 2012
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-1...

St. Petersburg Necropolis
1913, p28
https://vivaldi.nlr.ru/bx000050149/vi...