Stephenson:Neal:Quicksilver:150:Newton at Woolsthorpe (Alan Sinder)
From the Quicksilver Metaweb.
this is an authored article on Isaac and gold
Stephensonia
Sir Isaac said something cryptic and profound regarding the memory of gold to Enoch on the docks, as he left to retrieve Daniel back to perfidious Albion. Also, a younger Isaac fondly mentioned hammered coins as he bargained for prisms in 1665. I added "El Dorado" for Cryptonomicon fans.
Authored entries
On the trail of Isaac Newton's Gold Foil Spectacles
When one googles for "gold foil" and "Newton" - one gets Ernest Rutherford as his assistant was Mary Newton." He used gold foil in his experiments. So he was a successful modern" alchemist, trying to use science as his Philosopher's Stone.
One also finds - Gold reflects infrared (heat) rays better than any other metal, so it can be used to filter sunlight. Gold film in an astronaut's visor protects the eyes and face without interfering with vision.
- An Astronaut's Visor has gold film -
Rutherford's Experiment
Ernest Rutherford is called the father of nuclear physics. Indeed, Rutherford invented the very language to describe the theoretical concepts of the atom and the phenomenon of radioactivity. Particles named and characterized by him include the alpha particle, beta particle and proton. Even the neutron, discovered by James Chadwick, had already been named by Rutherford. He was also the first to employ the exponential equation to calculate the decay of radioactive substances. Also he was the first to hypothesis the related concepts of the half-life and decay constant. Rutherford showed, with the help of Frederick Soddy at McGill University, that elements such as uranium and thorium became different elements, transmuted, through the process of radioactive decay.
Rutherford won the 1908 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work. In 1909, Rutherford was bombarding a thin gold foil with alpha particles when he noticed that although almost all of them went through the gold, one in eight thousand would "bounce or scatter back. The amazed Rutherford commented that it was "as if you fired a 15-inch naval shell at a piece of tissue paper and the shell came right back and hit you." From this simple observation, Rutherford concluded that the atom's mass must be concentrated in a small positively charged nucleus while the electrons inhabit the farthest reaches of the atom.
Although this planetary model of the atom has been greatly refined over the years, it remains as valid today. Cavendish Laboratory was where he made his final major achievement, the artificial alteration of nuclear and atomic structure. By bombarding nitrogen with alpha particles, Rutherford demonstrated the production of a different element, oxygen. In 1919 Rutherford successfully transmuted nitrogen into oxygen. He called it, "Playing with marbles", and it was reported by the media that Rutherford had "split the atom."
Gold itself
Mechanical Properties
Gold is extremely malleable (the extent to which a material can undergo deformation in compression before failure). In the annealed state it can be hammered cold into a translucent wafer 0.000013 cm thick. One ounce of gold can be beaten into a sheet covering over 9 square meters.
Chemical Properties
Its chemical symbol, Au, is short for the Latin word for gold, 'Aurum', which literally means Glowing Dawn. As if that ALONE wouldn't draw Isaac like a moth to a flame.
Gold has an atomic number of 79. This means that each gold atom has 79 protons in its nucleus. The atomic mass of the gold atom is 196.967 and the atomic radius is 0.1442nm. Interestingly this is smaller than would be predicted by theory. The arrangement of outer electrons around the gold nucleus is based on 14 4f shell electrons, 10 5d and a single 6s shell electron, (i.e. [Xe]4f145d106s).
The arrangement of these electrons is related to gold's characteristic yellow color. The color of a metal is based on transitions of electrons between energy bands. The conditions for the intense absorption of light at the wavelengths necessary to produce the typical gold color are fulfilled by a transition from the d band to unoccupied positions in the conduction band. The addition of alloying elements has a profound effect on color of a gold-based alloy. Adding nickel or palladium, for example, creates a whitening effect.
The number of protons in a gold nucleus is fixed at 79, the number of neutrons can vary from one atom to another giving a number of isotopes of gold. However, there is only one stable non-radioactive isotope accounting for all naturally found gold. The crystal structure for metallic gold is face centered cubic (FCC).
This crystal structure contributes to gold's very high ductility since FCC lattices are particularly suitable for allowing the movement of dislocations in the lattice. Such dislocation movement is essential for achieving high ductility. The density of gold (19.3 gcm-3) depends on both its atomic mass and the crystal structure. This makes gold rather heavy compared to some other common materials. For example, aluminium has a density of 2.7 gcm-3 and even steel's density is only 7.87 gcm-3.
The melting point of pure gold is 1064 °C, although when alloyed with other elements such as silver or copper the gold alloy will melt over a range of temperatures. The boiling point of gold, when gold transforms from the liquid to gaseous state is 2860 °C. The ability of gold to efficiently transfer heat and electricity is bettered only by copper and silver, making it indispensable in electronics for semiconductors and connectors in computer technology. The electrical resistivity of gold is 0.022 micro-ohm m at 20 °C. The thermal conductivity is 310 W m-1 K-1 at the same temperature.
Gold is a stable metal. It does not dissolve or corrode (wear away due to chemical action) in simple acids, such as sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid, or in simple bases, such as sodium hydroxide or lime. The corrosion resistance of gold is perhaps one its most useful properties. Gold does not rust like iron because it is unaffected by water or oxygen in air. Gold does not tarnish like silver because it is unaffected by sulfur compounds in air. However, gold dissolves in aqua regia, a mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid. In addition, gold dissolves in cyanide solutions when oxygen is present. Cyanide is a chemical compound of the elements carbon and nitrogen.
Many electrical and electronic devices, including computers, radios, and television sets have parts made with gold. Gold makes excellent electrical contacts because of its ability to conduct electric current, its high resistance to corrosion, and its ductility.
History
No one knows when people first discovered gold. Archaeologists have dug up gold jewelry dating from about 4000 B.C.E. near Varna, Bulgaria, on the coast of the Black Sea. Coins made of electrum were produced in Lydia, a country in what is now western Turkey, during the 500's B.C.E.
In the 1500's, Spanish conquerors sought gold in Mexico and Peru. A legend grew about a land rich in gold called El Dorado, meaning the gilded. In that land, gold was supposed to be as common as sand. Through the centuries, many explorers set out to find El Dorado. The rich gold discoveries in California, Australia, Alaska, and South Africa were all believed by many people to be El Dorado at first, and each discovery began a gold rush. Probably the most famous gold rush was the one to California in 1849. The largest U.S. gold strike of the 1900's was made near Carlin, Nevada, in the early 1960's. An open-pit mine began operating there in 1965. The Carlin mine added about 10 percent to the annual gold production of the United States.
Currency
A Carat (Karat in USA & Germany) was originally a unit of mass (weight) based on the Carob seed or bean used by ancient merchants in the Middle East. The Carob seed is from the Carob or locust bean tree. The carat is still used as such for the weight of gem stones (1 carat is about 200 mg). For gold, it has come to be used for measuring the purity of gold where pure gold is defined as 24 carats. How and when this change occurred is not clear. It does involve the Romans who also used the name Siliqua Graeca (Keration in Greek, Qirat in Arabic, now Carat in modern times) for the bean of the Carob tree. The Romans also used the name Siliqua for a small silver coin which was one twenty-fourth of the golden solidus of Constantine. This latter had a mass of about 4.54 grams, so the Siliqua was approximately equivalent in value to the mass of 1 Keration or Siliqua Graeca of gold, i.e the value of 1/24th of a Solidus is about 1 Keration of gold, i.e 1 carat. The purity of gold is now measured also in terms of fineness, i.e parts per thousand. Thus 18 carats is 18/24th of 1000 parts = 750 fineness.
Gold is formed into a large number of different weight bars. They are commonly denominated in kilograms, grams, or Troy Ounces. The best known is the large 'London Good Delivery Bars, which are traded internationally. These weigh about 400 Troy Ounces (tr. oz.), which is 12.5 kg each. In grams, bars range from 1 g up to 10 kg. Troy ounce bars range from 1/10 to 400 tr. oz., other bars include tola bars and Tael bars. During the late 1800's and early 1900's, monetary systems of the United States and many other Western countries followed a gold standard. Under such a standard, a nation agrees to buy and sell gold at a fixed price and to exchange its paper money for gold on demand. The United States went off and on the gold standard several times and finally abandoned it in 1971. Since the 1930's, gold has played a smaller and smaller role in world monetary systems. The United States has not minted gold coins as legal currency since 1933
Gold Reserves
If we take national gold reserves, then most gold is owned by the USA followed by Germany and the IMF. If we include jewelry ownership, then India is the largest repository of gold in terms of total gold within the national boundaries. In terms of personal ownership, it is not known who owns the most, but is possibly a member of a ruling royal family in the East.
E-gold A New Currency
E-gold is an electronic currency, issued by e-gold Ltd., 100% backed at all times by gold bullion in allocated storage. Other e-metals are also issued including silver, platinum, and palladium, although the most popular e-metal (by an overwhelming margin) is e-gold. E-gold is integrated into an account based payment system that empowers people to use gold as money. Specifically, the e-gold payment system enables people to spend specified weights of gold to other e-gold accounts. Only the ownership changes - the gold in the treasury grade vault stays put.
Conclusion
While Sir Isaac's newly minted coinage not welcome as yet in the colonies -- readers can be sure of his expertise in gold.