Yet another periodic table.

In the unlikely event that anyone is counting, this will be the fourth time I’ve written about periodic tables. (See 14 February 2008, 25 February 2008, and 14 April 2008.)

A fascinating subject? Perhaps. But an alternative explanation is that I’m just overly fixated on the namesake of this blog.

There’s another kid on the block worth knowing: The Periodic Table of Videos. The table itself is rather homely. But every chemical element is linked to a YouTube video produced at the University of Nottingham. Each is compelling, interesting, factual, and totally unpretentious.

And the narrator, Professor Martyn Poliakoff, is a star, from his unlikely hair, to his woolly British accent, to his clunky tie, which features the periodic table. Every kid should have a chemistry teacher so utterly cool.

I don’t recommend you visit the site unless you have lots of time on your hands. It’s way too much fun. But if you do, be sure to check out hydrogen, cesium, and phosphorus. They all demonstrate what everybody who ever had a chemistry set wanted to do: create enormous and wonderfully satisfying explosions.