Shell shock!
Modern alchemy
Turning a line
The race to extend the periodic table continues (7)
It’s wonderful to watch Johnson’s confidence catch fire and spread to the shellshocked survivors of the Kennedy administration as it dawned on them that the man who was once Master of the Senate would now be a chief executive with more ability to move legislation through the House and Senate than just about any other president in history.
On the one hand, as Sam Kean points out at the start of “The Disappearing Spoon,” the periodic table of the elements is a clear, accessible-looking chart that ought to make sense to anyone who ever set foot in a chemistry classroom. On the other, many a would-be chemist has found it as impenetrable as it is alluring.
Acquaintance with truth must come suddenly, like a blaze kindled by a leaping spark.
catch fire
1. Be ignited, as in This wood is dry enough to catch fire. [c. 1600] Also see set on fire.
2. Become inflamed with enthusiasm or passion, as in His ideas caught fire all over the country. [Early 1700s]
kindle
v., -dled, -dling, -dles.
v.tr.
Turning a line
It’s wonderful to watch Johnson’s confidence catch fire and spread to the shellshocked survivors of the Kennedy administration as it dawned on them that the man who was once Master of the Senate would now be a chief executive with more ability to move legislation through the House and Senate than just about any other president in history.
On the one hand, as Sam Kean points out at the start of “The Disappearing Spoon,” the periodic table of the elements is a clear, accessible-looking chart that ought to make sense to anyone who ever set foot in a chemistry classroom. On the other, many a would-be chemist has found it as impenetrable as it is alluring.
Acquaintance with truth must come suddenly, like a blaze kindled by a leaping spark.
- psychological disturbance caused by prolonged exposure to active warfare, especially being under bombardment."he's still suffering from shell shock after his divorce"
shell shock
noun
Shell shock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_shock
Shell shock was a term coined to describe the reaction of some soldiers in World War I to the trauma of battle. It was a reaction to the intensity of the ...catch fire
1. Be ignited, as in This wood is dry enough to catch fire. [c. 1600] Also see set on fire.
2. Become inflamed with enthusiasm or passion, as in His ideas caught fire all over the country. [Early 1700s]
kindle
v., -dled, -dling, -dles.
v.tr.
- To build or fuel (a fire).
- To set fire to; ignite.
- To cause to glow; light up: The sunset kindled the skies.
- To arouse (an emotion, for example): "No spark had yet kindled in him an intellectual passion" (George Eliot).
- To catch fire; burst into flame.
- To become bright; glow.
- To become inflamed.
- To be stirred up; rise.
[Middle English kindelen (influenced by kindelen, to give birth to, cause), probably from Old Norse kynda.]
kindler kin'dler n.
Sam Kean
THE DISAPPEARING SPOON
And Other True Tales of Madness, Love and the History of the World From the Periodic Table of Elements 周期表
By Sam Kean
391 pages. Little, Brown & Company. $24.99.
Related
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Excerpt: ‘The Disappearing Spoon’ (August 5, 2010)
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