Celebrating 150 years of the periodic table

Symbolic picture for the article. The link opens the image in a large view. — Prof. Dr. Jörn Wilms here together with his new rocket waste bin – matching the Astronomical Institute. (Image: Christina Graefe, Editing: FAU/Luisa Macharowsky)

For the 150th anniversary of the periodic table, we asked our scientists about their favourite element

August 30, 2019

Prof. Dr. Jörn Wilms, Dr. Karl Remeis-Observatory Bamberg, on hydrogen:

“Hydrogen is not only the beginning of the periodic table, but by far the most common element in the universe: In mass fraction, 75 per cent of the matter in the universe consist of hydrogen. The stars, which we see in the sky, as well as our sun, produce their energy by using the fusion from hydrogen to helium. Therefore, hydrogen surely is one of the most important elements for us.”

Further interviews within the framework of the “150 Jahre Periodensystem” series as well as more exciting stories about FAU can be found on our website and the FAU Facebook page.