Call for Entries: Periodic Table of the Elements

Jessica Helfand and I are building a collection of Periodic Tables and hope to publish a book on their scientific, visual and cultural history. We are looking for examples — historical or contemporary — of interesting, innovative, unusual, compelling, daring, exotic versions of the Periodic Table of the Elements.

Specifically:

Real Science
We have a fairly substantial collection of images of early (pre-19th century) systems for categorizing elements; extensive materials related to Mendeleev and his original Periodic Table; and alternative graphic systems proposed by chemists. We are seeking additional original materials to help us document the Periodic Table’s history and evolution.

Applications: Subject
We have inventoried Periodic Tables invoked as an armature for any of a number of odd subjects, including beers; fruits; cereals; nuts; sex; desserts; fonts; subversive elements; cultural elements; and more. We welcome additions to this ever-growing list and invite you to send examples.

Applications: Form
Part of this inventory has revealed unusual adaptations of the Periodic Table in signage or on T-shirts; in advertising, annual reports and posters; on menus; in songs; even on buildings and in architecture. We welcome additions to this ever-growing list and invite you to send examples.

The Fine Print
We need original materials or high-quality scans, as well as full bibliographic information and design credits. We will post all items received as comments to this blog thread; this will serve as a public archive of the items received.

Original materials can be sent to:
William Drenttel
Winterhouse
71 Undermountain Road
P.O. Box 159
Falls Vilage, CT 06031
[email protected].

To launch this project, I’d like to share three recent finds:

01. Call for Entries for the Architectural League of New York, 2002
Michael Bierut has fessed up to the sin of faux science, and has submitted this item:

02. Fast Company Magazine, January 2004
An article on IBM’s brain talent being for sale, art directed by Dean Markadakis:

03. Miracle of Science Bar & Grill Menu at MIT
At a bar near MIT in Boston called the Miracle of Science Bar & Grill, the menu is a Periodic Table done on a chauk board. Photos to be posted after my next beer there, unless any Boston-area readers familiar with this watering hole care to beat me to it!

[Other periodic tables are viewable in our lecture, Culture Is Not Always Popular.]