2019 in review: science and technology

ONE OF THE year’s most significant scientific events was not an item of news, but an anniversary: 2019 was the 150th birthday of the of the elements. How the table was put together is a classic illustration of the mixture of inspiration and perspiration that drives science forward. The result should be part of the intellectual armamentarium of every educated person.Another anniversary, more recent, was the 50th of the first on the Moon. That raised thoughts about whether it is a good idea to go back to the Moon. Farther out in space, meanwhile, the study of started to take on the characteristics of a true science, and the origin of many of the elements in the periodic table, in between black holes and neutron stars, became clearer.