Interesting documentary!

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/10/14/chemistry-a-volatile-history-bbc/

BBC’s Volatile History of Chemistry

by Maria Popova

How the elements came to be, or what alchemy and urine have to do with the God particle.

Chemistry is the science of matter, of everything we touch and, existential philosophy aside, of everything we are. And even though we brush up against it with every molecule of our bodies in every instant of our lives, most of us haven’t dedicated formal thought to it since high school. Now, thanks to the fine folks at BBC Four — who previously pondered such captivating issues as the nature of reality,the age-old tension between science and religion, how music works, and what time really is — you can refresh and enrich your understanding of this complex world withChemistry: A Volatile History, a fascinating three-part series by theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili, exploring everything from the history of the elements to the rivalries and controversies that bedeviled scientific progress to the latest bleeding-edge attempts to split matter.