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In spring of 1879 Berlin pharmacist Martin Klaproth gave uranium it's name. He named it after the then recently discovered planet Uranus.
"The pharmacist had, indirectly, given the metal the the name of the Hellenic sky god Uranus. According to the Greek creation story, Uranus had visited the earth every night to make love with the ground and bring forth children who would one day grow into the mutated Cyclops and the Titans. Uranus hated his own children and ordered them chained in a prison deep inside his wife, the earth. One of the most violent of his children rose up from his prison, castrated his father, Uranus, and tossed the severed penis and testicles into the sea. These organs grew into the avenging spirits called Erinyes, or the Furies, who occassionally returned to earth for the persecution and damnation of men who upset the natural order." Excerpt from War, Energy and the Rock That Shaped the World Uranium by Tom Zoellner. |
