Materials Union endorses UNESCO’s IYPT2019

The seminal work of Dmitri Mendeleev 150 years ago revealed systematic interrelationships of all the chemical elements known and predicted at the time and, remarkably, of those subsequently discovered. Those elements are the stuff of which everything and everyone we see is made. The phenomenal natural evolution of our world, including of life itself, assembles the necessary major and often crucial minor elemental ingredients required for Nature’s grand design. Mendeleev’s Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements and its legacy gave us the tools and understanding to invent and design well beyond what Nature has provided.

Whereas empirical uses of materials date to the Bronze and Iron Ages, our electronics, pharmaceuticals and skyscrapers owe their existence to invention informed by knowledge of the properties of the elements and of the likely properties of myriad compounds and alloys that they form. Such research and invention continue apace in the laboratories of universities and companies with no end in sight. The community of materials researchers depends on, and fully participates in, this exciting progress. The International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS) therefore enthusiastically endorses UNESCO’s declaration of 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements (IYPT2019).

According to IUMRS President Y. F. Han, “The thousands of researchers affiliated with our membership, who devote their careers to uncovering the next great innovation enabled by advanced materials, all rely on their early training which included Mendeleev’s Table and which remains invaluable in formulating the next new approach to solving problems and making new discoveries in the laboratory. It is therefore entirely appropriate for IUMRS to recognise this sesquicentennial anniversary on their behalf.”

The IUCr is a sponsor of IYPT2019.