| Did anybody realize that we're still, in this scientific age, calling an element by an alchemical name? In the Middle Ages alchemy was mixed with astrology, so each one of the metals was known by the name of a planet. "Saturn" was lead, "Jupiter" was tin, "Mars" was iron and "Venus" was copper. All these names were discarded, but we are still naming the mercury after Mercury. (Although we don't use the Latin name hydrargyrum [one more ending in -m], that's the origin of the symbol Hg). |