The Cement

         Forming the liner that contains all that "Protoplasm", without leaking it all over the place, would require immense imagination. Can you imagine it? What of the #93 natural occurring elements would you choose? How many would it take? Well, here again is a reference to most of my learning curve regarding this imagination.

        "ORGANIC CHEMISTRY"! "BASIC PRINCIPLES OF"! You have got to be kidding ... again? Well, you can tell this book is taped together to still hold its content without dripping it all over the floor of my mind!

        Anyhow, by those who get paid to know about such things on page 3 ... states "...now organic chemistry seems best taken as the chemistry of carbon-containing compounds. However, the designation "organic" is still very pertinent because the chemistry of carbon compounds is more important to everyday life than that of any other element." Well, it's a start to the remaining 1,312 pages to the text shown above! Everyday life it is and, the cement holding it together.

Not To Cut

       Of course, you would have to recognize that the thought about such things would begin with the ancient Greeks of their day.  ATOMOS was the word for "not" and "to cut" thinking that a particle of matter was so minute as to allow no further division. The ultimate or smallest component of our existence. Indivisible! ... able to build all things ... in any form! Well, maybe not in a single leap. But, what a deal!

        Anyway, this foundational concept has already been posted back in February 2026 from another of my basic understanding books of days past. Scan of cover follows ... 

        On page 14 he writes as quoted before in post titled "A Foundational Concept":

                       "We now know that any object, however complex, can be visualized as a sufficiently complicated structure built out of atoms, and that the atom itself is a structure composed of three fundamental particles, electrons, protons, and neutrons."

         Hey ... say what ... three smaller cuts allowed! Will this cutting stuff ever stop? (see my post of September 13, 2025, titled "Nothing Left")

        Anyhow, just had to show a scan of my first learning book on all these things. It's on page 158 that the drawing of the atom is taken.

        All kinds of fun?

         

The Names

         Wikipedia list the names of 118 elements this day of August 10, 2026. My chemistry book of 1966 list 103. Apparently since element number (#) 93, they have all been described "synthetic" [man made]. Well, you are talk' in about names. For those who might want a list of at least the "natural" occurring names attributed to the "Periodic Table Of The Elements" you just have to flip to the back of my book ... a scan of all 103 ... in two parts ...

         Second part ...

        Might be a little hard to read but best scan here. Anyhow, the Periodic Table usually appears as a set of abbreviations and numbers as shown in my next scan ... page 60 of text.

        What a way to go among all these elements. What do you think? They all began back in the days of Greece (Big-A) called ATOMS!

"parts is parts"

         That architectural wonder "The Biological Structure" is held together by parts. Parts of this and, parts of that. These parts are called "elements". Now what are these you might ask. A whole table of elements exist under the title "Periodic Table Of The Elements". My learning curve to such wonders is held in my hand as this topic is presented. A scan of the cover follows - 

        Oh ... No! A "Chemistry" book? Not high on my all-time reading list. Anyhow, this 1966 edition has followed me through my corridors of learning along my way.  Inside the front cover this "periodic table" of the elements is shown. Some of these elements grasp hands and, once joined they form the architectural units of our cells. Now the properties recur periodically if the elements are arranged in certain order. This arrangement has come to be called the "Periodic Law"! Who would have guessed? 

Sienko, M.J., Plane, R.A., Chemistry: Principles and Properties, McGraw-Hill Book Company, N.Y., 1966. 

Secret Sauce

         Col. Sanders was that chief cook and bottle washer to "the secret sauce" that was to change the world of my chicken legs forever! Nothing like it, was my personal experience on the early visits to that "Kentucky Fried Chicken" restaurant in Bardstown, KY! Man ... oh man ... that chicken leg just got up and could walk itself to my waiting gullet. Anyhow, you might say, that "secret sauce" to life is "protoplasm".

        Now that learning curve to all that "secret sauce" had its beginning with one of my most readable, educational, enjoyable, books on my shelf of learning about things. Here is my scan of the cover by Wilson and Loomis.

        Its first Copyright was 1952 (one years after my birth), then republished 1957 (my starting first grade), then 1962 (my starting junior high) and, my "Forth Edition" just at the end of my high-school years. You might say we grew-up together along our ways but, my edition was found still some years yet to come. Anyhow, on page 40 it reads: "The term protoplasm is very old; it means the first form, and was used in early Christian literature in describing Adam, the first-formed man." Can you believe it? All the way back to Adam.

       Then, the writers state: "Protoplasm is a fluid, semitransparent, viscous, elastic material." (same page) Water makes up 75 - 90 percent! What a deal to this "secret sauce". Solid materials make-up the rest. 

       You would have to guess the word derives itself from the "Greek" PLASMA, which denotes anything molded or shaped into a form. Thus, PROTO = first and, PLASMA = shaped (formed)! What a deal!       

Building Blocks

         The biological structure that transmits all those "Greek language waves" must have some sort of structure that houses all such activities. Can you imagine it? BI - O - LOG - IC means of (or) relating to life and living processes! STRUCTURE means something arranged in a definite patter. Certainly, a definite pattern of organization must exist in this phenomenon! Let's see now ... my most helpful text by Guyton states in his "Contents" section, "Unit 1", "Chapter 1", page 2, "Cells as the Living Units of the Body". Well, there you have it! The "Living Units" of the body. (The biological building blocks!) CELLS!

It's All Greek To Me

         Alpha waves, Beta waves, Theta waves, Delta waves, ... come on now, you have got to be kidding. Brain waves electrically generated and discharged, when these eyes are closed while synchronously timed to one of those rhythms of life. Who came up with these names anyway? For those who might need a little help with finding a copy of the Greek Alphabet to help understand all the words, here is the best copy found among my collections. 

        It comes out of my text titled The Language of the New Testament by Eugene Van Ness Goetchius. Charles Scribner's Sons, NY published it 1965. My early days into Greek but who's counting? The pronunciation of these letters are given in the right-hand column. The name of each letter comes just before, with the forms of each letter to start things off. (capitals then small case) Here you go ... a helpful chart for all the terms yet to come. Old "Big A" will be doing his happy dance along the way!