2019 is drawing to a close. ChemViews Magazine presents some of this year’s highlights and special issues from ChemPubSoc Europe’s national membership magazines to showcase the work of our chemical society partners. New articles will be published every Thursday in November and December. This time, it’s the MKE’s turn:

 

I am Tamás Kiss, Emeritus Professor of the University of Szeged, Hungary. My research interest is biological chemistry and more closely the role and fate of essential and toxic metal ions in biological systems. I have been the Editor-in-Chief of the Hungarian chemical journal Magyar Kémikusok Lapja since 2008.

 

 

Journal of the Hungarian Chemical Society

The journal Magyar Kémikusok Lapja is a magazine-type journal of the Hungarian Chemical Society (MKE; Magyar Kémikusok Egyesülete). It underwent both a conceptual and formal change about ten years ago. From that time it publishes more reports and interviews, papers about education in secondary school and university, and fewer research articles (only reviews at medium scientific level), as well as news from the chemical industry and the Society.

We publish the journal in color. It is a fairly impressive, good-looking journal according to our readers. It is distributed mostly among the members of the Hungarian Chemical Society.

2019 has been proclaimed the International Year of the Periodic Table by the United Nations General Assembly. We did not plan a thematic issue of the journal for this occasion. However, at the end of last year, we invited applications in two categories for secondary year and university students and teachers to write short articles about their experiences, adventures, memories, stories connected with the periodic table, or an element, or teaching the periodic table, or the past, present or future of the periodic table.

 

 

Mendeleev Would be Happy

The competition was fairly successful: Altogether 23 articles were submitted, 12 from students and the rest from teachers. The papers were evaluated and the best were awarded prizes. In addition, the jury selected the best papers for publication in Magyar Kémikusok Lapja. The 12 best written and most attractiv papers were published throughout the year.

I have selected one of them to introduce to you: “Mendeleev would be happy: The first seven periods of the Periodic Table have been completed” (Mengyelejev örülne: teljes az első hét periódus a táblázatban) by György Inzelt, a professor of Eötvös University, Budapest.

The article describes the discovery of the elements of the seventh period; a topic that is hardly taught at school. It describes how new elements are named and what function IUPAC has to guarantee uniformity.

The paper is in Hungarian. Those few who understand the language will enjoy this short article. The rest also can follow the essence of the paper through the names and the pictures.

 

 

Other 2019 Activities

Due to the initiation of the Hungarian Chemical Society and the financial support of the Ministry of Human Resources large size periodic tables of the elements were given to each secondary school this year. In addition, in the March issue, we published two periodic tables for our readers: the IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements and the EuChemS 90 Elements that make up everything. As the journal is available online, these can be downloaded by the students for their personal use.

We are a scientific journal and we do not comment on political decisions or matters. However, in 2019 we made ’fine’ indications at personal and at Society level in the protection of the scientific research in our country. I can not say that this was done with too much success.

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• Webpage of the Magyar Kémikusok Lapja

 

The 12 Winning Articles Published in the Journal

1. Missing Nobel Prize for Dmitri Mengelev (Dmitrij Mengyelejev hiányzó Nobel-díja) by Hargittai István, Magyar Kémikusok Lapja, March 2019.
2. Mendeleev would be happy: The first seven periods of the Periodic Table have been completed (Mengyelejev örülne: teljes az első hét periódus a táblázatban) by György Inzelt, Magyar Kémikusok Lapja, Mai 2019.
3. Thoughts on teaching the Periodic Table in the 21st Century (Gondolatok a periódusos rendszer tanításáról a 21. században) by Szakmány Csaba, Magyar Kémikusok Lapja, July/August 2019.
4. The Importance of the Periodic Table for Earth Sciences: The Basis of (Geo)Sciences (A periódusos rendszer jelentősége a földtudományokban: a (geo)kémiai ismeretek bázis) by Raucsikné Varga Andrea Beáta, Magyar Kémikusok Lapja, September 2019.
5. From the weight of the grain to the atomic weight (A gabonaszem súlyától az atomsúlyig) by Inzelt György, Magyar Kémikusok Lapja, November 2019.
6. Midway between the illusion of atoms and the reality of molecules (Az atomok „illúziója” és a molekulák realitása között félúton: változatok négy elemre in memoriam Kajtár Márton rendszerben) by Perczel András, Magyar Kémikusok Lapja, December 2019.
7. Modern Predictions in the Periodic Table (Modern jóslatok a periódusos rendszerben) by Lente Gábor, Magyar Kémikusok Lapja, December 2019.
8. No Elements (Sosemvolt elemek), Miniseries by Lente Gábor, Magyar Kémikusok Lapja 2019.
   – Didimium in April
   – Saturn (Szaturnum) in June
   – Austria (Ausztrium) in November

• Lente Gábor’s Monthly Series of Photos of Chemical Discoveries (Periódusos különlegességek: Lente Gábor havi képsorozata a Vegyészleletekben), Magyar Kémikusok Lapja 2019.

Student Contest:

1. What did Mendeleev dream of? (Mit álmodott Mengyelejev?) by Barta Veronika, Magyar Kémikusok Lapja, June 2019.
2. Radiation Colorts and Properties of Nobel Gases (A nemesgázok kisugárzási színei, tulajdonságai) by Szücs Lili, Magyar Kémikusok Lapja, Oktober 2019.
3. Interesting and Usefull Elements from the Periodic Table (Érdekes és hasznos elemek – a periódusos rendszerből) by Árvai Barbara, Magyar Kémikusok Lapja, Oktober 2019.
4. Periodic System of the Bonyhádi Petőfi Sándor Lutheran Gymnasium (A Bonyhádi Petőfi Sándor Evangélikus Gimnázium periódusos rendszere), Magyar Kémikusok Lapja, June 2019.