A few years ago while teaching about element symbols in Chemistry, this song just popped into my head:

Jöns Jakob Berzelius
Words by Kevin Nelstead, Bucharest Christian Academy
Sung to the tune of “John Jacob Jingelheimer Schmidt”

John Jakob Berzelius
His symbols are our symbols too
When sodium we talk about
“N-A” we will shout
Thanks to John Jacob Berzelius
Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na

Just a fun little tune to brighten up my lecture a bit.

In the early 1800s, Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzellius invented the symbols we now use for the elements, such as C for carbon, Mg for magnesium, and Na for sodium (from Latin natrium). Before that time, a variety of symbols were used for elements and compounds. The following chemical symbols are from A Short History of Chemistry by J.R. Partington (1989, 3rd edition, Dover Publications, pp. 174-176).

Grace and Peace