Symbol (chemistry) the material was known in ancient times, while for others, the name is a more recent invention. For example, "He" is the symbol for helium (New Latin name, not known in ancient Roman times), "Pb" for lead ("plumbum" in Latin), and "Hg" for mercury ("hydrargyrum" in Greek). Some symbols come from other sources, like "W" for tungsten ("Wolfram" in German, not known in Roman times). Temporary symbols assigned to newly or not-yet synthesized elements use 3-letter symbols based on their atomic numbers. For example, "Uno" was the temporary symbol for hassium (element 108) which had the temporary name of "unniloctium".
Wolfram Saenger Wolfram Saenger Wolfram Saenger (born 1939) is a German biochemist and protein crystallographer. In his research career spanning over 30 years he has worked at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine, Harvard University (Harvard Medical School) and the Free University of Berlin, where he led the Institute for Crystallography research until his retirement in 2011. A recipient of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (1987) of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, which is the highest honor awarded for achievements in research in Germany, and the Humboldt Prize (1988), he is best known for his research on X-ray crystallography of membrane proteins and