- Silicon is a chemical element; it has symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic table: carbon is above it; and germanium, tin, lead, and flerovium are below it. It is relatively unreactive. Silicon is a significant element that is essential for several physiological and metabolic processes in plants. Silicon is widely regarded as the predominant semiconductor material due to its versatile applications in various electrical devices such as transistors, solar cells, integrated circuits, and others. These may be due to its significant band gap, expansive optical transmission range, extensive absorption spectrum, surface roughening, and effective anti-reflection coating.
- Seattle Neighborhoods: Portage Bay-Roanoke-North Capitol Hill — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)
Seattle’s Portage Bay-Roanoke-North Capitol Hill neighborhood is located at the far northern end of the north-south ridge that forms Seattle’s Capitol, Renton, First, and Beacon hills. For the purposes of this essay, the distinct but closely related Portage Bay, Roanoke Park, and North Capitol Hill neighborhoods have been combined and their boundary is defined as the area east of Interstate 5, west of Portage Bay, and north of Volunteer Park. Development during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was spurred by the area’s convenient location: close enough – but not too close – to downtown Seattle. Initially somewhat challenging to access, by 1906 the area had streetcar service. The neighborhood encompasses Interlaken Park, Roanoke Park, and Boren Park. It has been challenged by – and in many ways defined by – the incursion of the Seattle Freeway (later I-5) beginning in the late 1950s and by SR 520 in the early 1960s.