ChemistryJanuary 22, 2019
Happy Sesquicentennial, Periodic Table!
The organizing scheme that revolutionized our understanding of the chemical elements turns 150 in 2019
Stories by Eric Scerri
Eric Scerri, PhD, is an author as well as a historian and philosopher of chemistry who teaches in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA. He has previously published two feature articles on the periodic table in Scientific American, which you can read here and here.
The SciencesJuly 5, 2013
A Tale of 7 Elements: Element 85—Astatine [Excerpt]
The identity of the "discoverer" of this halogen element very much depends on the nationality of the textbook that one might consult
The SciencesJune 1, 2013
Cracks in the Periodic Table
The discovery of element 117 filled the last remaining gap in the periodic table as we know it. But even as it is being completed, the table may be losing its power
The SciencesJanuary 10, 2013
The Quest to Put the Elements in Their Places
Dating from the mid-1800s, the periodic table took decades to develop and was critical to atomic theory and quantum mechanics