By the English chemist whose work on the atomic weights of the elements anticipated the periodic table of Mendeleev, and who predicted the element germanium before its discovery by the latter.
By the dawn of the nineteenth century, "elements" had been defined as basic building blocks of nature resistant to decomposition by chemical means. In 1869, the Russian chemist Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev organized the discord of the elements into the periodic table, assigning each element to a row, with each row corresponding to an elemental category. The underlying order of matter, hitherto only dimly perceived, was suddenly clearly revealed. This is the first English-language collection of Mendeleev's most important writings on the periodic law. Thirteen papers and essays, divided into three groups, reflect the period corresponding to the initial establishment of the periodic law (three papers: 1869-71), a period of priority disputes and experimental confirmations (five papers: 1871-86), and a final period of general acceptance for the law and increasing international recognition for Mendeleev (five papers: 1887-1905). A single, easily accessible source for Mendeleev's principle papers, this volume offers a history of the development of the periodic law, written by the law's own founder.
This book provides an overview of the origins and evolution of the periodic system from its prehistory to the latest synthetic elements and possible future additions. The periodic system of the elements first emerged as a comprehensive classificatory and predictive tool for chemistry during the 1860s. Its subsequent embodiment in various versions has made it one of the most recognizable icons of science. Based primarily on a symposium titled “150 Years of the Periodic Table” and held at the August 2019 national meeting of the American Chemical Society, this book describes the origins of the periodic law, developments that led to its acceptance, chemical families that the system struggled to accommodate, extension of the periodic system to include synthetic elements, and various cultural aspects of the system that were celebrated during the International Year of the Periodic Table.
'This is an an absolutely wonderful book that is full of gems about the elements and the periodic table … All in all, the book is highly recommended to philosophers of chemistry. As philosophers we have a natural tendency to concentrate on generalities and not to get too involved in the specifics and the details. Above all else, this new book reminds us that such an approach needs to be tempered by a detailed knowledge of the exceptions and features that go against the simplified generalities which we so cherish.' [Read Full Review]Eric ScerriFoundations of Chemistry'Many questions are dealt with in a clearly written way in this stimulating and innovative book. The reader will quickly become interested in the subject and will be taken on tour through this Periodic Table in a very readable way, both for students and teachers … The number of illustrations is good, and clear. This book is indeed unique and quite thought-provoking … This book is highly recommended for students, teachers, researchers and not only chemists! Geologists, biochemist and also physicists will find it very interesting to read.' [Read Full Review]Chemistry InternationalThat fossilized chart on every classroom wall — isn't that The Periodic Table? Isn't that what Mendeléev devised about a century ago? No and No. There are many ways of organizing the chemical elements, some of which are thought-provoking, and which reveal philosophical challenges. Where does hydrogen 'belong'? Can an element occupy more than one location on the chart? Which are the Group 3 elements? Is aluminum in the wrong place? Why is silver(I) like thallium(I)? Why is vanadium like molybdenum? Why does gold form an auride ion like a halide ion? Does an atom 'know' if it is a non-metal or metal? Which elements are the 'metalloids'? Which are the triels? So many questions! In this stimulating and innovative book, the Reader will be taken on a voyage from the past to the present to the future of the Periodic Table. This book is unique. This book is readable. This book is thought-provoking. It is a multi-dimensional examination of patterns and trends among the chemical elements. Every reader will discover something about the chemical elements which will provoke thought and a new appreciation as to how the elements relate together.
Eric R. Scerri presents a modern and fresh exploration of this fundamental topic in the physical sciences, considering the deeper implications of the arrangements of the table to atomic physics and quantum mechanics. This new edition celebrates the completion of the 7th period of the table, with the naming of elements 113, 115, 117, and 118
Work by the eminent physicist Thomson, discoverer of the electron, consisting of seven chapters which deal respectively with the origin and properties of corpuscles (subatomic particles), two different corpuscular theories of metallic conduction, and the number and arrangement of corpuscles in the atom.
This book presents unpublished excerpts from extensive correspondence between Niels Bohr and his immediate family, and uses it to describe and analyze the psychological and cultural background to his invention of the quantum theory of the atom.