'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.

The Periodic Table is largely a memoir of the years before and after Primo Levi’s transportation from his native Italy to Auschwitz as an anti-Facist partisan and a Jew. It recounts, in clear, precise, unfailingly beautiful prose, the story of the Piedmontese Jewish community from which Levi came, of his years as a student and young chemist at the inception of the Second World War, and of his investigations into the nature of the material world. As such, it provides crucial links and backgrounds, both personal and intellectual, in the tremendous project of remembrance that is Levi’s gift to posterity. But far from being a prologue to his experience of the Holocaust, Levi’s masterpiece represents his most impassioned response to the events that engulfed him. The Periodic Table celebrates the pleasures of love and friendship and the search for meaning, and stands as a monument to those things in us that are capable of resisting and enduring in the face of tyranny.

A short, illustrated introduction to the tiny building blocks of our universeincluding atoms, quarks, and the periodic table. Illustrations. 10,000print.

The periodic table of elements is among the most recognizable image in science. It lies at the core of chemistry and embodies the most fundamental principles of science. In this new edition, Eric Scerri offers readers a complete and updated history and philosophy of the periodic table. Written in a lively style to appeal to experts and interested lay-persons alike, The Periodic Table: Its Story and Its Significance begins with an overview of the importance of the periodic table and the manner in which the term "element" has been interpreted by chemists and philosophers across time. The book traces the evolution and development of the periodic table from its early beginnings with the work of the precursors like De Chancourtois, Newlands and Meyer to Mendeleev's 1869 first published table and beyond. Several chapters are devoted to developments in 20th century physics, especially quantum mechanics and and the extent to which they explain the periodic table in a more fundamental way. Other chapters examine the formation of the elements, nuclear structure, the discovery of the last seven infra-uranium elements, and the synthesis of trans-uranium elements. Finally, the book considers the many different ways of representing the periodic system and the quest for an optimal arrangement.

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.