A Tale of Seven Elements: Plus Another 40 or So Others

In 1913, English physicist Henry Moseley transformed our understanding of the elements by organizing them by atomic number, from hydrogen to uranium. However, it soon became obvious that researchers had yet to discover seven completely unknown elements.

In this updated and expanded edition of his acclaimed book, Eric Scerri presents the intriguing stories of these elements—protactinium, hafnium, rhenium, technetium, francium, astatine, and promethium. It follows their discoveries through the...