EBOOK Periodic Table: A Very Short Introduction

Here, Eric Scerri looks at the trends in properties of elements that led to the        construction of the periodic table, and how the deeper meaning of its structure        gradually became apparent with the development of atomic theory and quantum        mechanics, so that, as Scerri puts it, one science, physics, arguably came to        colonize another, chemistry, although such a view is resisted by chemists. Scerri        shows that quantum mechanics is absolutely central to chemistry, as it underlies        thebehaviour of all of the elements and their compounds, and therefore underpins the        structure of the periodic table.Concluding with an overview of the huge variety of        periodic tables that have been proposed in the print media and on the Internet, he        explores the debated question of whether there is an optimal periodic table and what        form it might take.