In a relatively brief but masterful recounting, Professor Ulf Lagerkvist traces the origins and seminal developments in the field of chemistry, highlighting the discoveries and personalities of the individuals who transformed the ancient myths of the Greeks, the musings of the alchemists, the mystique of phlogiston into the realities and the laws governing the properties and behavior of the elements; in short, how chemistry became a true science. A centerpiece of this historical journey was the triumph by Dmitri Mendeleev who conceived the Periodic Law of the Elements, the relation between the properties of the elements and their atomic weights but more precisely their atomic number. Aside from providing order to the elements known at the time, the law predicted the existence and atomic order of elements not then known but were discovered soon after.An underlying but explicit intent of Lagerkvist's survey is to address what he believes was a gross injustice in denying Mendeleev the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1905 and again in 1906. Delving into the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences' detailed records concerning the nominations, Lagerkvist reveals the judging criteria and the often heated and prejudicial arguments favoring and demeaning the contributions of the competing contenders of those years. Lagerkvist, who was a member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences and has participated in judging nominations for the chemistry prize, concludes "It is in the nature of the Nobel Prize that there will always be a number candidates who obviously deserve to be rewarded but never get the accolade" -- Mendeleev was one of those.

The story of the false entries, good-faith errors, retractions, and mistakes that occurred during the formation of the Periodic Table of Elements as we know it.

From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, finance, mythology, the arts, medicine, and more, as told by the Periodic Table. Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why is gallium (Ga, 31) the go-to element for laboratory pranksters? The Periodic Table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it's also a treasure trove of adventure, betrayal, and obsession. These fascinating tales follow every element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, and in the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. The Disappearing Spoon masterfully fuses science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, and discovery -- from the Big Bang through the end of time. Though solid at room temperature, gallium is a moldable metal that melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. A classic science prank is to mold gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch guests recoil as their utensils disappear.

In A Tale of Seven Elements, Eric Scerri presents the fascinating history of those seven elements discovered to be mysteriously "missing" from the periodic table in 1913.

The Periodic Table: Its Story and Its Significance traces the evolution and development of the periodic table, from Mendeleev's 1869 first published table and onto the modern understanding provided by modern physics.

Each year the Nobel Prizes in the natural sciences reveal amazing discoveries. Nominations are kept secret for 50 years after the awards have been made. Covering the awards from 1960 to 1962, this book reveals discoveries relating to the control of infectious diseases and the advent of organ transplant organs, as well as advances in molecular biology.

Discusses the Nobel Institution in detail, telling about the award and its beginnings, what it means to win a Nobel Prize, the fields in which it is presented, who judges and how the prize is awarded, and more.

The present book discusses the Nobel Prizes in physiology or medicine 1966-68. The 1966 prize recognized that viruses may be involved in cancer formation. Later studies revealed that these kinds of infectious agents could pick up and transmit cellular genes of importance for regulation of cellular growth. It was then possible to recognize that many genes of this kind could be involved in the formation of cancer. The disease was found to represent the dark side of evolution. As a consequence of this insight new means of treatment fortunately have been developed.The rear parts of the eyes are extensions of the central nervous system. They have a fascinating intrinsic complexity, the neurophysiology and biochemistry of which has been progressively analyzed. These revealing studies concern both our capacity to distinguish different colors and also our possibility to see in the dark. The Prize in 1967 identified seminal contributions in this wide field by Ragnar Granit, Haldan Hartline and George Wald.The 1968 Prize is distinct in its recognition of Robert Holley, Ghobind Khorana and Marshall Nirenberg, who in different ways had contributed to the cracking of the genetic code. Insights into the language used by Nature, since the dawn of cellular life some 4.6 billion years ago, have completely revolutionized modern life sciences. The capacity to read and also to write the books of life has defined new kinds of science, deepening our understanding of the magic of evolution and opened the possibilities for molecular medicine by understanding the genetic background to diseases, not least cancer.Related Link(s)

Aligned to Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects, this volume helps students understand the central ideas of Mendeleyev's periodic law. Mendeleyev's major breakthrough was his arranging of the elements in sequence by atomic weight but recognizing that there were gaps where no elements had yet been discovered. This account of Medeleyev's struggling childhood in Tobolsk, Siberia, teaching in St. Petersburg, writing The Principles of Chemistry, and development of the table and how his idea was challenged by the scientific community will captivate readers and show them what it means to pursue a question significant enough to follow for a lifetime.