The Periodic Table

Scerri, Eric

ISBN 10: 0199582491 / ISBN 13: 9780199582495

Published by Oxford University Press, USA, 2012

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0199582491I4N00

Synopsis:

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 the behaviour 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.

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About the Author: Dr Eric Scerri is a lecturere in chemistry as well as hisotry and philosophy of science at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of three books, The Periodic Table: Its story and its significance, (OUP, 2007), Collected Papers on the Philosophy of Chemistry (Imperial College Press, 2008), and Selected Papers on the Periodic Table (Imperial College Press, 2009). He has authored over 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals and many articles in popular science magazines including Scientific American, American Scientist, Cosmos, and Chemical Heritage, among others. He is the editor of the Springer journal Foundations of Chemistry.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Periodic Table
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication Date: 2012
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket