Discover the history, structure, and importance of the periodic table of elements, from Mendeleev’s discovery to modern scientific applications. When you purchase through links on our site, we may ...

At first glance, the system of chemical elements published by Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869 bears little resemblance to the modern periodic table. But by listing elements in columns, and lining up the ...

Editor's note: The following is a text-only version. The complete version with artwork is available for purchase here (PDF). The periodic table of the elements is one of the most powerful icons in ...

The periodic table of chemical elements, often called the periodic table, organizes all discovered chemical elements in rows (called periods) and columns (called groups) according to increasing atomic ...

Every field of science has its favorite anniversary. For physics, it’s Newton’s Principia of 1687, the book that introduced the laws of motion and gravity. Biology celebrates Darwin’s On the Origin of ...

Chemistry class, for most, hearkens back to images of test tubes, glass beakers and bubbling concoctions. It does not, however — at least not unless accompanied by an audible sigh — immediately draw ...

It's hard to imagine today, but when scientists introduced the periodic table, it was merely a conjecture. It had to fight for attention and defend itself against attacks, and could easily have been ...