Ponderables, The Elements

100 Breakthroughs That Changed the World.

In 1869 Dmitri Mendeleev presented the world with the Periodic Table. It contained 63 elements, many more than the four elements established in the ancient world, but less than half the total in our modern table. Mendeleev believed there were many elements still to come. He was right.

This gloriously illustrated essential guide to the Periodic Table tracks the history of a powerful, yet elegant tool that lays bare the building blocks of the Universe. The journey begins just as the first cities are forming, and follows the contributions made by philosophers, alchemists, industrialists, and great scientists.

From the ancient Greek philosophers to the alchemist who boiled urine until it glowed in the dark, the discovery of the elements is a story with many chapters. The thoughts and deeds of great thinkers always make great stories and here are 100 of the most significant.

Each story relates a confounding puzzle that became a discovery and changed the way we see the world.