Elements and the Periodic Table

K. Brad Wray

Kuhn, the Discovery of Chemical Elements, and the Social Nature of Scientific Inquiry

Thomas Kuhn discusses the Chemical Revolution in some detail in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, that is, the great changes in...

Jonathon Hricko

The True Story of How a False Theory Led to the Discovery of Boron

Can false theories successfully predict previously unknown phenomena? This post discusses one such example: the discovery of boron.

Sarah Hijmans

How to identify simple substances: chlorine vs. oxymuriatic acid

How are simple substances identified when it is difficult to tell whether a substance has been decomposed or not?

Sarah Hijmans

Who Discovered Aluminium - and why is that such a difficult question?

Starting from the history of aluminium, this piece reflects on the nature of scientific discovery.

Sarah Hijmans

Andrés Manuel del Rio and the Two Discoveries of Vanadium

How come an element was forgotten for 30 years? This article tells the exciting story of the discovery, loss and rediscovery of vanadium.

Chris Campbell

Josiah Parsons Cooke (1827-1894): the forgotten American precursor to the periodic table

Following the 150th anniversary of the periodic table, Chris Campbell highlights the forgotten work of Josiah Parsons Cooke (1827-1894).

Karoliina Pulkkinen

What’s the point of looking into values in chemistry?

In his 1991 book Inference to the Best Explanation, Peter Lipton argued that identification of the best explanation out of a pool of...

Sarah Hijmans

The Short History of (the Element) Jargonium

From 1869 to 1870, a new element was the object of a heated priority debate. Who deserved to be called the discoverer of jargonium?

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