The ingredients for it all

To understand how our world works, look to the periodic table. With the 2016 completion of the seventh row (adding “new” elements nihonium, moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson), we at last could identify all the ingredients necessary to construct our world. Author Tim James tells the story of the periodic table from its ancient Greek roots, when humans were aware of a handful of elements, to the modern alchemists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries who have used nuclear chemistry and physics to generate new elements and complete the table. He also answers questions such as: What is the chemical symbol for a human?; What would happen if all of the elements were mixed together?; and Which liquid can teleport through walls?

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