Chapter 19 Summary

 The last chapter started with the introduction of the most rare element known on Earth, astatine. The next rarest element in francium, which can be explained through a long set of decayed elements and probabilities. After scientists were playing with heavy elements and stability, they came up with the idea of the “island of stability”. However, this theory basically rests on francium and now to stabilize the nuclei of elements. Based on this theory, scientists have been able to fill in the last rows of the periodic table with hypothesized elements all dealing with latin names.

   However, the real question to many scientists was what the limits of the periodic table are. The chapter then moves into the periodic table and how it is set up dealing with properties. Over the years there have been hundreds of ways of organizing the elements and the author shows a genuine interest and respect for the ingenuity of a lot of them, especially some of the 3D ideas.