Physicists have filled in some longtime blank spaces on the periodic table, calculating electron affinities of the lanthanides, a series of 15 elements known as rare earths. Physicists at Michigan ...

Say hello to your new desktop background. In May 1949, LIFE Magazine published a stunning series of images to accompany an issue dedicated largely to The Atom. You can check out the feature in its ...

Electrons in atoms occupy energy levels, also called electron shells, outside the nucleus. Different shells can hold different maximum numbers of electrons. The electrons in an atom occupy the lowest ...

Eric Scerri's delightful "The Periodic Table: Its Story and Its Significance" follows the 1969 classic by J. W. Spronsen, "The Periodic System of Chemical Elements," but is a different treatment of ...