Chemists and physicists behaving badly: The shadow side of two elemental discoveries

Abstract

It is appropriate to recall that 2019 was the year dedicated to the Periodic Table. But when we speak about false elements – in the aftermath of the celebrations marking this year, – we are greeted most warmly, but with some puzzlement, as to how it came to mind to celebrate “Mendeleev’s creature” in such a peculiar way, that is, by commemorating elements that never existed. In the course of many years, we have discovered and collected a great number of discoveries of simple bodies that sooner or later turned out to be detours or false tracks.

Keywords

• Periodic table
• Element 61
• Transuranic elements
• Missing elements
• History of chemistry