TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Part I, Orientation: Column by Column, Row by Row
  • 1. Geography Is Destiny
  • 2. Near Twins and Black Sheep: The Genealogy of Elements
  • 3. The Galápagos of the Periodic Table
• Part II, Making Atoms, Breaking Atoms
  • 4. Where Atoms Come From: “We Are All Star Stuff ”
  • 5. Elements in Times of War
  • 6. Completing the Table . . . with a Bang
  • 7. Extending the Table, Expanding the Cold War
• Part III, Periodic Confusion: The Emergence of Complexity
  • 8. From Physics to Biology
  • 9. Poisoner’s Corridor: “Ouch-Ouch”
  • 10. Take Two Elements, Call Me in the Morning
  • 11. How Elements Deceive
• Part IV, The Elements of Human Character
  • 12. Political Elements
  • 13. Elements as Money
  • 14. Artistic Elements
  • 15. An Element of Madness
• Part V, Element Science Today and Tomorrow
  • 16. Chemistry Way, Way Below Zero
  • 17. Spheres of Splendor: The Science of Bubbles
  • 18. Tools of Ridiculous Precision
  • 19. Above (and Beyond) the Periodic Table