The Chemistry of Superheavy Elements

The second edition of "The Chemistry of the Superheavy Elements" provides a complete coverage of the chemistry of a series of elements beginning with atomic number 104 - the transactinides or superheavy elements - including their nuclear properties and production in nuclear reactions at heavy-ion accelerators

Authors: Thoennessen, Michael
“THE” authoritative source for the determination of the discoveries of all nuclides
Includes discoveries of new isotopes up to the end of 2015
Provides a table of references from the earliest to the latest experimental papers for all isotopes

This book describes the exciting discovery of every isotope observed on earth to date, which currently numbers some 3000. The discoveries are arranged in chapters according to the observation techniques or production methods. Each chapter contains tables listing the first authors of the first publication as well as details about the production and detection methods used. At the end, a comprehensive table lists all isotopes sorted by elements. The book is based on individual paragraphs for each isotope, which were published over the last few years as separate articles in the journal “Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables”. The work re-evaluates all prior assignments judging them with a uniform set of criteria. In addition, the author includes over 100 new isotopes which have been discovered since the articles published.

Creating an element is no easy feat. It's the equivalent of firing six trillion bullets a second at a needle in a haystack, hoping the bullet and needle somehow fuse together, then catching it in less than a thousandth of a second – after which it's gone forever. Welcome to the world of the superheavy elements: a realm where scientists use giant machines and spend years trying to make a single atom of mysterious artefacts that have never existed on Earth.