Gary Wallace

The fifth entry in my Elements of the Periodic Table series is boron. Boron was first isolated in 1808 by Sir Humphey Davy, in Britain, and Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac and Louis-Jacques Thenard, in France, and is the first of the semi metals.

Although pure boron is almost chemically inert, its compounds have numerous uses. These [...]

First isolated in 1828, beryllium is a brittle, grey alkaline earth metal and the fourth element examined in my Elements of the Periodic Table series. As in the previous three instalments of this series, I examine the history and uses of the element, including its use as a neutron source. Methods of extracting beryllium [...]

In the third of my Elements of the Periodic Table series I take a look at lithium. Discovered by Johan Arfwedson in 1817, lithium is a soft, shiny, silver-white alkali metal and the lightest of the solid elements.

The methods of lithium production, its history and the origin of its name are all discussed [...]

First observed by Pierre Janssen during a solar eclipse in 1868, helium is the second lightest of the chemical elements. In the second of my Elements of the Periodic Table series, the essential facts, history and uses of helium are examined, including its use as a coolant in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at [...]