I became very intrigued by the story of how ambitious chemists tried to have their discovered element be included in Mendeleev’s periodic table. In the mid-nineteenth century it became clear that the current periodic table contained gaps and missed elements that had yet to be discovered. An eagerness to be recognized as a great scientist led to false entries and good-faith errors. In the end there have been more elemental discoveries that have proven to be false than there are current elements on the table.
