Niobium is a metal element represented by the atomic symbol, Nb. Its atomic weight is 92.9064 and its atomic number is 41. It is a steel-gray, lustrous metal with a melting point of 4,474 ± 50°F (2,468 ± 10°C) and a boiling point of 8,571.2°F (4,744°C). The metal occurs with tantalum in nature and is so similar to it chemically that separation of the two elements is quite difficult.

The naming of an element has seldom involved such controversy as has that of niobium. In 1801, the English chemist Charles Hatchett (1765-1847) came across an interesting mineral in the British Museum. He described the mineral as a "very heavy black stone, with golden streaks" through it. The mineral had been donated to the museum in 1734 by John Winthrop, grandson of the first governor of Connecticut and great-grandson of the first governor of Massachusetts. Hatchett's analysis of the mineral led him to...