Summary

In Chapter 1, Kean begins by describing the layout of the periodic table. Each square on the table is an element, and the squares are all arranged in a very specific way and the location of an element on the table determines nearly everything about it. Kean first focuses on column eighteen, on the far right side of the table, which contains the noble gases. All atoms contain layers of electrons and seek to maintain a specific number of electrons on each layer, usually two or eight. The noble gases and known as such because they inherently contain the right number of electrons, and do not need to bond with other elements to be complete. The noble gases are helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon. One column to the left are the halogens, which are the most reactive and energetic gases...