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It has become increasingly difficult to discover new chemical elements. Whether this is because science approaches the endpoint of this endeavour or because of experimental limitations, this difficulty affects how we conceive two central concepts: element discovery and the periodic table’s predictive power. First, I argue that the concept of element discovery has undergone a shift and that latest attempts to offer specific criteria for an element’s discovery have rendered the concept flexible and fluid. Secondly, I argue that the way in which scientists try to discover elements beyond atomic number 118 shows that the periodic table no longer possesses the predictive power that is standardly associated with it. Therefore, we should construe differently what it means for the table to be predictively powerful.

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Prediction and Discovery in the Search for Chemical Elements

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Vanessa A. Seifert

摘要

It has become increasingly difficult to discover new chemical elements. Whether this is because science approaches the endpoint of this endeavour or because of experimental limitations, this difficulty affects how we conceive two central concepts: element discovery and the periodic table’s predictive power. First, I argue that the concept of element discovery has undergone a shift and that latest attempts to offer specific criteria for an element’s discovery have rendered the concept flexible and fluid. Secondly, I argue that the way in which scientists try to discover elements beyond atomic number 118 shows that the periodic table no longer possesses the predictive power that is standardly associated with it. Therefore, we should construe differently what it means for the table to be predictively powerful.