Summary
The general public may not be familiar with lanthanides, actinides, and transactinides, but these elements comprise approximately 35 percent of the total number of known elements. Attempts to produce new elements—or new isotopes of known elements—constitute an active area of scientific research.
Providing high school and college students with an up-to-date understanding of these elements, Lanthanides and Actinides explains how they were discovered, as well as the practical applications that these elements have in today's scientific, technological, medical, and military communities. Actinium, thorium, protactinium, uranium, and the transuranium elements are just some of the elements covered in this comprehensive resource. Coverage also includes past, present, and future uses of lanthanides and actinides in science and technology.
Specifications
Full-color photographs and line illustrations. Index. Chronology. Glossary. Further resources.
About the Author(s)
Monica Halka, Ph.D., an experimental physicist specializing in the interaction of light with atoms, is committed to the improvement of physics and teaches at the high school and college levels. In addition to many publications in professional research journals, she writes and presents on physics education, was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate, and has received education grant funding from the National Science Foundation. She has given invited talks on physics education in Ireland, Scotland, Germany, and the United States, and has participated in the Oregon Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers. She currently serves as associate director of the University Honors Program at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, where she regularly teaches an undergraduate course on energy and society.
Brian Nordstrom, Ed.D., a physical chemist, received an A.B. in physical science and an M.S. in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley, and an Ed.D. from Northern Arizona University. His interests include chemical kinetics, environmental chemistry, chemical education, and the history and philosophy of science. He is professor of chemistry at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona.