Understanding the elements gets a whole lot easier when you understand the periodic table. For years, scientists tried to make sense of the chemical world through a visually accurate representation. Today's table is organized by increasing atomic number, or the number of protons in the atomic nucleus. This chart has aided in the discovery of new elements-the most recent is oganesson with 118 protons. Through this valuable volume, budding scientists will learn their way around the periodic table, including what an element's atomic mass is and what the rows and columns signify. Fact boxes and labeled images further illuminate difficult curricular concepts.
