Eric Scerri: Ealing’s Renowned Chemist, Philosopher, and Periodic Table Expert

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Sam Habeeb

"Shadow MP Campaigner of Ealing North"

Eric Scerri: Ealing's Renowned Chemist, Philosopher, and Periodic Table Expert
Credit: UCLA

Eric Scerri (born August 30, 1953, son of Edward and Ines Scerri) is a chemist, writer, and philosopher of science of Maltese origin. He is a lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Foundations of Chemistry, an international peer-reviewed journal covering the history and philosophy of chemistry and chemical education. He has expertise in the history and philosophy of the periodic table and is an author and editor of several books in this and related fields. Scerri appeared in the 2014 PBS documentary film, The Mystery of Matter.

Where did Eric Scerri get education from?

Scerri studied at Walpole Grammar School, Ealing. He completed his BSc at Westfield College, University of London, followed by a Certificate in Postgraduate Study at the University of Cambridge and then an MPhil at the University of Southampton before pursuing his PhD from King’s College London.

Research interests

Eric’s work has mainly been in the history and philosophy of chemistry, with a particular focus on how far chemistry reduces to quantum mechanics. He specializes in the study of the periodic table of elements, including their historical origins and their philosophical significance. More recent writings have included critiques of claims for the emergence of chemistry and the existence of downward causation.

Besides his historical and philosophical work, Scerri has authored numerous articles in the chemical education literature, accounts of the electronic structures of transition metals, and the occurrence of anomalous electron configurations.

What is a Tale of Seven Elements about?

In A Tale of Seven Elements (2013), Scerri elaborates the tale of the discovery of the seven missing elements from the periodic table a little more than at the turn of the 20th century. Both setbacks, dubious claims, and sometimes even vitriolic disputes and priority contests are involved.

When Was Eric Scerri Appointed for a Project?

Appointed for the chair role of a project recommended on the composition by IUPAC in December of the year 2015, such that it settles whether group 3 should either be the elements Sc, Y, La, and Ac, or Sc, Y, Lu, and Lr. In January 2021, the project published a preliminary report in IUPAC’s news magazine Chemistry International suggesting Sc, Y, Lu, and Lr. This agrees with an earlier IUPAC report in 1988 and with a suggestion made by Lev Landau and Evgeny Lifshitz in their Course of Theoretical Physics.

Most recently, he proposed a new evolutionary approach to the philosophy of science in 2016 based on seven case studies of little-known scientists such as John Nicholson, Anton Van den Broek, and Edmund Stoner. Scerri has argued that these lesser-known figures are just as important as heroic personalities in that they constitute the missing gaps in a gradual evolutionary and organic growth in the body of scientific knowledge. Although he denies the existence of scientific revolutions as Thomas Kuhn conceptualized, Scerri highly supports Kuhn’s concept of scientific progress not being teleological and there is no path toward an external truth.

When Did Eric Scerri Release His First Book?

His first book on the periodic table won him the Newby McCoy Prize offered by the UCLA Chemistry Department. He was also voted one of Choice Magazine’s best academic books for that year. His second book on the topic was another choice academic book for the year. His latest book, “A Tale of Seven Elements,” was listed in the New Scientist magazine’s Top 12 science books of 2013. In addition to this, Scerri also released two collections of his selected research papers. As for the editor, he served on three books on the philosophy of chemistry and the elements. Till now, his books have been translated into twelve languages, and he is currently writing a new book on the rare earth elements. In 2019 and 2020, the second editions of Scerri’s two most referenced books were published.

When Did Eric Scerri Appear on Radio and Television?

Scerri has appeared on radio and television and frequently lectures in countries all around the world. He has published over 100 articles in professional journals as well as more popular magazines, including Scientific American, American Scientist, New Scientist, Chemistry World, etc.

What is Eric Scerri known for?

He is the author of The Periodic Table, Its Story, and Its Significance which several reviewers have called “the definitive book on the periodic table,” A Very Short Introduction to the Periodic Table, A Tale of Seven Elements, and most recently A Tale of Seven Scientists and A New Philosophy of Science.

Books

Here is a list of all the books:

  • 2020, What is a Chemical Element?
  • 2020, The Periodic Table
  • 2019, The Periodic Table
  • 2018, Mendeleev to Oganesson
  • 2016, A Tale of Seven Scientists
  • 2016, Essays in the Philosophy of Chemistry
  • 2015, Philosophy of Chemistry
  • 2013, A tale of seven elements
  • 2013, 30-second elements
  • 2011, The periodic table: A very short introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford, ISBN
  • 2009, Selected papers on the periodic table, Imperial College Press, London.

Articles

  • 2023, A commentary on Robin Hendry’s views on molecular structure, emergence, and chemical bonding, in D. Vecchi, New Mechanism: Emergence and Scientific Explanation. Ontological and Epistemological Challenges in the Natural Sciences, Springer.
  • 2022, Hasok Chang on the Nature of Acids, Foundations of Chemistry, 24, 389–404.
  • 2022, In Praise of Triads, Foundations of Chemistry, 24, 284-300.
  • 2022, Various forms of the periodic table, including the left-step table, the regularization of atomic number triads, and first-member anomalies.
  • 2021, Integrating the History and Philosophy of Science and restoring the centrality of the Periodic Table into a college general chemistry course, Chimica Nella Scuola, 4, 16-23.
  • 2021, Provisional report on Discussions on Group 3 of the Periodic Table, Chemistry International, January–March issue, 2021, 31-34.
  • 2021, ‘Reassessing the Notion of a Kuhnian Revolution: What Happened in 20th-C. Chemistry,
  • 2021, ‘How was Nicholson’s highly inconsistent atomic theory able to yield explanatory as well as predictive success?’ in Contemporary Scientific Challenge from the History of Science, T. Lyons, P. Vickers, (eds.), Oxford University Press, New York.
  • 2017, ‘The Gulf Between Chemistry and Philosophy of Chemistry, Then and Now’, Structural Chemistry, 28, 1599-1605.

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Brought to you by:

Sam Habeeb

"Shadow MP Campaigner of Ealing North"

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