JF Ptak Science Books
Timeline of the Discovery of the Elements
I found this very useful timeline presented in a not very friendly way at the about.com site. I couldn’t help but to coyp it and clean it up a little to make it a little more accessible. Caveat: none of this is my own work–all of the credit for putting this list together goes to Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D. The original site for the list is About.com.
“Here’s a helpful table chronicling the discovery of the elements. The date is listed for when the element was first isolated. In many cases, the presence of a new element was suspected years or even thousands of years before it could be purified. Click on an element’s name to see its entry in the Periodic Table and get facts for the element.”