Mary Elvira Weeks and Discovery of the Elements

Abstract

Mary Elvira Weeks (1892–1975) was the author of the highly successful book, The Discovery of the Elements. She was born in Lyons, Wisconsin, and attended Ripon College, Ripon, Wisconsin (B.A. 1913), the University of Wisconsin (M.A. 1914), and the University of Kansas (Ph.D. 1927). In 1932, Weeks began publishing a series of more than twenty-one articles in the Journal of Chemical Education, and in 1933 she combined these articles in book form and published the first edition of The Discovery of the Elements. The book went through six further editions, ending with the 7th edition in 1968 which was co-authored with Henry M. Leicester. In 1944 Weeks moved to Wayne State University in Detroit to accept a post as a scientific researcher at the Kresge-Hooker Science Library. She retired in 1954 and stayed in Detroit until her death. In addition to these and other biographical details, the present paper contains an analysis of the changes made in the various editions of Discovery of the Elements, along with a study of how the book was received, as illustrated by excerpts from book reviews over the years. Much of the material in Discovery of the Elements is as enjoyable and informative today as it was when first published beginning in 1932.