Group Theory of Chemical Elements. Structure and Properties of Elements and Compounds . By Abram I. Fet. De Gruyter, 2016. Pp. viii + 185. Price EUR 119.95/USD 168.00/GBP 108.99 (hardcover). ISBN 978‐3‐11‐047518‐0.

This book is a translation (by Vladimir Slepkov) of a book written in Russian by Abram I. Fet. The Russian book goes back to the beginning of the 1980s, as is clear from the introduction to the book in Russian dated 9 January 1984. The aim of the book is to give a classification of chemical elements and to describe some of their properties by using group-theoretical methods developed in the 1960s for the classification of elementary particles, more precisely strongly interacting particles (the so-called hadrons). The central part of the book (in line with the title of the book) consists of Chapters 5 and 6, in which group-theoretical methods are used for generating a new version of the Mendeleev periodic table (see Table 6.1) of chemical elements. The aim of the other chapters and appendices is to prepare the reader for the use of Lie groups and Lie algebras for the classification of neutral atoms. In particular, Chapter 4 presents the bases of the SU(3) eightfold way model, as developed for the classification of hadrons (baryons and mesons).