Stontium is an alkaline earth metal element denoted by the atomic symbol, Sr. It has an atomic weight of 87.62 and has an atomic number of 38. It is a silvery-white metal that oxidizes rapidly in air, forming a pale yellow crust of oxide on any freshly cut surface. It exists in three allotropic forms and has a melting point of 1,430.6°F (777°C) and a boiling point of 2,519.6°F (1,382°C).

Credit for the discovery of strontium probably should be divided among three men, Adair Crawford (1767-1813), Thomas Charles Hope (1766-1844), and Humphry Davy. Crawford was a physician and professor of chemistry at Woolwich. He first recognized in 1790 that an ore found in the lead mine at Strontian, in Argyleshire (Scotland), contained " a new species of earth" unlike anything that had been described to that time.

Beginning in 1791, Hope continued the study of this new earth. Hope...