"All naturally-occurring beryllium is beryllium-9, which is the only stable isotope in nature. Small quantities of beryllium-10 (half life: 1.39 × 106 years) and beryllium-7 (half life: 53 days) are formed in the high atmosphere largely by cosmic ray mediated spallation of nitrogen and oxygen nuclei. These isotopes settle on the earth and their measurement can be used in geochronology 6."
"Beryllium was discovered in 1798 by the French chemist Nicolas Louis Vauquelin (1763-1829), and he initially called it glucinium, as the salts of beryllium have a sweet taste, but renamed it beryllium due to its presence in the gemstone beryl 2-4. Interestingly he also discovered the metallic element chromium. However elemental beryllium was not isolated in its pure form until the 1820s by the German chemist Friedrich Wöhler (1800–1882) 4."
Expected headings
"Basic chemistry"
"Industrial applications"
"Radiological applications"
"It has found an important niche role in industry due to its ideal combination of extreme lightness (one third less dense than aluminium), stiffness (six times as stiff as steel), and high heat resilience over a wide thermal spectrum. These unique properties means that it is used extensively in specialised products in the aerospace, automotive, energy, defence, medical and electronics industries 2."