Curiously, popular science books not infrequently feature periodic tables colourcoded to highlight: metalloids; other nonmetals; halogens; and noble gases (e.g. How Science . By prioritizing engagement and accessibility, these works-usually dismissed by academics for their perceived superficiality-have inadvertently uncovered a piece of "lost history" or "buried treasure" in classification science that offers potentially valuable insights into the broader relationships and distinctions among nonmetals. I say "potentially" since the accompanying text in such books noting the nature of the "other nonmetals" is invariably superficial.