The "island of stability" comes from the shape the heavier
elements projected stability makes on a 3D graph. See links
below.
The general trend of the elements is that as they get heavier
(atomic number) stability decreases, but scientists have found that
some elements will become more stable if they have a "magic number"
of protons and neutrons. The island of stability is the more stable
heavy isotopes because of the "magic numbers". Some think the
number of neutrons and protons leads to a spherical-shaped nuclei,
which leads to stability.