|
Loading... The Elements (2009)by Theodore W. Gray
 KatyBee | Mar 1, 2012 |  This book visits each of the 118 known elements in turn, offering up facts about them, their discoveries, and their applications (if any), as well as photographs of the element in its pure form, when possible, and of some of their compounds or bits of technology in which they're used. What truly amazed me about this book is that it's not just informative and pretty, but also surprisingly funny. I knew I was in for an entertaining treat from the first sentence, in which the author describes the periodic table as "the universal catalog of everything you can drop on your foot," and it did not disappoint. I even laughed out loud a number of times. That sense of humor really helped to keep things interesting, even when we were moving through endless ranks of nearly indistinguishable gray metals. Who knew chemistry could be so much fun? Not even me, and I'm a total science geek. (  )1  bragan | Dec 31, 2011 | What a joy to read! The elements is truly “a visual exploration of every known element in the universe.” Author Theodore Gray (also a co-founder of Wolfram Research and its Mathematica), in a quirky and lively manner, discusses all the elements of the periodic table from #1 hydrogen to #118 ununoctium. (In my college days, lawrencium was the last element discovered. We’ve come a long way.) Stories range from the radioactive Eagle Scout to gray tin to vanadium tools. And the FBI’s confiscation of an element in the collection. Gray and Nick Mann provided the photographs accompanying each element from Gray’s extensive element collection. Each element is pictured in pure form and items using the element are also pictured, from coins, jewelry and lead crystal to red fiestaware (containing uranium), light bulbs, common medicines like pepto-bismal and much more. Against a black background, the photos and layout were stunning. The paper was heavy coated paper which meant a book of considerable weight. Truly a coffee table book! Gray also includes an explanation of the periodic table, orbitals with filling orders and other chemical properties than a non-chemist might want to skip. There is also a very short bibliography for further reading. If you want more information, Gray has a website with lots more photos and facts for students, teachers and professionals. There was not a conventional periodic table as I remember it in the book, making it difficult for me to visualize where the element fit. It would have helped to have one in addition to the stylized table used throughout. I was also taken aback by his comment that when “oxygen combines with hydrogen and carbon, the result can be anything from water to …” Really! The comments about incandescent bulbs were also starting to wear thin after the 5th or 6th time. And the author is decidedly opinionated about other things so be prepared. However this in no way detracted from the book. For someone who needs a more scholarly approach, there are many books on chemical elements and the periodic table. But for a light-hearted look at basic chemistry, this book is superb. (  )2 fdholt | Sep 12, 2011 | A cool book book with really great pictures, but it's written at a level that you would have to be a science nerd, or know alot about chemistry to enjoy it. The pictures were great and I learned a lot. (  ) tahoegirl | Jan 16, 2011 | I am a chemist and have always been fascinated by the Periodic Table of Elements. So, imagine my excitement when I saw this book sitting in the bookstore. Not only does it provide information on all 118 elements in the Periodic Table, it does it in a way that is interesting, accessible, and beautiful. This is a book that makes you want to touch it and turn the pages, you just can't resist. The picture of the elements are colorful and intriguing; they are all featured on a stylish black background...this is just a beautiful book. Each element features a picture of the element in its purest form. The side of the page has a small strip that gives lots of technical data. The elements position on the periodic table is showm, atomic weight, density, atomic radius, crystal structure, electron order filing, atomic emissions spectrum, and state of matter are all given in this strip. The rest of the page is given over to a few paragraphs about the element. Then there are excellent pictures showing instances where the element is used and these pictures also have small descriptions. Most elements are given a two page spread, but some of the lucky elements get 4 pages! In addition to the individual elements the beginning of the book discusses the different sections of the periodic table and how the periodic table of elements got its shape. This is more of a coffee table book than an ultimate reference to the Periodic Table of Elements. Although it does provide a lot of information on the Elements. Much of the discussion on each Element is anecdotal and somewhat humorous. This makes the book an excellent reference for the layman interested in Elements, it also makes the book an entertaining read. You would have to go elsewhere to get into the gritty details of some of these elements though....for example if you were trying to synthesize something with them or something else deeply technical. Overall I really loved this book. It is such an awesome book with such neat pictures. Everyone in the house from my computer loving husband to my three year old son has spent time looking through this book. It is just such an interesting book and it is presented in such a beautiful way. Not to mention it is even fun to read! I think everyone should have this book in their house; if nothing else it makes for interesting discussions as you see the bizarre forms of some of the elements. (  )1 krau0098 | Dec 30, 2010 |
 Because The Elements is, indeed, foremost a thing of beauty. It's actually the electronic version of a Gray's 2009 printed coffee table book of the same title, both shimmering with gorgeous images: the versatile element carbon is illustrated by the bright glitter of diamonds, the radioactive element radium is shown through the eerie blue-green glow of a vintage watch dial. But in the e-book version, these come playfully to virtual life. Some of the elements display in video; nitrogen as a flask swirling with an icy mist of the element in liquid form. Or the reader can set the still images spinning, the diamonds flashing, a vial of gold dust rotating front-label to back. The elements can even been seen in 3D if one purchases the special glasses (which I did not). And it includes an audio recording of Tom Lehrer's classic The Elements Song, which I have played so many times that I am now refusing to disclose the number. In other words, it's game-like fun in a way that a coffee table book, even with same lovely photos by Gray's colleague, Nick Mann, cannot be. And it's worth noting that the e-version is sold as an app rather than an e-book. When I decided to give in and download it, I searched fruitlessly through iBooks before discovering it instead in the App Store (On the Touch Press website, it's offered strictly as an iPad app and an iPhone app.) I settled for the iPad version. So is it actually a book, you might ask, if it's not even sold in a book store, if it's available on a few limited devices? Isn't one of the great achievements of the print publishing era, the ability to share information universally rather than limit it to a select few? And is my ability to spin a virtual copper necklace in comparable to what I learn from reading about that element in straightforward text? I think The Elements - and its undoubted success - raise all of those questions and more. And I think we're still figuring out the answers along with the future of the publishing business. But let me briefly make a couple of other comparisons between this and its print version. Both do contain scientific data about each element (atomic number, weight, etc.) In the print book, of course, there's a treasure trove of this right there on the page. In the e-version, there's a compact summary but also much, much more through clicking on the Wolfram Alpha logo. You'll see the logo in the toolbar at the lower right on the image of the Bismuth page I've shown above; it looks like a fancy red star. This represents one of the ongoing tradeoffs as we move away from print - there's less likelihood of casual acquisition of information. But if we do seek out the online data, it's likely to be more current and more detailed - Wolfram Alpha allows you to go beyond its own database through links to a host of additional scholarly sources.
References to this work on external resources.
|
 Google Books — Loading...
Popular coversRatingAverage: (4.39)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2
Wikipedia in English (17)
1
Highly recommended for everyone! Even for folks who don't like chemistry, there is something of interest in this great book for anyone from ages 8-80. At least, consider checking it out of your local library. If they don't have it, request that they add it to their collection! (