Loading...
1st out of 4 books
—
4 voters
My rating:
add to my books
The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe
An eye-opening, original collection of gorgeous, never-before-seen photographic representations of the 118 elements in the periodic table.
The elements are what we, and everything around us, are made of. But how many elements has anyone actually seen in pure, uncombined form? "The Elements" provides this rare opportunity. Based on five years of research and photo...more
The elements are what we, and everything around us, are made of. But how many elements has anyone actually seen in pure, uncombined form? "The Elements" provides this rare opportunity. Based on five years of research and photo...more
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
October 1st 2009
by Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
686)
When I picked up this book in the library I skimmed the first couple of pages, looked at a random entry, and really liked what I saw. When I started reading it, I laughed out loud at the first line: "The periodic table is the universal catalog of everything you can drop on your foot."
But then things started to slip. Gray's humor is wildly uneven and mixes on-target wit with ham-fisted jokes and gratuitous insults aimed at anything he considers silly or stupid. This kind of ar...more
But then things started to slip. Gray's humor is wildly uneven and mixes on-target wit with ham-fisted jokes and gratuitous insults aimed at anything he considers silly or stupid. This kind of ar...more
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 backg...more
Carol
rated it
Recommends it for:
chemistry students, anyone interested in and curious about the world
Recommended to Carol by:
Jon Mitchell
I think I might go 4.5 stars on this if that were an option. This got great reviews and was recommended for purchase by Jon M., one of our science teachers. I sat down to catalog it yesterday and ended up pretty much reading the whole thing. It has been many a year since I had to think about Chemistry, but even if I had zero background in the subject I think I still would have found the book fascinating.
First of all, it's just a thing of beauty - black background pages with photos that just pop
...more
When I was a kid, my father had the entire Time/Life science series. For you young whippersnappers, Time/Life books were educational series that covered all kinds of topics - history, science, literature, you name it. The idea was that you sign up and they send you books, once a month, until the series was finished or you decided you no longer wanted to receive it.
The Science series focused on, of course, science, with books devoted to every facet of physics, medicine, chemistry, biol...more
The Science series focused on, of course, science, with books devoted to every facet of physics, medicine, chemistry, biol...more
I am a tutor at a nationally recognized tutoring center. One of our brightest students brought this book in to work with as an enrichment product. I will freely admit that I am generally not an enormous fan of hard science, and was a bit hesitant when I was first faced with it. I'm a history major, and I chose the topic for my Marine Biology term paper based on the fact that Sea Otters are really cute. That's why I was quite surprised when I found this book fascinating. Its blend of valuable sci...more
What can I say? The Periodic Table has never seemed so cool in this gorgeously photographed coffee table book.
This is not a reference work, although it does contain basic information on each element like its position in the periodic table, atomic weight, density, atomic radius, crystal structure, electron filling order, atomic emission spectrum, and state of matter (solid/liquid/gas) vs temperature.
Instead .. it is a work to inspire wonder with first-rate, brilliantly-l...more
This is not a reference work, although it does contain basic information on each element like its position in the periodic table, atomic weight, density, atomic radius, crystal structure, electron filling order, atomic emission spectrum, and state of matter (solid/liquid/gas) vs temperature.
Instead .. it is a work to inspire wonder with first-rate, brilliantly-l...more
I love this book so much, it's ridiculous. As someone who spent most of high school and college trying to like science and failing (often in more than one way--I'm looking at you, Organic Chemistry!), as in adult I've come to love books that make science interesting. I've been into pop-physics lately, and occasionally the history of math, and like those, this book really makes me wonder why science education is so damn boring. Every Chem class I took felt so overwhelmingly dry and irrelevant, wh...more
Beautiful and informative book!
Didn't quite get to read all the details for every element as my library would only part with this book for 24 hours. The author included tons of factoids, some more interesting than others. While his tone was sometimes amusing, it was also occasionally annoying; for example, when he thinks an element or its application is stupid, he has no problem saying so, and I found this arrogance a bit grating. I also didn't like how the author tried to transitio...more
Didn't quite get to read all the details for every element as my library would only part with this book for 24 hours. The author included tons of factoids, some more interesting than others. While his tone was sometimes amusing, it was also occasionally annoying; for example, when he thinks an element or its application is stupid, he has no problem saying so, and I found this arrogance a bit grating. I also didn't like how the author tried to transitio...more
view 2 comments
This is an utterly delightful, fabulous book. I guess the official description would be this dry-sounding thing: Every page features one of the elements of the periodic table, and gives lots of lovely photos and interesting descriptions of that element. But somehow it's so much more. There is a lot of information packed into this gorgeous coffee table type book, and the guy is funny. I literally could not put it down. It is a perfect introduction into chemistry for even the mildly curious, or eq...more
Wonderful photos. While reading this I pondered an amazing question. What happeneds when we run out of an element, or is there x amount of elements in the world and when you burn it up or use it up does it just recycle itself? Obviously we can speed up the making of an element (carbon) but will there be some major shift in the planet if say we have no more helium, or gold?
I am sure there is an answer to these questions that I missed in Chemistry 101. So as luch would have it I met a Physic...more
I am sure there is an answer to these questions that I missed in Chemistry 101. So as luch would have it I met a Physic...more
Matthew Ward suggested this book with high recommendations. I really wished I had had this book for my high school chemistry. It is a delightful read and the author's wit makes this book a delight to read. An example of his wit from Scandium (21) Scandium is used to make strong metals and bright lights....Metal-halide lighting is used where large amounts of light are needed, on streets and in warehouses and megastores. It is more efficient than any other common light source except sodium vap...more
Great pictures of the elements, brief description of the importance of each element, plus a bit of scientific information for the geek. If you go the the website at www.periodictable.com, you can order customized posters. For example, the poster of my name has carbon (C), iodine (I), neodymium (Nd), and yttrium (y). Carbon is represented by diamond and the iodine was heated on a white plate and has a nice purple fume. It is a very cool poster. It hangs in my office at work, where most of my cowo...more
Beautiful and informative.
If there were ever going to be a book (besides Moby Dick) that I wouldn’t like, The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe (Black Dog and Leventhal 2009) by Theodore Gray, would probably be it. Come one–the periodic table? All I remember from school about it is that I had to memorize an awful lot of element names, numbers and symbols and then try to balance them in equations. Ugh.
Fortunately, Theodore Gray opens up much more in this exploration of, well,...more
Fortunately, Theodore Gray opens up much more in this exploration of, well,...more
And it comes with a poster! Theodore Gray has produced a beautifully designed, enthralling book with double page spreads depicting most of the elements of the periodic table. A metallurgist & collector of chemical elements, he writes with humor, enthusiasm, & authority. The left spread is a photo of an element with its chemical symbol, while the right spread provides the element's name, atomic weight, chemical spectrum, melting & boiling points, etc. This page also features photos of items made ...more
An extremely beautiful coffee table book for geeks!
It's delightful, going through the elements one at a time and readying cute trivia about them and what makes them unique. The author doesn't try to educate the reader about the atomic details (which would be, you know, boring!) but does a great job at making the science understandable to lay people.
I'm working my way through the periodic table four or five elements at a time and really enjoying it. Also, the pictures are be...more
It's delightful, going through the elements one at a time and readying cute trivia about them and what makes them unique. The author doesn't try to educate the reader about the atomic details (which would be, you know, boring!) but does a great job at making the science understandable to lay people.
I'm working my way through the periodic table four or five elements at a time and really enjoying it. Also, the pictures are be...more
This is a great book for anyone who is curious about what the world (and we) are made of. Theodore Gray has a very curious and almost child-like interest in "cool" stuff. The book's descriptions and the choice of some very wonderful photographs are very captivating. He even made his own "Periodic" table out of wood. He also has an interest in blowing things up (in a safe, non-terrorist way). How many men and even young boys today can relate to blowing up models with firec...more
Summary: An illustrated guide to the elements by an author who thoroughly knows (and tries to collect) the entire periodic table.
Verdict: True love!
Yay!: The photographs are visually striking, earning this book my nomination for Best Coffee Table Book of EVER. The elements are shown in pure form when possible and in usable form when not, the images sliced away from their original backgrounds and placed on stark black for emphasis. Beyond the photographs, the writing is not yo...more
Verdict: True love!
Yay!: The photographs are visually striking, earning this book my nomination for Best Coffee Table Book of EVER. The elements are shown in pure form when possible and in usable form when not, the images sliced away from their original backgrounds and placed on stark black for emphasis. Beyond the photographs, the writing is not yo...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially the amazing photographs of the elements and learning about their interesting applications in the real world. (I am no longer shocked by the alarming number of people who have cancer, considering household smoke detectors contain tiny amounts of radioactive americium.) The informational diagrams for each element could be very useful for students and would be an excellent choice for a reference book on the elements.
My main gripe about this b...more
My main gripe about this b...more
It's really shocking how little we know about the items we use everyday. Luckily, people like Theodore Gray are here to remind us all about the fascinating world we live in. Gray's book reminds you of a wonderful college professor: Smart, funny, informative, and just a tad bit eccentric. Full of beautiful pictures with items from Gray's "element collection", the book is a very accessible guide to the periodic table.
Gray knows his elements, their history, and has amassed an intriguing collection of artifacts containing each of them (of those that can be contained). Great photos and engaging prose. This should be on every chemistry teachers bookshelf, or possibly used as a text. Chemistry class would become an instant hit all over the world, rather than something to be avoided and abhorred!
What an awesome book! Every element illustrated with items made of said element. Not only are the photographs really cool, but Theodore Gray is a really funny science nerd and had a ton of funny stories to tell about his history element collecting. It was especially interesting learning a lot of the real world applications of most of the elements.
This is a Great book; Im not too big on Chemistry but its nice to learn a bit about the Elements that surround use everyday- The author does this in a Good way- Black stunning paper with Bright beautiful elements and a sense of Humor! (:
My only Dislike was that in an ELEMENT book; not ONCE did they mention the man who invented the Table of Elements; mendeleev.
( I don't know if this is with everybody, But the paper- When my hands were a bit sticky- The natural oil on my Fingers, I f...more
My only Dislike was that in an ELEMENT book; not ONCE did they mention the man who invented the Table of Elements; mendeleev.
( I don't know if this is with everybody, But the paper- When my hands were a bit sticky- The natural oil on my Fingers, I f...more
I picked this up at the library on a whim, thinking it might be fun to browse through. And wow! I'm amazed at the photography, and the way it held my interest. I really liked how the book told what each element is used for. I haven't thought about the periodic table much since high school, so this was a fun, mini refresher course for me.
Michael Kerwin
added it
What a wonderful book. The only odd note I will make is the author's continued interjection of the superior qualities of CFL over tungesten or other incandescent light bulbs. Not sure if he was attacked by an edison style light-bulb as a child, but he does seem quite scarred by them.
Fascinating (and very readable) examination of each element and how it affects our lives. The pictures of the elements themselves and their uses add significantly to this book's appeal to laymen interested in learning a little more about the science of what makes up our world.
Excellent introduction (and re-introduction) to the building blocks of the universe. The author's ability to incorporate every day uses of each element in a witty, easy -to-follow way left us wanting to learn and know more. Visually appealing as well.
Some fun and interesting facts in here, but mostly it just made me realize how little I know or understand about chemistry, nuclear physics or quantum mechanics. Oh, and electrochemistry. I sure wish I'd had good science teachers in high school!
I found it pretty interesting to read a common book that spoke about the highlights of each of the elements, however it would have been nicer if there were more details on the structures of each and explanation on how their properties fully explain their uses.
An educational book about the periodic table of elements full of clever witicisms, personal stories, and historical goodies. Choose this book if you want to learn, have fun, and chuckle at the author and people throughout history.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
