Rex Reason

by Simon Patterson

Who thought there was humor and creativity hidden in the Periodic Table of the Elements? Artist Simon Patterson has found it in this endlessly intriguing little book with a black cover, in which he color-codes the symbols for the periodic table and then replaces the name of the element with a well-known person whose initials or spelling somehow match. For example, Br (Bromine) becomes Bertold Brecht, Hf (Hafnium) is Henry Fonda and Tb (Terbium) morphs into Theda Bara but what do these celebrities have to do with their elements? Patterson fills his book with red herrings, mysteries and riddles that test the reader's knowledge and expose the inherent human desire to establish order and meaning out of the least likely material.

107 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2004