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The Elements

Adrian Dingle

4.36 · Rating details · 14 ratings · 5 reviews

The perfect guide to all 118 elements that make up the periodic table. Learn about their discoveries, uses, and properties.

The elements in the periodic table are the ingredients that make up our world. Explore elements such as carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, and learn why they are essential to our survival. See how precious gold protects astronauts in space, and why the meta ...more

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Hardcover, 72 pages

Published June 19th 2018 by DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley)

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DK Eyewitness

130 books — 5 voters

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Feb 06, 2019 Caterina rated it really liked it

Shelves: childrens-stem, british-or-english-author, nature-science, young-adult

In preparation for reading Primo Levi’s memoir, The Periodic Table, and because of its seductive and, well, elemental, quality, I picked this 2018 book as my second foray into the lusciously-illustrated DK Eyewitness series. This worthwhile book is aimed at young adults, older children, and, really, anyone who wants a short introduction. It explains succinctly what an element is, the history and logical organization of the periodic table, and then devotes most of the book to brief, fascinating i In preparation for reading Primo Levi’s memoir, The Periodic Table, and because of its seductive and, well, elemental, quality, I picked this 2018 book as my second foray into the lusciously-illustrated DK Eyewitness series. This worthwhile book is aimed at young adults, older children, and, really, anyone who wants a short introduction. It explains succinctly what an element is, the history and logical organization of the periodic table, and then devotes most of the book to brief, fascinating illustrated summaries of each element, its natural (or induced) occurrence and some of its practical uses (if any). A great teaching resource.

The green color of the Northern Lights results when particles from the Sun collide with the element Oxygen in Earth’s upper atmosphere. The blue and violet colors are the result of the Sun’s particles colliding with the element Nitrogen. These plentiful elements are among the most critical to Life on Earth.

Who knew that exploring the periodic table of the elements could be such a surprising delight?

Appropriately enough, the element Europium is mixed with the ink used to print Euro bank notes. It glows red under ultraviolet light.

So many seemingly obscure elements have some unique purpose in industry, agriculture, and even medicine. On the other hand, halfway through the book I was stopped cold in horror by the image of a mushroom cloud on two pages devoted to uranium and plutonium, which made the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But, in contrast, most of the illustrations and examples are of great beauty and beneficial use. (That being said, I’m aware that mining them is not necessarily a pretty picture.)

Gas tubes filled with the element Neon (a “noble,” that is, unreactive, gas) are used in red signs and lights. The other colors are produced by other elements: Argon (purple), Mercury (blue) and Helium (yellow or purple). (Tiger image from Let There Be Neon.)

A tiger seems a most appropriate image for many of the elements, powerful and rare, dangerous and beautiful. ...more

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Feb 15, 2020 Dan Castrigano rated it liked it · review of another edition

Stuff I wrote down: 4 elements on the Periodic Table named for Swedish village called Ytterby: terbium, erbium, yttrium, ytterbium; catalytic converter converts carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides to carbon dioxide and water; uranium-based bomb = Hiroshima = Little Boy; plutonium-based bomb = Nagasaki = Fat Man; Enrico Fermi created first nuclear reactor; "Ivy Mike" = 1952 = first hydrogen bomb blown up in Pacific; LED = light-emitting diodes; chalcogens = oxygen group; halogens = ...more

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Feb 04, 2020 Stasia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I am totally not above grabbing books in the children's section to learn something.. you get all the facts in laymen's terms. This is a fun fact filled book, and I learned a lot of surprising things about various elements that I did not know before! ...more

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Jul 13, 2018 Laurie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: education

I reviewed this book as a classroom resource. Although probably geared for elem/middle school, it is actually visually appealing to older students as well.

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