Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from Abrams Press,via Edelweiss,for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.
Want chemistry to be interesting to your kids? Do YOU teach Chemistry? Then you NEED this book. Period!
This is not a boring text- rather James tells the stories BEHIND how we fallible humans found out how our world revolved around chemical compounds, by trial and error (lots and lots of error), and how careers were made off the backs of other finders! In fact, many of the stories read like modern day hijinks, and THAT means it is all VERY relatable to your kids, who will find the tales both amusing and engrossing! AND that makes chemistry interesting to them!
I actually found myself looking at the Periodic Table with new eyes, and FINALLY understanding WHY it is laid out so weirdly! Now I have no fear about teaching high school Chemistry, nor will you after reading this book- don't miss it!
What is the chemical symbol for a human? What's the strongest acid ever made? Can human beings really spontaneously combust? An exploration of the periodic table in its final form, Elemental answers these questions and more.
Synopsis:
If you want to understand how our world works, the periodic table holds the answers. When the seventh row of the periodic table of elements was completed in June 2016 with the addition of four final elements—nihonium, moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson—we at last could identify all the ingredients necessary to construct our world.
In Elemental, chemist and science educator Tim James provides an informative, entertaining, and quirkily illustrated guide to the table that shows clearly how this abstract and seemingly jumbled graphic is relevant to our day-to-day lives.
James tells the story of the periodic table from its ancient Greek roots, when you could count the number of elements humans were aware of on one hand, to the modern alchemists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries who have used nuclear chemistry and physics to generate new elements and complete the periodic table. In addition to this, he answers questions such as: What is the chemical symbol for a human? What would happen if all of the elements were mixed together? Which liquid can teleport through walls? Why is the medieval dream of transmuting lead into gold now a reality?
Whether you're studying the periodic table for the first time or are simply interested in the fundamental building blocks of the universe—from the core of the sun to the networks in your brain—Elemental is the perfect guide.
Review:
Want chemistry to be interesting to your kids? Do YOU teach Chemistry? Then you NEED this book. Period!
This is not a boring text- rather James tells the stories BEHIND how we fallible humans found out how our world revolved around chemical compounds, by trial and error (lots and lots of error), and how careers were made off the backs of other finders! In fact, many of the stories read like modern day hijinks, and THAT means it is all VERY relatable to your kids, who will find the tales both amusing and engrossing! AND that makes chemistry interesting to them!
I actually found myself looking at the Periodic Table with new eyes, and FINALLY understanding WHY it is laid out so weirdly! Now I have no fear about teaching high school Chemistry, nor will you after reading this book- don't miss it!
About the Author:
Tim James is an educator, blogger, inventor, and popular science lecturer for the Institute of Physics. Raised by missionaries in Nigeria, he graduated with a Master's degree in chemistry specializing in computational quantum mechanics, and now teaches high school chemistry and physics.
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