Book Review: "The Elements"

My literary agent (Amanda Mecke) may have a Ph.D. in English, but she has an eye (and a brain) for science. She commends to me The Elements - A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe, which I promptly obtain and devour.

Theodore Gray, the author, and Nick Mann, the photographer, have assembled a visual masterpiece that accomplishes what I wish all introductory books of science would do: engender some interest in science! I can imagine this work becoming a first selection in chemistry for students as early as the late grades in grammar school. It beautifully displays every element known to mankind with a nice, brief and not-too-complicated explanation of the history, practical uses, dangers and oddities of the individual elements.

The book goes beyond this in that it presents the science within the atom in an understandable way. Each element has a visual sidebar of elemental information, including atomic weight, place in the periodic table, crystal structure, melting point and boiling point temperatures, etc. The most standout piece of scientific information The Elements displays is how the electron orbits of each element fill up. This is the essence of chemistry and begins to broach how compounds form naturally (by providing examples of how they occur naturally in minerals, for example) and initiates a beginner's sense of how chemists create useful products in our advanced society.

What I also like about this book is a very nice explanation in the beginning of the shape and characteristics of the Periodic Table and a wonderfully visual explanation of the shapes and positions of the electron shells. And there's a nice, big detachable Periodic Table at the very end.

Parents everywhere should insist that this book be one of the very first texts (and I hesitate to refer to it as a text, lest we condemn it to the unreadable textbook bone yard) their tender students get their hands--and eyes--on. Because everyone needs just a little understanding of chemistry and the atom. For twenty bucks, a fraction of the cost of a text book, a parent can enlighten a child of any age--including one my age.