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.
