Product Description

Customer Reviews (24)

Great book
my 5 yr old son loves this book and it is very informative and fun to read. I look forward to getting more basher titles.

engaging entertaining & memorable
The reviews are spot on about the engaging characters and novel presentation of the Periodic Table.The series (we own several titles) has opened my children's eyes to science topics other than the ones they already liked. And because they read them over and over again, the books have deepened their knowledge and understanding of each topic. I think the method of this book is the game changer- it is FUN!

However, I disagree with the assertion (by a teacher and the editor- Ha Ha!- I am a chem engineer and homeschooling parent) that this book is for fourth graders and older.No, no, no.Let your interested 5 year olds page through the book and read every page they ask you to.Early exposure to science gives children confidence that they can study and understand these so-called difficult things.Let your child discover that she/he can do it!!!Learning about hydrogen today, oxygen tomorrow, and gold and neon next week is success.Encourage them.If you are unsure of the topic, learn with your child; discover the topic together; learn that you can do it.After you have read to them, tell them that they are learning the same information that is taught in first year college chemistry.That will be a wide-eyed, wow moment- enjoy it.

This book, and the series as a whole, has made my science reluctant 6 yr. old interested in technical topics. She realizes that science is fun, interesting, something she can do, and as fun as girly things like princesses- a big step at our house. She started with Basher's Biology because that was about cute things like animals and has since had the interest to read Physics, Astronomy, and the Periodic Table. My son read Physics and the Periodic Table first, because "those are serious topics," and has since discovered that Biology is also serious and, dare I say, interesting and not gross. I am ordering three more titles today.

Make easy what is difficoult.
This book makes easy to underestand complicated physical concepts and stimulates the youngs to wish learning more on the subject.

More fun than flash cards
I am mentoring a 14 year old girl. She is taking chemistry next year so I purchased this little book so she can learn the "elements" this coming summer. This charming little book full of cute "element" characters is fun so it should be better than flash cards. It has each of the periodic element's information on one page, including the density and weight. Drawings and characters are such fun! A small wall poster is included.

Fun book to read
I love reading this book with the children, too.The colorful pictures help keep the young reader focused on the material. ... Read more

Product Description
Author Benjamin Wiker leads the reader on a delightful and absorbing journey through the ages, on the trail of the elements of the Periodic Table as we know them today. He introduces the young reader ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

One of the Best Science Books
As an 8th grade physical science teacher, I highly recommend this book for children and adults.It is very well-written, fun, interesting, and at times -- fascinating.I recommend this book as a must-read to any middle school or high school student that wants to pursue a career in the sciences, or any college student that needs to play catch-up.I recommend this book to other science teachers, and this book has made me a better science teacher -- it's that good!For non-scientists, I think it is a great history book that allows the reader to marvel at how humankind can work together, build and build upon the ideas of previous generations, struggle with mistakes for decades, and finally arrive at a brilliant understanding of something far to small to see or touch.It is amazing that human beings figured this all out, and this book tells this amazing story of human achievement.I love this book.

Good seller
In addition to the routine issues (arrived promptly in good condition), the seller was flexible enough to change the shipping destination after 1-click purchasing had defaulted to my home address.I was sending this to my grandson in another city, and the seller had no problem changing the shipping address.

Perfect for a science-minded 5th grader
This book is a history of chemistry from the stone age to the development of the periodic table, including the artificially-produced elements, plus a brief but tantalizing introduction to the hundreds of subatomic particles.If that sounds excruciatingly dull, all the more credit is due the author.Wiker obviously finds his subject fascinating, and explains it all clearly enough even for a mother who hadn't touched a chemistry text since 1975, with intriguing anecdotes of actual experiments and the curious characters who carried them out.Technical illustrations by T. Schluenderfritz are very helpful as well.

Wiker presents both the power of the scientific method to arrive at truth over time, and the bizarre deviations caused by temporarily-held theories in the interim.My fifth-grader cheered on the historical characters as they made breakthroughs, reinforcing his appreciation for the scientific method, but at the same time he was moved to wonder which current theories will eventually prove false. I couldn't ask more of bedtime reading.

a brief history of the periodic table
It is a very good idea to explain to teens how the periodic table was made and the book reads well. Some mistakes are irritating. For instance, the scientific community has not replaced azote (proposed by Lavoisier)by nitrogen: Nitrogen is the English term, effectively proposed by another Frenchman, Chaptal, but the French still use azote to name the substance.
The historical part is fair, the part showing that the periodic table explains some rules of chemistry in nature is weak and comes too lateand the part showing that the table can be used to guess the properties of elements is sorely understated.
It seems to me that to be excited by the history of the periodic table, one should know first that it is useful. The author made a mistake by diving into history without making the aim attractive.
I hope there will be a second better edition, because it would be nice to have a great book for teens on the subject.

one of the top two books on chemistry for younger children
I purchased this for my 7 year old son. He's been obsessed with chemistry and physics since toddler age. Unlike most books in the genre for children, this title did not treat the subject as a strait history on great figures in science, but rather, melded a great deal of chemistry into the book. It's a challenge to find books on science for my son's age that do not underestimate his capacity to understand scientific concepts. Clearly written for 6th grade and above, I have no hesitation in recommending this book for younger children with an more than a fleeting interest in chemistry. ... Read more

Product Description
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)

The Periodic Table is largely a memoir of the years before and after Primo Levi’s transportation from his native Italy to Auschwitz as an anti-Facist partisan and a Jew.

It recounts, in clear, precise, unfailingly beautiful prose, the story of the Piedmontese Jewish community from which Levi came, of his years as a student and young chemist at the inception of the Second World War, and of his investigations into the nature of the material world. As such, it provides crucial links and backgrounds, both personal and intellectual, in the tremendous project of remembrance that is Levi’s gift to posterity.But far from being a prologue to his experience of the Holocaust, Levi’s masterpiece represents his most impassioned response to the events that engulfed him.

The Periodic Table celebrates the pleasures of love and friendship and the search for meaning, and stands as a monument to those things in us that are capable of resisting and enduring in the face of tyranny.


From the Hardcover edition.Amazon.com Review
Writer Primo Levi (1919-1987), an Italian Jew, did not come tothe wide attention of the English-reading audience until the lastyears of his life. A survivor of the Holocaust and imprisonment inAuschwitz, Levi is considered to be one of the century's mostcompelling voices, and The Periodic Table is his most famousbook. Springboarding from his training as a chemist, Levi uses theelements as metaphors to create a cycle of linked, somewhatautobiographical tales, including stories of the Piedmontese Jewishcommunity he came from, and of his response to the Holocaust. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

A surprise, a delight, a writer you'll be glad you met.
Unique and magical, a chemist's life, each chapter centered on one element and its relationship to the author and those around him. Mercury, Lead and Carbon are imaginary, the rest autobiographical. My favorite chapter is the story of the chemists at lunch, and the slice of onion in the linseed oil. But they're all good, even "Argon", the inert gas that serves in Levi's gentle portrait of his family. (Aren't most of our families, well, pretty inert? Yeah.) I wish I could write about MY life and work with half the beauty that Levi writes about his. Practice, man, practice!

Levi is Italian and writes in Italian- the book I read was a translation and I heartily commend the translator for a superb job. To produce something so concise, so laugh-out-loud funny, so telling and reflective, in a different language than it was originally written in! Nearly as skillful as writing the original book. Well done!

sometimes inaccessible, but sometimes lovely
Like other reviewers, I sometimes found the science in this book a bit hard to follow. But that was made up for by the general loveliness of Levi's dry wit.My favorite examples-

- "a livered [solidified] paint is much more rebellious, more refractory to your will than a lion in its mad pounce; but, let's admit it, it's also less dangerous."

- "Gina then made a cruel decision: if she couldn't bind herself to the man she cared for, the only one, there would not be any other . . . she forbade herself marriage forever in a refined and merciless manner, that is, by getting married."

-"It was clear that Bonino's story would be far from brief; but I remembered how many long stories I myself had inflicted on people, on those who wanted to listen and those who didn't.I remembered that it is written [Deuteronomy 10:19] 'Love ye therefore the stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.' and I settled back comfortably in my chair."

- [before the start of the book] "Troubles overcome are good to tell."

This is not a Holocaust memoir like some of Levi's other works; it is a group of [mostly autobiographical] little essays, almost all about Levi's pre- and post-Holocaust life, by a great writer who just happened to have been in Auschwitz.

Poetry and Prose in one volume
Entertaining, sad, and insightful.What a loss to the world."Carbon" chapter is fascinating. Began second reading immediately following the first.

The Periodic Table.
It's an emblematic title for a book designed whit tales that confection a whole history. The book is a metaphor of the periodic table: elements conform substance so words conform ideas.

Primo Levi is a mentor; he begins a melancholic tale, connecting us with characters and at less expected time we receive a little lesson about chemistry, -it's a good way to spread science, didn't it?-but that's not enough for him so we also get his testimony about how he suffered WWII.

Primo's statement is hard: "... I felt guilty at being man, because man had built Auschwitz..." at last it's not clear if he got peace at his mind; but, I must recognize he is honest, because somewhere in the book he says that Primo Levi writes for Primo Levi.

In conclusion, it's a gentle book wrote to present a testimony of a man who was born Jewish in Italy, studied chemistry and suffered the war.

good chemistry!
I didn't know what to expect when picking up this book.I'd recently finished the not unrelated Garden of the Finzi-Continis and thought I might find some variant on this.Yes, both books consider Jewish-Italian culture in the years surrounding WWII, with the specter of the holocaust in the background (mainly).But they are quite different.F.C. has at its roots the humanities, and P.T., the sciences.And what I most enjoyed about P.T. was the chemistry. It's a rarity in literature to find a subtle appreciation for the career of the scientist, and Levi succeeds admirably.This book would be an outstanding choice for any science and engineering student to read just to see how one can ply a trade, be it in the laboratory, the mine, or the consulting business.Bravo, Dr. Levi. ... Read more

Product Description

Free Periodic Table in the DEMO Version. Melting & boiling points, Density, Electronegativity, Electron affinity, and much more in the Full version. Navigate from TOC or search for words or phrases.

Features

• Formatted for a small screen
• Atomic numbers, symbols & weights
• Chemical symbols and more...
• Easy to navigate.
• Search for the words or phrases
• Navigate from Table of Contents or read page by page
• Access the guide anytime, anywhere - at home, on the train, in the subway.
• Use your down time to prepare for an exam.
• Always have the guide available for a quick reference.

Table of Contents

Periodic Table: Standard | Large

List of elements sorted by: Atomic number (including atomic Mass) | Name | Symbol | Boiling Point | Melting Point | Density | Atomic radius | Electronegativity | Electron affinity | Ionization potential | Standard enthalpy change of vaporization | Standard enthalpy change of fusion | Specific heat capacity

About Periodic Table: Arrangement | Periodicity of chemical properties | Electron configuration | Naming of elements | Chemical symbols | History

Chemical Series: Alkali metal | Alkaline earth metal | Lanthanides | Actinides | Transition metals | Poor metals | Metalloids | Nonmetals | Halogens | Noble gases

Appendix: IUPAC nomenclature | Metric system (SI) | SI writing style | Powers of 10 prefixes | United States units conversion

Customer Reviews (6)

Descriptions are fine but the table itself is unviewable.
I guess Kindle has yet to come up with a methodology where dense tables etc with fine print can be viewed easily.I had to use my magnifier to view the table proper.However the descriptions following the table are great.

Unreadable
It's unreadable on the Kindle 2. A shame as it would have been a great tool to have. Maybe the DX? Keep working on it.

Not Very Useful on Kindle, but the Price is Right
It's hard to slam free content and I can't argue with the accuracy of the information, but if you have a standard Kindle and not the DX, the text is just too small to read for the most part.Tables of any type are difficult to utilize and recognize on most Kindles, and this is effectively just one big table.

Graphics intensive stuff just isnt that good on Kindle
I love my kindle, and much prefer it for reading over my Ipad.But there are some things the iPad does better, and graphics based reading is one of them.This is another klunky graphic workaround product for the kindle.Sorry, I would have loved to tell you how much I enjoyed it, I just didn't.Even free, it costs too much.....

periodic table of awesome elements
this was an excellent book I would recommend this book for anybody interested in the periodic table would have a kick out of this book. This book is a very easy read and is enjoyable even for an younge person like me. ... Read more

Product Description
The periodic table is one of the most potent icons in science. It lies at the core of chemistry and embodies the most fundamental principles of the field. The one definitive text on the development of the periodic table by van Spronsen (1969), has been out of print for a considerable time.The present book provides a successor to van Spronsen, but goes further in giving an evaluation of the extent to which modern physics has, or has not, explained the periodic system. The book is written in a lively style to appeal to experts and interested lay-persons alike.The Periodic Table begins with an overview of the importance of the periodic table and of the elements and it examines the manner in which the term 'element' has been interpreted by chemists and philosophers. The book then turns to a systematic account of the early developments that led to theclassification of the elements including the work of Lavoisier, Boyle and Dalton and Cannizzaro. The precursors to the periodic system, like Dvbereiner and Gmelin, are discussed. In chapter 3 the discovery of the periodic system by six independent scientists is examined in detail. Two chapters are devoted to the discoveries of Mendeleev, the leading discoverer, including his predictions of new elements and his accommodation of already existing elements. Chapters 6 and 7 consider the impact of physics including the discoveries of radioactivity and isotopy and successivetheories of the electron including Bohr's quantum theoretical approach. Chapter 8 discusses the response to the new physical theories by chemists such as Lewis and Bury who were able to draw on detailed chemical knowledge to correct some of the early electronic configurations published by Bohr andothers.Chapter 9 provides a critical analysis of the extent to which modern quantum mechanics is, or is not, able to explain the periodic system from first principles. Finally, chapter 10 considers the way that the elements evolved following the Big Bang and in the interior of stars. The book closes withan examination of further chemical aspects including lesser known trends within the periodic system such as the knight's move relationship and secondary periodicity, as well at attempts to explain such trends. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Definitive History of a Scientific Icon
There are two versions of the periodic table's history: The one you thought you knew, and the one Eric Scerri lays out in this delightful history. Do yourself a favor: Let him be your Virgil and reveal the much richer version of the story! Scerri -- a chemist, historian, and philosopher all rolled into one -- sleuths out what really happened in the creation and development of the table over more than a century of science history. He takes the static chart you remember on the wall in high school chemistry and shows how it was pieced together. (It certainly wasn't just Dmitri Mendeleev...) Overall, Scerri provides a thorough scientific grounding in the table, and shows why its study is relevant to science today. Just as important, he balances the science with stories about the personalities behind it, revealing an eye for anecdote you won't find in most other studies.

Highly recommended for anyone who ever wondered how this scientific icon became an icon in the first place.

-Sam Kean, author of The Disappearing Spoon

Manna for Chemistry-o-philes
When I was fifteen I began collecting elements as a hobby, mostly by raiding chemistry sets for samples of carbon and sulfur, and writing letters to industries that used or produced them.U.S. Steel sent me some silicon, Bethlehem Steel followed with vanadium, and I soon had an impressive collection.Now, four decades later, I still have my little set of elements, and every so often I take it out and marvel at the vials with their precious contents.Such is my background.Is it any wonder that I would greet a book like this with enthusiasm, and devour it like manna?The Periodic Table is more than a good read, it's a ready reference for anyone seeking to deepen and enrich his or her knowledge of chemical periodicity, which is what Prof. Scerri refers to as one of chemistry's two great, underlying ideas (the other being chemical bonding).As a biology professor, I discuss the elements and periodicity in the section of my course that deals with chemistry.I thought I had it all under control, but after reading this book I found myself revising and updating my notes.Prof. Scerri's work sits in my office, and I refer to it often.I think it will have a long shelf life, because I have seen nothing better on the subject.

A beautiful book on the icon of chemistry

An excellent and lucid book about the icon of chemistry.Every chemistry student and chemistry educator should own a copy and dip into it from time to time to put their studies into a wider historical - philosophical context.
Eric Scerri has done a wonderful job of integrating many disciplines through the lens of how the periodic table developed and continues to be at the heart of chemistry.

Buy this book
This is a readable, current book about the history of the periodic table,
defining organizing tool for chemistry.It should be of interest to
students as well as professional chemists.It is right sized for cover
to cover reading or it can be sampled using a well done index and
table of contents.

A book that honors "one of the most powerful icons in science"
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"In spite of the central...role of the periodic table [of the elements], very few authors have felt drawn to write books on its evolution.There is no book that deals adequately with the historical, and especially the conceptual, aspects of the periodic system [that holds that there is a fundamental relationship among the elements] or its significance in chemistry and science generally.It is with the aim of injecting a more philosophical treatment to understanding the periodic system that [this book] has been undertaken...this book is not intended as a work of historical scholarship...the reader is [taken] on an interdisciplinary tour of the many areas of science that are connected with the periodic system, including physics, mathematics, computational methods, history and philosophy of science, and of course, chemistry."

The above is found in the introduction to this fascinating, extremely well researched book by Dr. Eric Scerri, a professor of chemistry and history & philosophy of science at UCLA.This book is fittingly dedicated to the 100TH anniversary of the death of Dimitri Mendeleev (1834 to 1907).

The periodic table of the elements--what is it?Simply, it is basically a two-dimensional representation of a periodic system (that is explained above).The aim of this book is to bring the story of the periodic table "up to date."

This book from my own personal perspective can roughly be divided into five parts:

(I) An overview of the periodic system.(1 chapter)
(II) The development of the periodic table.(4 chapters)
(III) The nucleus and the periodic table: radioactivity, atomic number (the number of protons contained in the nucleus of the atom of an element), and isotopy (isotopes are any of two or more forms of an element having the same number of protons but differing in the number of neutrons).(1 chapter)
(IV) Electronic explanations for the elements of the periodic table: physics versus chemistry.(3 chapters)
(V) Astrophysics, element formation, other chemical trends that defy neat explanations, and three fundamental questions regarding the periodic table.(1 chapter)

One of the key features of this book, as mentioned above, is that it is well researched.However, Scerri goes one step beyond mere information gathering.He actually questions the information he has found.Here are just three examples:

(1) "The notion that the periodic table was deduced from quantum theory by [physicist Niels] Bohr [as the historical record implies] is something of an exaggeration."
(2) "This, I submit, suggests remarkable foresight and intuition on the part of [chemical writer] Gmelin, as does the way in which he uses his system to ground the presentation of the chemistry of these elements.Yet Gmelin's contribution to the classification of the elements has not been sufficiently appreciated of chemistry, or even historians of the periodic system."
(3) Clearly [chemist Dimitri] Mendeleev was spectacularly successful in [his] predictions [of new elements] but perhaps not quite to the extent that is implied by the more selective tables of comparison that regularly appear in chemistry textbooks and even histories of chemistry."

Another feature of this book is the inclusion of the actual writings of key people involved in the development of the periodic table.I found all of these interesting.

Yet another feature is that it is jam-packed with charts, tables, diagrams, etc. so readers can see for themselves what is going on.Some of these tables, etc. are actual copies from historical documents.As well, there are black and white portraits of some of those who contributed to some aspect of the formation and understanding of the periodic table.

The majority of the chapters end with a conclusion that consolidates all the information in a particular chapter.I found these most helpful.

Finally, I feel that this book can be read by all who are interested in the periodic table.However, the author assumes some science background.Many terms are defined in the book's main narrative but many are not.Thus, it would have been helpful if an appendix explaining key terms was also included.As well, a glossary would have been most helpful.Of course, any difficulties can be resolved by referring to a good, standard dictionary or even a basic science dictionary (especially for part IV above).

In conclusion, there are elements of the periodic table that are named after admired others.Examples include Einsteinium and Mendelevium.Eric Scerri has written a comprehensive book that honors the periodic table.Perhaps when a new element is discovered it should be named "Scerrium."

(first published 2006;acknowledgements;introduction;10 chapters;main narrative 285 pages;notes;index)

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Product Description
Help your students succeed in chemistry through mastery of the periodic table! This book enriches any physical science or chemistry course with 50 activities covering periodic properties, atomic structure, major element groups, and more. Grade Level: 9th - 12thPages: 128, paperbackPublisher: Walch PublishingISBN: 0-8251-3937-6 ... Read more

Product Description
THEY STARTED WITH FOUR: earth, air, fire, and water.From these basics, they sought to understand the essential ingredients of the world.Those who could see further, those who understood that the four were just the beginning, were the last sorcerers -- and the world's first chemists.

What we now call chemistry began in the fiery cauldrons of mystics and sorcerers seeking not to make a better world through science, but rather to make themselves richer through magic formulas and con games. Yet among these early magicians, frauds, and con artists were a few far-seeing "alchemists" who used the trial and error of rigorous experimentation to transform mysticism into science.

Scientific historians generally credit the great 18th century French chemist Antoine Lavoisier with modernizing the field of chemistry.Others would follow his lead, carefully examining, measuring, and recording their findings.One hundred years later, another pioneer emerged.Dimitri Mendeleev, an eccentric genius who cut his flowing hair and beard but once a year, finally brought order to the chemical sciences when he constructed the first Periodic Table in the late 1800s.

But between and after Lavoisier and Mendeleev were a host of other colorful, brilliant scientists who made their mark on the field of chemistry.Depicting the lively careers of these scientists and their contributions while carefully deconstructing the history and the science, author Richard Morris skillfully brings it all to life.Hailed by Kirkus Reviews as a "clear and lively writer with a penchant for down-to-earth examples" Morris's gift for explanation -- and pure entertainment -- is abundantly obvious.Taking a cue from the great chemists themselves, Morris has brewed up a potent combination of the alluringly obscure and the historically momentous, spiked with just the right dose of quirky and ribald detail to deliver a magical brew of history, science, and personalities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Very interesting and useful book
Very good book for someone whos is interested in the history of chemistry. A good element for motivation, for reflexion or for preparing a lecture.

Is this book really about the periodic table?
Reasonably interesting book but not if one is specifically interested in the periodic table or its evolution.Only one or two chapters are actually on the periodic table.In addition the final 40 or so pages consist just of a "catalog of elements", essentially a complete list of all the elements, the dates they were discovered etc.This is nothing more than a page filler for a book that is well written but rather too superficial for anybody really interested in chemistry and physics.

Chemists and their adventures....
I found the stories told on the book so interesting that I read it like a romance, for a few days, every spare time I had, I was reading this book... One will enjoy and learn at the same time.

After reading it, you have a very strong impression that humanity has just started to make science. Not long ago, theknowledge available was so superficial that very few aspects of chemistry were reasonably explained.

The author explains the science involved in very simple terms, it helps if the reader has some previous knowledge of chemistry or physics to fill in the blanks. The last part of the book requires additional reading to understand the evolution of scientific knowledge during the twentieth century.

I recommend reading the Scientists by John Gribbin as a complementary book as nice to read as this one.

Chemists and their adventures....
I found the stories told on the book so interesting that I read it like a romance, for a few days, every spare time I had, I was reading this book... One will enjoy and learn at the same time.

After reading it, you have a very strong impression that humanity has just started to make science. Not long ago, theknowledge available was so superficial that very few aspects of chemistry were reasonably explained.

The author explains the science involved in very simple terms, it helps if the reader has some previous knowledge of chemistry or physics to fill in the blanks. The last part of the book requires additional reading to understand the evolution of scientific knowledge during the twentieth century.

I recommend reading the Scientists by John Gribbin as a complementary book as nice to read as this one.

From Alchemy to Eternity:The Story of the Elements
Richard Morris has done a wonderful job of taking what should be a dry topic and making it very interesting.The Last Sorcerer details the discovery of the elements and the people behind these discoveries.Along the way we meet a number of brilliant eccentrics, would be charlatans and an interesting collection of scientists and non-scientists.The chapters are short and punchy.The book flows well.

From the beginning we learn that while the ancient Egyptians had identified seven distinct elements, thanks to Aristotle, the field of Alchemy was born thus leading to the belief that all things were made up of four elements: air, water, earth and fire. From there it was quick jump to the belief that base metal (e.g., lead) could be transferred into gold.For centuries afterwards, alchemists struggled to reconcile this theory with their observations.But in that struggle chemistry was born.

Perhaps the best chapter is the one about the work of the Russian scientist Mendeleev and his work to discover the periodic law.When my children were studying the periodic table, I read this chapter to them and it helped to better understand and bring to life the dry and seemingly unfathomable periodic table.But there are other great chapters about many scientists from Boyle to Rutherford.

For those non-scientists who seek to expand their knowledge about the history of science and learn a little chemistry along the way, this is a great book.It is a bit old for children under 13 (and there is some language in the book) but you may find yourself reading a chapter or two to your children when they begin complaining about their chemistry class that day.
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Product Description
The Periodic Table is one of man's crowning scientific achievements. But it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in THE DISAPPEARING SPOON follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.

Customer Reviews (37)

Dissapearing Spoon
A highly entertaining historical, anecdotal and scientific account of the periodic table which is well written and hard to put down.Recommended for anyone with an interest in chemistry, physics or the history of science.

Wonderful read!
As a high school student, I had the typical struggles (and boredom) that accompanied chemistry lectures... the daunting Periodic Table, charged ions, electron transfer, etc.However, after reading The Disappearing Spoon, I have to say that I was very impressed.It is a fantastic, well-written read!Very insightful, witty, and peppered with interesting examples of how the elements are tied in with people, events in history, and everyday real life.Makes me wish my old chemistry class was lightened up with examples from this book!Kudos to Sam Kean and I look forward to another book by him!

Highly recommended for high school to college and general lending libraries alike!
THE DISAPPEARING SPOON AND OTHER TRUE TALES OF MADNESS, LOVE, AND THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD FROM THE PERIODIC TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS uses basic elements from the table to follow human history and the lives of the scientists who discovered them. Stories of passion, obsession and success abound in this lively blend of science and social history, highly recommended for high school to college and general lending libraries alike!

It's elementary! A thriller on every page
"The Disappearing Spoon" spins the tale of the often strange and brilliant minds that discovered and exploited the often-odd properties of chemicals in the last 500 years. Though the book is based on solid science, author Sam Keane writes in a light, funny and very accessible style that wisely keeps the spotlight on the human drama and the truly weird properties of the matter that makes up our planet and ourselves. Kean gives the elements personalities -- from oxygen, greedily gobbling up electrons from other elements, to promiscuous carbon, willing to twist itself out of shape to accommodate other elements. These personalities are usedto illustrate everything from why there is so much water in the universe (avaricious oxygen disproportionately glomming onto the most abundant material in the universe, hydrogen) to why silicon is a poor substitute for carbon, its first cousin, as a basis for life. Silicon dioxide is solid at temperatures at which CO2 is gaseous, rendering it far less useful for exchanging gases, a sine qua non for breathing animals.

You will learn about the electron-stripping properties that make acids so caustic, and of a substance that is 100,000 billion billion billion (!) times stronger than stomach acid. You'll witness the unexpected discovery of neutrons and protons and the discovery of X-rays and radiation. You'll laugh when Roentgen's death-fearing wife is scared witless at seeing the x-rayed bones of her own hand. You'll exult with the scientist who created the first transistor out of germanium, and grieve when he gets screwed out of the credit. Then there's the story of discovery of the strange and hard-to-distinguish lanthanides like ytterbium -- unexpectedly cohabiting the same square in the periodic table. And you'll hear the second (and less well known ) chapter in the story of how iridium, which once seemed to prove the cometary demise of the dinosaurs. It seems that the presence of another element, rhenium, fits better with a sun-related regular pattern of die-offs every 26 million years.

Kean also delves into human use of elements against each other. He chronicles the use of bromine and chlorine in WWI gas attacks, and the way bromine field tests against the Rusians failed "comically" because the bromine compound froze in the subzero Russian winter. He tells of the way cynical German military minds evaded the Hague act that banned gas munitions by launching shells with gas *and* shrapnel. We see neutral Spain selling steel-toughening tungsten to both sides in WWII. And we hear how the ferocity of wars in the Congo, notably the Rwandan genocide of 1994, were exascerbated by the fact that valuable tantalum, native to the region and useful in the manufacture of cell phones, funded the weapon sales that devastated the region.

Kean's stories and facinating facts about chemistry, its personalities, and its uses or missues, go on for page after page. You wish they would never stop! "The Disappearing Spoon" is a must-read, and unflaggingly fascinating. While it requires an active and curious mind, no serious knowledge of chemistry is required. Pick it up and read it over and over. Great book!

Greatest elements book around!
This book has the best writing style of our time! And if you want to learn about the periodic table and the history behind some elements, this is the book for you! It almost has a comedic tone to it! LOVE this book! ... Read more

Product Description
Study cards have been a tried and true method for students of all subjects for years.Now with the Amazon Kindle and our unique study cards you get all the benefit without any of the bulk.

Our Periodic table study cards are perfect for the chemistry student trying to sharpen their knowledge of the periodic table.Questions include atomic weights and chemical symbols for all elements.

Our unique format gives you the opportunity to review a question before proceeding to the answer.This applied form of learning promotes greater understanding of the topic covered by requiring the student to recall from memory instead of discriminating from a list of provided answers. ... Read more

Product Description
This book contains key articles by Eric Scerri, the leading authority on the history and philosophy of the periodic table of the elements. These articles explore a range of topics such as the historical evolution of the periodic system as well as its philosophical status and its relationship to modern quantum physics. In this present volume, many of the more in-depth research papers, which formed the basis for this publication, are presented in their entirety; they have also been published in highly accessible science magazines (such as "American Scientist"), and journals in history and philosophy of science, as well as quantum chemistry. This must-have publication is completely unique as there is nothing of this form currently available on the market.

• Chemistry, Spectroscopy, and the Question of Reduction
• The Electronic Configuration Model, Quantum Mechanics and Reduction
• The Periodic Table and the Electron
• How Good is the Quantum Mechanical Explanation of the Periodic System?
• Prediction and the Periodic Table
• Löwdin's Remarks on the Aufbau Principle and a Philosopher's View of Ab Initio Quantum Chemistry
• Mendeleev's Legacy
• The Role of Triads in the Evolution of the Periodic Table: Past and Present
• The Past and Future of the Periodic Table
• The Dual Sense of the Term Elements , Attempts to Derive the Madelung Rule, and the Optimal Form of the Periodic Table, If Any

Product Description
Ideal for today's young investigative reader, each A True Book includes lively sidebars, a glossary and index, plus a comprehensive "To Find Out More" section listing books, organizations, and Internet sites. A staple of library collections since the 1950s, the new A True Book series is the definitive nonfiction series for elementary school readers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

disappointing
This book is useful as an intro to the periodic table giving historical background and some information on elements.However, there is no list of elements!I was so disappointed, this lack negates the postives of the book.

Good resource book
This book is a good general introduction to the Periodic Table for 2nd - 5th graders, either as a read aloud or a reference reader for a more advanced student. Like other "A True Book" books and the "Pull Ahead Series" books, it has factual information and real pictures of real objects.We used it in combination with REAL Science Odyssey's Chemistry lesson on the Periodic Table; a perfect fit! ... Read more

Product Description
A double deck of regular playing cards with the Periodic Table Elements. Each card features one element, it has the atomic number, name of the element in English, French and Spanish, the mass, the category, melting and boiling points, period and group, natural state and common usages. A great learning aid. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Not Flash Cards
If you are looking for something that could be used like flash cards, you'll be disappointed with this product.

Unique and interesting
Here are some additional details about the cards.

Each card features one element with the exception of the 4 Jokers (3 of them has 4 elements and 1 has 2 elements plus the card maker's company logo). Since there isn't much to say about elements 105-118, they were squeezed onto the jokers.The newly named element 112 (copernicium) is in the 4th edition of the cards.

Therefore:
52 cards x 2 decks x 1 element = 104 elements
3 Jokers x 4 elements=12 elements
1 Joker x 2 elements = 2 elements
===========
118 elements


The only negatives about the cards are that they're not top-quality plastic cards but rather light-weight cardboard cards with maybe a thin plastic coating.Also, the cards don't come in a hard-shell plastic carrying case, as do the same company's astronomy cards, but just a flimsy cardboard box, which makes it easy for cards to slip out and be lost.

Periodic Table Cards are a good learning tool
These cards are made of good quality material and with the information on them they are very useful as a teaching tool.My suggestion for the manufacturer is to include a card with possible games you could play with them.

Great gift for a student or high school grad
This is a great gift for a student.We gave this to a high school student who plans to major in chemistry at college.She loved it and these other periodic chart items.(And if your student is also a geeky math type, look around for an Acme Klein Bottle by Clifford Stoll.)

Magnets - Periodic Table

Periodic Table Shower Curtain - EVA vinyl

Elements made fun
Learning can be fun - even with tough information in Science.This product helps students learn about the periodic table in a way that generates interest and helps them remember. ... Read more

Product Description
The Periodic Table effectively embraces the whole realm of chemistry within the confines of one comparatively simple and easily understood chart of the chemical elements. Over many years the Periodic Table has proven to be indispensable not only to chemists of all kinds but also to a host of other scientists, including biologists, geologists and physicists. It is thus hardly surprising that the Periodic Table has become one of our most celebrated contemporary scientific icons. In the present work various aspects of the Periodic Table that are seldom if ever featured elsewhere are given prominence. The twelve presentations contained herein all have a mathematical flavour because it is the intention to highlight the often-neglected mathematical features of the Periodic Table and several closely related topics. The book starts out by considering predictions of what the ultimate size of the Periodic Table will be when all of the possible artificial chemical elements have been synthesised. It then moves on to an examination of the nature of the periodicity extant in the Periodic Table and some methods for the prediction of the properties of the super-heavy elements.The Periodic Table is next explored in various dimensions other than two. The natural clustering of the elements into groups is studied by three different but complementary routes, namely via the topological structures of the groups, the self-association of the elements as evidenced by neural network studies, and information theoretical analysis of the behaviour of atoms. Following a detailed investigation of the mathematical basis for the periodicity seen in atomic and molecular spectroscopy, three separate presentations delve into many different aspects of the group-theoretical structure of the Periodic Table. The unusual combination of themes offered here will appeal to all who seek a more detailed and intimate knowledge of the Periodic Table than that available in standard texts on the subject. ... Read more

Product Description
Power of the Periodic Table shows the reader how to visualize, understand and predict which chemical reactions may or may not occur, under what conditions of temperature and pressure, and how fast - to see clearly the roles of electronic structure, molecular structure, bonding and thermodynamics.It follows a pathway of those mental challenges which must be met, structures of thought which must be formed to reach that level of understanding, a pathway through the center of chemistry touching on the origins and effects of that knowledge.So doing, it illuminates the ways of the scientist, thinking, learning and feeling about this wondrous cosmic reality.Entirely readable and substantive, it is written for those who say, "I want to know that."Its best audience so far has been doctors, engineers, teachers, and bright students. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great for the aspiring chemist
I also was a former student of the author and used this book.It is highly readable and "breaks the code" of confusing terminology and concepts and lays it out in ways that the student will more easily grasp.It introduces concepts that carried well into my college degree in Chemistry.It gave me an edge-up and I later went to work at a pharmaceutical company.

Excellent text for basic chemistry and advanced cognition
As a former student of the author, I can truly say that Mr. Timmreck has compiled a truly wonderful work in this book.He has successfully captured the essence of his classroom lectures, making learning the science of chemistry not only significantly easier, but very enjoyable.If you don't think well this book can help ... Read more

Product Description
Many charts have extra information or reproducible activities on the back. Large 17" x 22" size! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Cheapand to the point
It's exactly what it advertises.My only beef with the table is the way they laid it out with the halogens in the same color as the nonmetals.Also the Zinc group should be listed with the Transition Metals but that's an issue that gets debated and since this is a simple PTable, it is easier to explain when listed with the transitions.Otherwise, a simple and clean PT.

Very helpful, even for college level.
I loved this product!I'm a college student who has to take a lot of chemistry, I hung this in my study area.It was very helpful, just like the classroom one.

Useful
Although small, a very convenient size to keep available on ones bulletin board.Color-coding makes up for small size.Heavy paper and glossy finish are plusses.

Decent, but not great
This is a basic, colorful chart. Nothing special, not long-wearing. Would be better off if you could laminate it.

Good, but........
The product was purchased 8/23, and received in excellent condition, but not until 9/22.I WOULD, however, do business with the firm again.The product itself is exactly what I wanted, plus more, as it has some teaching tools on the back. ... Read more

Product Description

This periodic table of elements poster displays all 115 known elements.Sized for classroom use at 36" x 24" this poster is made of heavy coatedpaper.

Customer Reviews (3)

gmar9736 table of elements at amazon.com
good poster. large and visually accessable on good quality paper. quick reference to find basic information on the elements. should be in every classroom.

Periodic Table Chart
This is a very good product. The Information is clearly displayed and the key is easy to use. I was amazed at all the new elements that have been added since I went to school!

Excellent, informative, easily read and comprehended
This Periodic Table was a Christmas present for my 10 year old grandson.When he opened it, the entire family was in awe for its information, easily read and excellent quality.He was overjoyed - "Mimi, just what I wanted"!He and his father immediately mounted it on his bedroom wall(all other unwrapped gifts still sitting on the living floor).He reads it everyday and is much impressed with the factual information presented in a professional poster.His 5th grade class will be studying this subject this semester.Needless to say, we all are impressed by its quality and reasonable price. ... Read more

Product Description
In the early nineteenth century chemists knew of the existence of ninety-two chemical elements, from Hydrogen, the lightest, to Uranium, the heaviest. For nearly forty years scientists thought they knew what our planet and all of its contents was made of...then things started to change.
In the late 1930s the world of chemical science began to discover elements beyond Uranium - the 'transuranics'. These new, super-heavy elements are probably not found in Nature at all, but they can be detected, even if only for a few fractions of a second, in precisely designed experiments using powerful nuclear tools.
This book is full of exciting new concepts and tells the story of the author's quest to discover elements never before known to man. ... Read more