"Newly updated throughout, and now covering 118 elements, this crystal-clear guide to the periodic table illuminates the basic concepts of chemistry as it traces the history and development of our knowledge of the material world. Albert Stwertka makes complex ideas and terms easily understandable, drawing upon engaging historical anecdotes and everyday examples to clarify the text. Since the second edition, many new elements have been discovered,...

In this authoritative Very Short Introduction to The Periodic Table, Eric Scerri presents a modern and fresh exploration of this fundamental topic in the physical sciences, considering the deeper implications of the arrangements of the table to atomic physics and quantum mechanics.

"This Very Short Introduction traces the history and cultural impact of the elements on humankind, and examines why people have long sought to identify the substances around them. Looking beyond the Periodic Table, the author examines our relationship with matter, from the uncomplicated vision of the Greek philosophers, who believed there were four elements - earth, air, fire, and water - to the work of modern-day scientists in creating elements such...

"The Elements is a stunning visual history of how the chemical elements were discovered. By piecing together the Periodic Table, science writer Philip Ball explores not only how we came to understand what everything is made of but also how chemistry developed into a modern science. He groups the elements into chronological eras of discovery, covering three millennia from the first known to the last named. As he moves deliberately from classical antiquity...