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A Beginner's Guide to the Periodic Table

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A Beginners Guide to the Periodic Table is a mind-blowing guide to the elements that make up the periodic table. By linking each element to a story, wacky science analogy or fascinating fact, Gill creates a unique first reference to the periodic table. From smelly sulphur and exploding hydrogen to why Stevie Wonder is blind and everything in between, Gill seamlessly explains the mind-boggling 92 elements which will make you look at the periodic table in a whole new light!??Packed full of eye-catching illustrations and fantastic explanatory diagrams, prepare to be amazed by the most wacky and informative first introductory to the periodic table ever! Packed full of eye-catching illustrations and fantastic explanatory diagrams, prepare to be amazed by the most wacky and informative first introductory to the periodic table ever!

64 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 2014

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23 people want to read

About the author

Gill Arbuthnott

48 books33 followers
I was born and brought up in Edinburgh, where I went to James Gillespie’s High School, famous as the school where the author Muriel Spark was educated, and on which she based her most famous book The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Almost all the teachers when I was there seemed to be wildly eccentric spinsters. There was one maths teacher who would climb into a cupboard at one end of the room, and reappear out from a cupboard door at the other end! Then there was Miss Dalgliesh. She was my teacher in Primary 5. She always wore a black teaching gown, and used to swoop round the room like a large, friendly rook. She had a stuffed tawny owl in her room, and if you were particularly good, you might be allowed to take it home for the night! She used to invite some of us (we were all girls in Gillespie’s back then) to the flat she shared with her sister, to eat cream cakes and listen to her sister play the piano… I don’t think they don’t make teachers like that any more, sadly.

When I finished school I went off to St Andrew’s University to study Zoology, then did teacher training (just so I could have another year lolling around as a student really). At that point, I thought I wanted to be a proper Scientist, so I went off to Southampton University to start a PhD. Unfortunately, I was rubbish at research. I wasn’t nearly clever enough. So I became a Biology teacher instead!

All the time though, what I really wanted to do was write. I wrote in secret (I know, how sad is that?) so that not even my family knew my Dark Secret. I tried a couple of books for adults, but just amassed a splendid collection of rejection slips. Then I saw the Millennium Clock in the museum in Edinburgh, and suddenly I was writing the Chaos Clock, and suddenly it had turned into a childrens’ book. I still don’t quite know how that happened. It seemed to just decide it was a childrens’ book, and I didn’t feel I was in a position to argue with it.

Now, I can’t imagine why I ever wanted to write for adults. This has got to be the best job in the world…

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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Sandra | Leituras descomplicadas.
346 reviews103 followers
January 25, 2022
Aqui em casa somos fascinados pela área de Ciências, por isso estamos sempre à procura de novos livros sobre o tema. Recentemente, descobri este divertido livro sobre a Tabela Periódica e decidi que tinha mesmo de vir cá para casa. Dirigido ao público mais jovem, pode ser uma boa forma de começar a introduzir conceitos e informação da área da Química sem ser de forma maçadora. Este livro apresenta os elementos que compõem a Tabela Periódica, mostrando como esses elementos são utilizados à nossa volta, desde objectos que utilizamos todos os dias até outros que não fazem tanto parte das nossas rotinas (ninguém tem uma nave espacial no quintal, não é verdade?!). As ilustrações são bem divertidas e o texto está escrito de forma simples, acessível e com humor que facilmente cativa os mais novos. Fica a recomendação de um livro que gostámos imenso de descobrir.
Profile Image for mmart.
165 reviews16 followers
September 11, 2020
Her cocugun kitapliginda bulunmasi gereken enfes bir kitap. Elementleri ogretirken eglenceli bilgiler sunmasu ayrica cekici kiliyor kitabi :)
Profile Image for Catherine Anne.
13 reviews
May 8, 2023
Good learning for children in older primary and younger secondary. Interesting facts, understandable explanations with colourful fun layout and diagrams.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews

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