The Secret Life of the Periodic Table: Unlocking the mysteries of all 118 elements

by Dr Ben Still

Every element has character, be it volatile, aloof, gregarious or enigmatic. They also have incredible stories of how they came to be, how they were discovered and how their qualities have been harnessed to make everything we have in the world.

The Secret Life of the Periodic Table gives a fascinating insight into the discovery and use of all 118 elements. It uncovers incredible stories of how Mendeleev's table was formulated and the individual elements found, as well as explaining the fundamentals of atomic science and each element's place in the table and our universe.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Science Nature, Popular Science, History, Chemistry

193 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 6, 2016

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it with good info

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, easy to read book covering each of the elements. It's a bit slow early on, and the elements due tend to blur together, but by and large the book delivers. It the title sounds appealing, then you'll find the book appealing.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book offered a lovely and encompasing trip around each element in an elegant and pretty simple to grasp way (given the complexity of the actual subject) for an average consumer like me. It pretty much left me with a desire to learn more and dive even deeper.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of fascinating tidbits and cute illustrations, this is a rollicking introduction to the individual elements and thier physics. While well-written and fairly clear, the visual material leaves something to be desired; charts are insufficiently labeled and some more diagrams would have been nice. Also, for some reason, the actinides don't have thier own introductory page, like all the other groups do explaining the properties and principles governing the constituent elements and it should be noted that elements 99 (Einsteinium) and higher are not covered as fully as the others.

With many kind thanks to Firefly Books who are responsible for this free review copy I have been enjoying.

[Vanessa Toth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very informative and informal way to learn more about the elements. Not at all like a textbook.

My only problem is that this edition (the first edition) has some editing issues - font size changes, spelling errors (especially the scientists' names) and not having both imperial and metric measurements through out the whole book. These issues made it a bit frustrating to read.

[knoba · Rating 3 out of 5]

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Introduction : Seeking Patterns
1. Constructing The Table
2. Mendeleev And The Modern Table
3. The Periodic Table
4. Atomic Physics
5. The Quantum Atom
6. Trends And Patterns
7. Trends Table
8. Hydrogen
9. Helium
10. Alkali Metals
11. Alkaline Earth Metals
12. Transition Metals
13. Post-Transition Metals
14. Metalloids
15. Non-Metals
16. Halogens
17. Noble Gases
18. Lanthanides
19. Atom Bomb
20. Atom Smashers
21. Actinides
22. Hall Of Fame
23. Future Elements
Index
Acknowledgments