Die chemischen Elemente sind die Bausteine des Lebens. Das wissen wir alle, doch können Sie auch darlegen, wie das Periodensystem aufgebaut ist? Wissen Sie, welche Elemente für die Blu-Ray-Technologie eingesetzt werden oder welche MRTScans möglich machen? Und kennen Sie die Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten von Antimon, Arsen und Aluminium? Die Elemente in 30 Sekunden vermittelt Ihnen die chemischen Grundkenntnisse zu den wichtigsten 50 Elementen. Jedem Element ist eine Doppelseite gewidmet, jede mit einer klaren Beschreibung, den wichtigsten Eckdaten und einer Illustration. Der Band ordnet sie in den Rahmen der übrigen 68 Elemente des Periodensystems ein und beschreibt deren Wechselbeziehungen. Biographien von Chemikern, die unser Wissen bereicherten und damit die Geheimnisse des Lebens weiter entschlüsselten, ergänzen die Darstellung. Die Illustrationen veranschaulichen die Unterschiede und Übereinstimmungen zwischen den einzelnen Elementen. Herausgeber Eric Scerri ist Chemiker und Wissenschaftstheoretiker, der vor allem zur Geschichte und Systematik des Periodensystems publiziert. Er ist Gründer und Chefredakteur der internationalen Zeitschrift Fundation of Chemistry und Autor von The Periodic Table: Its Story and its Significance (2006) und A Very Short Introduction to the Periodic Table (2011). Scerri ist Lektor an der Fakultät für Chemie und Biochemie der University of California in Los Angeles
Eric Scerri is a chemist, writer and philosopher of science, of Maltese origin. He is a lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles; and the founder and editor-in-chief of Foundations of Chemistry, an international peer reviewed journal covering the history and philosophy of chemistry, and chemical education.
He is a world authority on the history and philosophy of the periodic table and is the author and editor of several books in this and related fields.
I stumbled across the 30-second series of books earlier this month (so brace yourself for more to come I guess) and I was fascinated - single page (technically a double page but the other side is some montage relating to the main topic) with various comments and facts.
The page is divided up in to different snippets of information - going from a few seconds facts all the way up to further reading. For those who want to grab the headlines these books are brilliant.
So why the mediocre rating - well I am a chemist by training (its been way too many years I will admit) so I have to say there was nothing new or insightful here - even the handy and interesting facts I all pretty much knew - however I will be the first to admit I am rather over qualified to pass comment here. So yes it was a fun read but really it is aimed at someone else than me.
That said there are many others in the series from which I am sure I will learn a lot from
My wife teaches chemistry all the way up to A-Level and one of her favourite joke for new students is:
Why can’t you trust an atom?
Because they make everything up…
I’ll get my coat.
But it is true, every single thing that you will come into contact with today is made from some of the 118 elements that exist in the periodic table. There are some that you are very unlikely to come into contact with, polonium, for example, but there are others like nitrogen and oxygen that are in contact with your body 24 hours a day.
These fifty elements that they have chosen each has a test tube full of facts and anecdotes on them, for example which element loosely connects cockroaches and tanks, which one of the hardest known and which is one of the most abundant of the earth. Each element has snippets of information on the person who discovered it, the atomic number, and where the name was inspired or derived from.
There is very little depth to this book, but then you may have already worked it out from the title. Rather this is a thin patina to give a flavour (not literally some of these are poisonous) of the selected elements with lots of details and information about them. Nice little gift book.
Simple and yet laid out with rare clarity this book is a go-to for anybody interested in gaining a theoretical understanding of elements, how they work, and how the world is made up.
Ce livre est d'une richesse scientifique inexplicable. En tant qu'étudiante en science ayant fait des études dans la chimie, j'ai tendance a oublier a quel point le tableau périodique regorge d'information. On découvre le tableau de Mendeleïev sous une forme historique qui nous explique du debut à la fin comment tel ou tel élément à été découvert et je trouve que ca ouvre une perspective différente des syllabus éducatif. Passionné ou non par la science vous serez surpris par les pépites que notre planète abrite ! ⚛️
I would read a comprehensive 118-element version if there is one! The Periodic Table was how I got started in my lifelong passion for science and eventually a degree in chemical engineering. I remember being nine (around that age, at least) and browsing through a children's science book and I would stare for hours on end at the Periodic Table. I even have a poster of it up in my room (beautifully designed by Thought Café and signed by Hank Green of Crash Course), which would probably tell you about just how much of a science I am.
This book was a bargain find from my campus bookstore and it was worth it! I loved reading about the etymology of some elements (I didn't know that hafnium came from the Latin word for Copenhagen!) and also realized that I'd spelled protactinium wrong all my life (I'd associated it with "proactive", whereas it's a precursor to actinium, hence proTactinium from proto-actinium.) The biographies were also quite interesting, but the print quality of my copy leaves much to be desired. I'm still giving it 5 stars, though, as it's the content that matters.
30-Second Elements would be the perfect gift for your resident chemistry nerd, or for your (inner) curious child!
ত্রি-চরণে স্মরি: থার্টি-সেকেন্ড এলিমেন্টস রসায়নের ছাত্র হিসেবে বলব, বইটি মৌলগুলোর প্রতি ভালোলাগা তৈরি করবে, ইতিহাস জানাবে, বিক্রিয়ার পেছনের কারিগরের নাম বাতলে দেবে। মৌলের সাথে কিছু মানুষের বিজ্ঞান-প্রীতি মুগ্ধ করবে পাঠককে। রসায়নের ভিত্তি পর্যায় সারণির বইটি রসায়নের মূল রসের সাথে পরিচয় করিয়ে দেবে।
(নিজের প্রথম অনুবাদ-বই। তা-ই অনুবাদের বিষয়ে নয়, বললাম মূল বইয়ের কথা।)
While I feel that the title is a bit misleading, as some rather obscure and unimportant elements are discussed (why is Astatine in here?), the organization, clarity, and brevity of this book make it a quick and enlightening read.
Each chapter is organized into a "30-second" discussion (about 1 page) of this history and uses of an element with a focus on what makes it special. That is followed by references for where you can learn more if a particular element piques your interest.
Anyone looking to gain a basic familiarity with elemental chemistry will learn a lot in little time with this book.
Die 30 Elemente in 30 Sekunden ist eine Sammlung von Beschreibungen von etwa 50 der interessantesten Elemente mit Geschichten über deren Entdeckung, wo man sie findet und andere Facts. Ausserdem gibt es für jede Gruppe eine zweiseitige Beschreibung als Einführung und Kurzbiographien der wichtigsten Entdeckern. Das Buch war relativ einfach zu lesen, es enthält so einige interessante Tatsachen und Geschichten zur Entdeckung. Leider ist es als Lernbuch nicht besonders gut geeignet, da der Fokus anscheinend eher auf Unterhaltung als auf Grundwissen gesetzt ist.
Gullig, men lite konstigt urval av betydelsefulla grundämnen och bilder. Mest kuriosa och inte särskilt pedagogisk. Har mer kul med "Grundämnen" av Theodore Gray som jag läser nu.
Remarkably soon after reviewing Eric Scerri’s A Tale of Seven Elements he’s back with 30-Second Elements. I need to admit up front that I have made a small contribution to this book – but it’s no more than 10% and only in writing a few of the articles, nothing to do with the overall volume. The way the book works is as a series of 50 articles, each on an element and each a two-page spread, with pithy text on the left and an illustration on the right. It is given a bit more weight with a longer introduction and a profile of a key figure in each of seven main sections.
If I am honest, I have been scathing about these ’30-Second’ books in the past, because I have found it hard to understand why anyone would buy one. They generally aren’t readable through like a real book, but aren’t detailed enough to be a reference. However, they have sold plenty of copies, and this particular one is something of an exception to my uncertainty because the subject of the elements lends itself to this ‘bitty’ approach – they are, after all, bitty things.
The text is broken into a series of parts – the main text, long enough to be readable, the ’3 second state’ which gives some basic facts like the chemical symbol, the ’3 minute reaction’ (which strangely is shorter than the main ’30 second’ piece), giving a little side bar of tangential information and the dates of a few key figures. Although I did write a few of the entries, I hadn’t read most of them and found myself surprisingly drawn into the elegant little factoids and stories, learning, for instance, that we store about 3 years’ worth of magnesium in our bodies, and that fluorine finds its way into the wet-weather clothing Gore-Tex via Teflon. Not to mention a handy discussion of the difference between silicon and silicone – useful if you want the right materials in the right place.
So while I still prefer a popular science book that is an end-to-end read, I have to admit this example of the 30 second series, with the ‘rough hewn cardboard’ feeling cover that is part of the series look and feel, has rather won me over. But then, if anyone knows his periodic table, it’s Eric Scerri.
ever wanted to learn chemistry the more simple way and not having to take a class for it? Then this will surely be the best book for someone wanting to learn chemistry the easy way. While its not a storybook, 30-second elements by Eric Scerri presents the reader with the foundations of chemical knowledge. The reader will be relieved by how everything is in half-a-minute individual entries. The reader will also enjoy how the book is divided into seven chapters, which include the atomic details of all 118 elements. The reader will be interested by the biographies of the chemists who transformed scientific knowledge and unlocked the mysteries of life. In conclusion, this book is a great choice for anyone who wants to know more about chemistry.
this is a very good chemistry book and I have learned alot from it. even if you don't know anything about chemistry you will learn alot. anyone who is interested could read this.
There should be one for all the elements.D: It piqued my interest in the radioactive and transuranic elements, both of which I had little knowledge about previously.
Bien fait, complet, on en apprend beaucoup! Même commentaire que pour la pluspart des autres livres de cette série. Une série bien fait, que j'aime bien!
Page long introduction to some of the most well known, and a few lesser known elements of the periodic table. It briefly describes their discovery (or synthesis), and common uses.