The Elements We Live by: How Iron Helps Us Breathe, Potassium Lets Us See, and Other Surprising Superpowers of the Periodic Table

by Anja Røyne, Donna Postel (Narrator)

An around-the-world journey to discover where in the wild we can find the elements of life and the surprising ways they're essential to our survival We all know that we depend on elements for survival-from the oxygen in the air we breathe to the carbon in the molecular structures of all living things. But we don't often stop to appreciate how, say, phosphorous holds our DNA together or how potassium powers our optic nerves so that we can see. In The Elements We Live By, physicist and award-winning author Anja Røyne takes us on an astonishing journey through chemistry and physics, introducing the building blocks from which we humans-and the world-are made. Not only does Røyne explain why our bodies need iron, phosphorus, silicon, potassium, and many more elements in just the right amounts in order to function, she also leads us around the world to where these precious elements are found (some of them in ever-shrinking quantities). You'll understand how precariously balanced our lives-and ways of life-really are, and you'll see these unsung heroes of the periodic table in an entirely new light.

Audio CD

Published June 9, 2020

About the author

Anja Royne is a scientist and lecturer in the Department of Physics at the University of Oslo. A physicist with a background in solar energy, Royne has also researched geological and geochemical processes and is now working on creating materials with biotechnology.