Elemental
How the Periodic Table Can Now Explain (Nearly) Everything
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Elemental
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Narrated by:
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Roger Davis
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By:
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Tim James
About this listen
SELECTED AS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2018 BY THE DAILY MAIL
'A hugely entertaining tour of the periodic table and the 118 elements that are the basic building blocks of everything' Daily Mail
In 2016, with the addition of four final elements - nihonium, moscovium, tennessine and oganesson - to make a total of 118 elements, the periodic table was finally complete, rendering any pre-existing books on the subject obsolete.
Tim James, the science YouTuber and secondary-school teacher we all wish we'd had, provides an accessible and wonderfully entertaining 'biography of chemistry' that uses stories to explain the positions and patterns of elements in the periodic table. Many popular science titles tend to tell the history of scientific developments, leaving the actual science largely unexplained; James, however, makes use of stories to explain the principles of chemistry within the table, showing its relevance to everyday life.
Quirkily illustrated and filled with humour, this is the perfect book for students wanting to learn chemistry or for parents wanting to help, but it is also for anyone who wants to understand how our world works at a fundamental level. The periodic table, that abstract and seemingly jumbled graphic, holds (nearly) all the answers.
As James puts it, elements are 'the building blocks nature uses for cosmic cookery: the purest substances making up everything from beetroot to bicycles.'
Whether you're studying the periodic table for the first time or are simply interested in the fundamental building blocks of the universe - from the core of the sun to the networks in our brains - Elemental is the perfect guide.
Critic Reviews
"Witty, pacy and fascinating...the best book on science I've ever read." (Karl Dixon)
"A hugely entertaining tour of the periodic table and the 118 elements that are the basic building blocks of everything." (Daily Mail)
What listeners say about Elemental
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 17-08-2022
Fascinating history of periodic table and so much more
This book captured my interest from the opening chapter and held it throughout. I wasn’t expecting it to be so wide ranging, witty and full of interesting anecdotes. Who would have thought chemistry, or more precisely matter, could be that interesting? Well, chemists obviously. The book tells the story of the completion of the periodic table - that amazing set of data that explains the how and why of the world around us. Written in an informative but witty style, I found it unputdownable!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 14-07-2021
fun, engaging and educational.
And so well delivered! I've just started undergrad chemistry as a mature age student and downloaded this book to brush up on some chem-history stuffs.
James writes with an obvious passion and intuitive grasp of chemistry which clearly shines through made accessible and easy to understand by the masterful narration of Davis. A perfect convalent bond. Made me laugh many times. My only issue is it really is too short. Such is life.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mike
- 31-12-2019
Best intro to Chemistry
Elemental is the best intro to chemistry I have found. Unlike so many survey books and courses that dilute the concepts of chemistry with thermodynamics, material engineering or historical narratives etc. Elemental focuses on what makes chemistry foundational, the Atoms!
The underlying structure of an atom and the behaviours of electrons is what is conceptually required for an intuitive understanding of chemistry, this audio book delivers this exceptional well.
It uses fantastically crafted analogies, quippy anecdotes and vert subtle (yet brilliant) descriptions that make the distinctions between concepts that much more accessible, reducing cognitive load and helping category memory.
I could not recommend this more highly, although the Great Courses (TTC) and MIT open learning are great if you have a background already, this course IS the background. And the description of what the Schrodinger equation is trying to say in the appendix is the cherry on top of a.. no simpler than necessary work of teaching art.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Daniel
- 23-07-2022
A great listen for understanding the PeriodicTable
This easy to listen too narrative covers the history of how the Periodic Table came to be both in terms from the Big Bang & Stars through to the Human discoveries of the elements and their various uses.
The book mentions each of the 118 elements and explains the layout of the table in an easy to understand context, while going into detail on the more important particles like Hydrogen & Carbon.
Left me keen to learn more particularly regarding the formation of Molecules.
Would have given 5 star's though felt like it could have been expanded a little further.
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