- Hardcover: 448 pages
- Publisher: Viking; First Edition edition (3 Feb 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0670918113
- ISBN-13: 978-0670918119
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14 x 4.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
97,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #16 in Books > Science & Nature > Chemistry > Education > Higher Education > Inorganic
Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements
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Product Description
Review
Science writing at its best ... fascinating and beautiful ... if only chemistry had been like this at school ... to meander through the periodic table with him ... is like going round a zoo with Gerald Durrell ... a rich compilation of delicious tales, but it offers greater rewards, too (Matt Ridley )
Immensely engaging and continually makes one sit up in surprise (Sunday Times )
Splendid ... enjoyable and polished (Observer )
Full of good stories and he knows how to tell them well ... an agreeable jumble of anecdote, reflection and information (Sunday Telegraph )
Great fun to read and an endless fund of unlikely and improbable anecdotes ... sharp and often witty (Financial Times )
A joyous romp through the chemical elements (Today, BBC Radio 4 )
Not only a cultural history of the elements, it is also a lament to the loss of science as a hobby (Economist )
A flashily brainy book, crammed with literary references and held together by a personal quest to collect as many elements as possible (Telegraph )
'Elements are fun' is the essential premise of Hugh Aldersey-Williams's new book and by heck he's right ... Aldersey-Williams mourns the fact chemistry isn't really sexy any more; Periodic Tales is a step towards it getting its mojo back (Metro **** )
Imaginative and fun ... almost every page yields a nugget (Nature )
Immensely engaging and continually makes one sit up in surprise (Sunday Times )
Splendid ... enjoyable and polished (Observer )
Full of good stories and he knows how to tell them well ... an agreeable jumble of anecdote, reflection and information (Sunday Telegraph )
Great fun to read and an endless fund of unlikely and improbable anecdotes ... sharp and often witty (Financial Times )
A joyous romp through the chemical elements (Today, BBC Radio 4 )
Not only a cultural history of the elements, it is also a lament to the loss of science as a hobby (Economist )
A flashily brainy book, crammed with literary references and held together by a personal quest to collect as many elements as possible (Telegraph )
'Elements are fun' is the essential premise of Hugh Aldersey-Williams's new book and by heck he's right ... Aldersey-Williams mourns the fact chemistry isn't really sexy any more; Periodic Tales is a step towards it getting its mojo back (Metro **** )
Imaginative and fun ... almost every page yields a nugget (Nature )
Review
Science writing at its best ... fascinating and beautiful ... if only chemistry had been like this at school ... to meander through the periodic table with him ... is like going round a zoo with Gerald Durrell ... a rich compilation of delicious tales, but it offers greater rewards, too -- Matt Ridley Immensely engaging and continually makes one sit up in -surprise Sunday Times Splendid ... enjoyable and polished Observer Full of good stories and he knows how to tell them well ... an agreeable jumble of anecdote, reflection and information Sunday Telegraph Great fun to read and an endless fund of unlikely and improbable anecdotes ... sharp and often witty Financial Times A joyous romp through the chemical elements Today, BBC Radio 4 Not only a cultural history of the elements, it is also a lament to the loss of science as a hobby Economist A flashily brainy book, crammed with literary references and held together by a personal quest to collect as many elements as possible Telegraph 'Elements are fun' is the essential premise of Hugh Aldersey-Williams's new book and by heck he's right ... Aldersey-Williams mourns the fact chemistry isn't really sexy any more; Periodic Tales is a step towards it getting its mojo back Metro **** Imaginative and fun ... almost every page yields a nugget Nature
--This text refers to the
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
61 of 64 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Entertaining and informative, this volume provides a fascinating safari through the periodic table. On the one hand, giving sound chemistry information and on the other providing interesting social and cultural links to each chemical element, be this in popular culture, history or forensic science. It's delightfully written with wry humour which made me smile several times. It clearly expertly researched. I would recommend this to anybody interested in brushing up on their chemistry knowledge whilst enjoying an entertaining bedtime read.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I have enjoyed a quite a lot of this book. The prose may be a bit on the stodgy side, there are some glaring omissions in the stories, and he's quite fond of his opinions, but much of the content very interesting, if you can cope with the style. Certainly it is almost everything you ever wanted to know about the elements, and the author has obviously done a huge amount of research. Despite its faults,there are some wonderful stories in the book - and it goes to prove that chemistry is certainly not boring.
28 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I love the idea of this book - tales of how the chemical elements were discovered, and how and where they are used in our daily lives.
And there are some fascinating anecdotes, for example how Mendeleev developed the periodic table and how he created spaces where he thought elements should go, only for those elements to be discovered later, sometimes hundreds of years later. He was a genius.
But for all that I found the book disappointing, mainly because of the way it is (or isn't) structured. Aldersey-Williams has tried to structure the book by five themes (power, beauty etc.) but the stories don't really seem to fit those themes very well. As a result, the stories and anecdotes seem unconnected and can get a bit dull. I would have liked to have seen the book structured in a way that relates to the periodic table itself - as it is the whole thing seems a bit random.
A couple of other minor gripes: it would have been lovely to have a contents page set out by element, so that you can refer back to that element. Instead, the contents lists each section of the book, the titles of which are often only an oblique reference to the element the author is writing about. So going back to find the section on plutonium, for example, is quite hard.
Lastly, there are lots of photos in the book, but no captions for these and occasionally its hard to see what the photos are, and which part of the text describes those photos. Again, this detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
All in all, an interesting idea and some fascinating bits, but because the book is poorly structured I found it quite a dull read.
And there are some fascinating anecdotes, for example how Mendeleev developed the periodic table and how he created spaces where he thought elements should go, only for those elements to be discovered later, sometimes hundreds of years later. He was a genius.
But for all that I found the book disappointing, mainly because of the way it is (or isn't) structured. Aldersey-Williams has tried to structure the book by five themes (power, beauty etc.) but the stories don't really seem to fit those themes very well. As a result, the stories and anecdotes seem unconnected and can get a bit dull. I would have liked to have seen the book structured in a way that relates to the periodic table itself - as it is the whole thing seems a bit random.
A couple of other minor gripes: it would have been lovely to have a contents page set out by element, so that you can refer back to that element. Instead, the contents lists each section of the book, the titles of which are often only an oblique reference to the element the author is writing about. So going back to find the section on plutonium, for example, is quite hard.
Lastly, there are lots of photos in the book, but no captions for these and occasionally its hard to see what the photos are, and which part of the text describes those photos. Again, this detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
All in all, an interesting idea and some fascinating bits, but because the book is poorly structured I found it quite a dull read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
excellent
Loved this book...so informative and well written. Like The Short History of Nearly Everything it makes learning engaging. Read more
Published 24 days ago by Brendan
A bit heavy going
Somewhat stodgy in style but containing some fascinating material. Not convinced by the "theme approach" - fire, craft, beauty etc., in fact all a bit contrived. Read more
Published 25 days ago by merv goosec
Absorbing
No one could have been worse at Chemistry in school than me or less interested, but something about this book just appealed to me. . Read more
Published 1 month ago by Poppy Barker
Periodic Tales: Genius!!!!!!!!!
Aldersey Williams is full of good stories and really knows how to tell them. This book was informative, interesting, and had just the right touch of humour. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Emma Louise
Present for daughter.
Bought this book for my daughter (she's reading bio-chemistry at uni) and she tells me it is very good and interesting!
The delivery service was good.
The delivery service was good.
Published 1 month ago by MikerBiker
Chronicles of Chemistry
Periodic Tales is the story of the elements, their discovery, role in society, etymology and applications. Read more
Published 2 months ago by J. Morris
Perhaps I lack something....
This is one occasion when, after reading other reviews, I wonder if I lack something. I say that because the majority of the reviews seem very favourable, but for me, the book was... Read more
Published 4 months ago by T. S. Ward
Well written and engrosing
Sorry, I disagree with many of the reviewers. Although chemistry was never my favourite subject at school, Mr Aldersey-Williams took me on a fascinating, extremely well written and... Read more
Published 4 months ago by T. D. Dawson
Great pressie
Great book. Wanted a present for chemist friend and what a perfect idea. Was able to get it signed as well. Now hows that for a great gift.
Published 5 months ago by Susi
Curiosity (Occasionally) Bored the CAt
This book has been sitting on my 'to read' pile for quite some time, and having recently read Sam Kean's The Disappearing Spoon, I thought it would be a good time to carry out an... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Quicksilver
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