ENGLISH

Periodic Tales: A Cultural History of the Elements, from Arsenic to Zinc

By Hugh Aldersey-Williams

Book information

Publisher
Ecco
Year
2011
ISBN
0061824720, 9780061824722
Language
english
Format
MOBI
Filesize
4 MB (3898640 bytes)
Pages
448\0
Time added
2013-12-30 23:00:46

Description

Like the alphabet, the calendar, or the zodiac, the periodic table of the chemical elements has a permanent place in our imagination. But aside from the handful of common ones (iron, carbon, copper, gold), the elements themselves remain wrapped in mystery. We do not know what most of them look like, how they exist in nature, how they got their names, or of what use they are to us. Welcome to a dazzling tour through history and literature, science and art. In Periodic Tales, youll meet iron that rains from the heavens and neon as it lights its way to vice. Youll learn how lead can tell your future and why zinc may one day line your coffin. Youll discover what connects the bones in your body with the White House in Washington, the glow of a streetlight with the salt on your dinner table.

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