Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements

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Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2013-11-08 17:46:34.470589 Bookplateleaf 0004 Boxid IA1137509 Boxid_2 CH120123 Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II City New York Containerid S0022 Donor Dorothy Hodgkin (1910-1994) was a remarkable woman, a researcher who reached the top of her field at a time when women were rarities in science: she remains the only British woman to have won a science Nobel prize. She revealed the hidden structure of important biological molecules such as penicillin and insulin, while having a full life as a mother and grandmother and campaigning passionately for peace and East-West understanding. This book, which was shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize and the Marsh Biography Award, tells her story with a narrative energy that brings her vividly to life. Lecoq (who had discovered gallium) came under severe criticism as several felt the he had pompously named the element after

Periodic tales : Hugh Aldersey-Williams : Free Download Periodic tales : Hugh Aldersey-Williams : Free Download

Neither of these books is a history of the development of the periodic table, a group-by-group discussion of chemical properties or a discussion of recent variations in the presentation of the table. For these the reader should consult such books as that by Eric Scerri. surface when it is exposed to the air. Marine phosphorescence occurs when enzymes trigger chemical reactions in bioluminescent bacteria but does not involve phosphorous directly. Louis Catrier changed the rules of high-society jewellery by using platinum as it was hard as opposed to gold and silver Tā kā šāda tipa grāmatas es jau pāris esmu izlasījis, man grāmata lielāko devumu sniedza mākslas un kultūras vēstures kontekstā. Sākot ar to, ka alva reiz bija tāds pats stratēģiskais materiāls kā mūsdienās urāns. Ne visur zelts ir bijis vērtē, un reiz alumīnijs tika uzskatīts par jauno zeltu. Un tas ir tīri vai brīnums, ka cilvēkam indīgākie elementi rada tik spilgtas krāsas. Cinka un svina salīdzinājums namu apjumšanā un no kāda materiāla vislabāk izgatavot skulptūras. Daļu no stāstiem es jau biju dzirdējis – skābeklis un flogistons, Kirī pāris un viņu vājību pēc vakariņām vērot radioaktīvo elementu spīdumu, Mendeļejevs un viņa periodisko elementu tabula, Napoleons un arsēna krāsas tapetes , gallija karotes, tie ir tikai daži. Mr Aldersey-Williams’ select bibliography now strongly and helpfully points me in the direction of I Nechaev’s 1942 book “Chemical Elements” (or rather of the translation from the Russian), as being my long-lost book.

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Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements eBook Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements eBook

Mr Aldersey-Williams’ writes for an adult, or interested teenager, audience, whereas I was reading Nechaev whilst still in primary (age 6-11) education. ‘Periodic Tales’ is wider, deeper, and longer; dipping into literature, mining, cookery, war, oceanography, classical history, Christianity, art, materials science, architecture …. That is by no means a comprehensive list. Who knew, for example, that the British general Wellington was known as the “Iron Duke” not for his prowess in battle but because he had installed iron shutters on the windows of his London home as protection against the mob? And how many would-be murderers, intent on using the element thallium to poison their victims, have been foiled by Agatha Christie’s The Pale Horse, where death by ingesting that metal is integral to the plot? To quote the author: "My aim in this book has been to show that the elements are all around us, both in the material sense that they are in the objects we treasure and under our kitchen sinks, but also around us more powerfully in a figurative sense, in our art and literature and language, in our history and geography, and that the character of these parallel lives arises ultimately from each element's universal and unvarying properties." pattern (it contained then-undiscovered elements osmium and iridium), and later abandoned the work only returning to it It was often quite interesting. I particularly enjoyed the sections on phosphorus in pyrotechnics and fluorine in so much of the world’s drinking water (especially the author’s jab at America’s broken health care system: ”Well over half of Americans drink fluoridated water today - as near to free universal health care as that country comes, perhaps.” Sad but true).It’s easy to see how an element like gold was appreciated and has many historical uses. It doesn’t tarnish, can be used as currency and is desirable purely as ornament. What to do with neon though? It is a relative late-comer to the table, isolated in 1898. Eventually in the 1940s, 50s and 60s it had a glorious life. Viva Las Vegas! Alas it is expensive, found largely in unpleasant places and in short supply today. Here you'll meet iron that rains from the heavens. You'll learn how lead can tell your future while zinc may one day line your coffin. You'll discover what connects the bones in your body with the Whitehouse in Washington, the glow of a streetlamp with the salt on your dinner table.