[.ca] Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements (ISBN 0198503407)

My Bedtime Reading:
I read this book one element at a time. Organized from A to Z, it does not follow a chemically logical sequence, but provides varied and entertianing reading. Each element gets a little history and finishes with some interesting or funny story about it. This is a pleasurable read and I will hang on to it to use as a simple reference book for my grade school aged children

This book is a blast!:
I keep this book by my bedside table, and read an element each night before falling asleep. It's loaded with factoids that will bring a smile to your face and amaze your friends. For example, did you know that even 0.5 microgram of Tellurium will give you bad breath for up to 30 hours? Or that Charles II died of mercury poisoning because he did alchemical experiments in a poorly ventilated room in his palace? I'm reading the book cover-to-cover, but I know that in the future I'll want to dip into it again and again. My only criticism, and it's minor, is that I wish the chapter headings (e.g., "Indium") contained the info summarized in the chemical element table (symbol, atomic number, atomic weight) at the end of the chapter.

Fabulous!!:
An incredibly informative, fun, and easy to read guide to the elements. Highly recommended to anyone in the physical sciences or anyone interested in learning about the history and usefulness of the elements.

A good, comprehensive reference.:
A comprehensive reference book on all the elements in the periodic table. Well researched and presented. Definitely reference bookshelf material.

A Book I've Been Looking For!:
I was looking for a good book on the elements over the last few years and kept drawing a blank. The few I found were too technical, too simple, or involved strange treatments. Than I found this book! It was exactly what I wanted. A complete treatment of the elements of the periodic table alphabetically arranged. When I first found it I thought I would test it out by checking a rather obscure biological fact- certain tunicates (ascidians) concentrate vanadium in their blood. On p. 486 I found the reference with one error- Ascidia was called a "worm" (it is a Urochordate). However, the author made up for this by noting under copper that snails, spiders, octopi and oysters utilize that element as part of an oxygen-carrying blood pigment, making their blood pale blue. Other entries were just as fascinating. The sections for each element cover such subjects as human involvement (biologically- including food and medicine), history, economics, environmental associations, chemical properties and "Element of Surprise" - little known facts regarding the element in question. Where else could you find the origin of Teflon, the history of lead, the use of a salt of nitrogen to inflate airbags, or that thorium oxide was injected into patients during early X-ray diagnosis? These, and a host of other facts, are presented in exacting detail in "Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements." This is a very much-needed book for anybody requiring a good reference on the chemical elements. It is also a very good read!