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Elementaire Deeltjes #46
The Elements: A Very Short Introduction
This Very Short Introduction is an exciting and non-traditional approach to understanding the terminology, properties, and classification of chemical elements. It traces the history and cultural impact of the elements on humankind, and examines why people have long sought to identify the substances around them. The book includes chapters on particular elements such as gold, iron, and oxygen, showing how they shaped culture and technology. Looking beyond the Periodic Table, the author examines our relationship with matter, from the uncomplicated vision of the Greek philosophers, who believed there were four elements--earth, air, fire, and water--to the work of modern-day scientists in creating elements such as hassium and meitnerium. Packed with anecdotes, The Elements is a highly engaging and entertaining exploration of the fundamental what is the world made from?
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
33 people are currently reading
1263 people want to read
About the author
Philip Ball
64 books485 followersPhilip Ball (born 1962) is an English science writer. He holds a degree in chemistry from Oxford and a doctorate in physics from Bristol University. He was an editor for the journal Nature for over 10 years. He now writes a regular column in Chemistry World. Ball's most-popular book is the 2004 Critical Mass: How One Things Leads to Another, winner of the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books. It examines a wide range of topics including the business cycle, random walks, phase transitions, bifurcation theory, traffic flow, Zipf's law, Small world phenomenon, catastrophe theory, the Prisoner's dilemma. The overall theme is one of applying modern mathematical models to social and economic phenomena.
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May 11, 2013
May mắn hay đau khổ thì phần lớn trong số những người có đọc sách đã từng đi học. May mắn hơn nữa, nếu được học với những giáo viên ưa thích kể chuyện. Chuyện là những gì không có trong sách giáo khoa, chuyện về những gì sách giáo khoa không chừa chỗ để nói về. Như là chuyện ông Archimede cởi truồng chạy rong la toáng lên Eureka!; chuyện Napoléon khi đang ở nơi chiến trường xa viết thư bảo nhân tình hãy làm nóng nước bồn tắm; chuyện những ghi chú ngắn gọn bên lề của Fermat và cơn đau đầu kéo dài mấy thế kỷ của những người giải đố; và cả chuyện văn chương ... Những câu chuyện kéo giãn không gian và làm không khí ngập tràn sự thân tình: thầy cô không phải là thợ dạy, họ đang kể chuyện như là ông, là bà; học trò không phải cái máy suốt ngày hùng hục ghi chép rồi làm tính, chúng đang thở. Và bây giờ chúng ta đang nhớ. Chấm xuống hàng thụt đầu dòng: chuyển cảnh.
Nếu bạn tìm kiếm một cuốn sách đầy những giai thoại và câu chuyện giống như vừa nói; nếu bạn muốn một cái gì đó mới mẻ, choáng ngợp và đầy lôi cuốn thì hẳn là bạn không nên đọc cuốn sách này. Tự thân những gì được nói đến trong đây là những câu chuyện quá đỗi cũ kỹ: xa xưa đến thời đại của nền văn minh Hy Lạp cổ và gần nhất cũng là những năm 30 - 60 thế kỷ trước. Chẳng có điều gì mới trong này cả. Và nếu bạn thuần tuý là người thuộc về xã hội, tức là vốn không ưa gì những gì thuộc về tự nhiên nhất là các môn học, thì đây hẳn là một lựa chọn tồi. Tôi nhờ bạn hãy bỏ nó qua một bên.
Nhưng nếu bạn có một ít kiên nhẫn, có một ít vốn hiểu biết, có một ít thời gian và muốn biết thêm một ít về một tồn tại thế giới bé nhỏ trong cái hỗn mang vũ trụ nhỏ bé này của chúng ta, tôi cầu chúc bạn được thư nhàn.
Không phải là quá chi tiết về mặt kỹ thuật, nhưng một cách định tính, cuốn sách này sẽ cho bạn một ít khái niệm phổ quát về thế giới của các hạt nguyên tử và cách chúng ta dựng nên những mường tượng về chúng. Vì sao chúng ta gọi chúng là hạt? Vì sao khi gọi hạt chúng ta lập tức nhìn thấy chúng có hình tròn - những khối cầu nhỏ? Vì sao gọi hydro là hydro? Vì sao chúng ta già đi? Vì sao bầu trời màu xanh lại là con đẻ của sự sống? Hay một câu hỏi mang nặng tính hiện sinh của tồn tại: sự sống từ đâu đến?
Cuốn sách mỏng này đặc biệt thích hợp cho quãng thời gian đầu năm cấp ba và/hay sinh viên năm đầu đại cương khối kỹ thuật; đặc biệt là những ai có quan tâm đến hoá học. Như một vĩ thanh của ngành vật liệu học.
Và nếu không quá kỹ tính thì hẳn bạn sẽ đồng ý đây là một cuốn sách tốt. Giống tôi vậy.
Nếu bạn tìm kiếm một cuốn sách đầy những giai thoại và câu chuyện giống như vừa nói; nếu bạn muốn một cái gì đó mới mẻ, choáng ngợp và đầy lôi cuốn thì hẳn là bạn không nên đọc cuốn sách này. Tự thân những gì được nói đến trong đây là những câu chuyện quá đỗi cũ kỹ: xa xưa đến thời đại của nền văn minh Hy Lạp cổ và gần nhất cũng là những năm 30 - 60 thế kỷ trước. Chẳng có điều gì mới trong này cả. Và nếu bạn thuần tuý là người thuộc về xã hội, tức là vốn không ưa gì những gì thuộc về tự nhiên nhất là các môn học, thì đây hẳn là một lựa chọn tồi. Tôi nhờ bạn hãy bỏ nó qua một bên.
Nhưng nếu bạn có một ít kiên nhẫn, có một ít vốn hiểu biết, có một ít thời gian và muốn biết thêm một ít về một tồn tại thế giới bé nhỏ trong cái hỗn mang vũ trụ nhỏ bé này của chúng ta, tôi cầu chúc bạn được thư nhàn.
Không phải là quá chi tiết về mặt kỹ thuật, nhưng một cách định tính, cuốn sách này sẽ cho bạn một ít khái niệm phổ quát về thế giới của các hạt nguyên tử và cách chúng ta dựng nên những mường tượng về chúng. Vì sao chúng ta gọi chúng là hạt? Vì sao khi gọi hạt chúng ta lập tức nhìn thấy chúng có hình tròn - những khối cầu nhỏ? Vì sao gọi hydro là hydro? Vì sao chúng ta già đi? Vì sao bầu trời màu xanh lại là con đẻ của sự sống? Hay một câu hỏi mang nặng tính hiện sinh của tồn tại: sự sống từ đâu đến?
Cuốn sách mỏng này đặc biệt thích hợp cho quãng thời gian đầu năm cấp ba và/hay sinh viên năm đầu đại cương khối kỹ thuật; đặc biệt là những ai có quan tâm đến hoá học. Như một vĩ thanh của ngành vật liệu học.
Và nếu không quá kỹ tính thì hẳn bạn sẽ đồng ý đây là một cuốn sách tốt. Giống tôi vậy.
May 11, 2013
Trong khi các sách về vũ trụ, vật lý đã có nhiều, các sách triết, phật giáo còn nhiều hơn, thì sách về Hóa lại hơi ít.
Đây là một cuốn sách mỏng nhưng rất đáng đọc. Chỉ mất độ vài tiếng bạn sẽ biết vũ trụ làm bằng gì, con người làm bằng gì, ngày xưa Aristotle nghĩ những vật chất cơ bản làm nên thế giới là gì, và trong khoa học hiện đại người ta nhìn sâu vào đến đâu của vật chất.
Tất nhiên, nếu bạn quan tâm đến bom nguyên tử, vũ khí hạt nhân, hoặc đơn giản là quan tâm đến bảng tuần hoàn các nguyên tố đã ra đời từ giấc mơ thế nào, cuốn sách này cũng sẽ cho bạn biết.
Đây là một cuốn sách mỏng nhưng rất đáng đọc. Chỉ mất độ vài tiếng bạn sẽ biết vũ trụ làm bằng gì, con người làm bằng gì, ngày xưa Aristotle nghĩ những vật chất cơ bản làm nên thế giới là gì, và trong khoa học hiện đại người ta nhìn sâu vào đến đâu của vật chất.
Tất nhiên, nếu bạn quan tâm đến bom nguyên tử, vũ khí hạt nhân, hoặc đơn giản là quan tâm đến bảng tuần hoàn các nguyên tố đã ra đời từ giấc mơ thế nào, cuốn sách này cũng sẽ cho bạn biết.
December 11, 2019
An interesting introduction to the elements: from the idea of elements as an ideal form of a material, to the realisation that much of the world is made up of many elements. The discovery of several elements, how they become organised and their importance to society and civilisation are also covered in this brief book.
Chapter one gives a brief introduction in the history of elements. While Aristotle's idea of four 'elements' is probably well known, what the chapter shows it that the elements at the time were considered 'ideal' forms for objects in the work and were made up of mixtures of the elements in different proportions. Metallurgy would introduce a few variations to the idea of such 'elements' before the modern idea of chemical elements would take shape.
Chapter two looks at the role Antoine Laurent Lavoisier would have on the definition of elements. It would surround the discovery and nature of Oxygen. Air was at the time considered an element, but it has become recognised that different 'kinds' of air existed, with differed on whether the air could support life, keep fire alight, be 'bad' for health and so on. Originally, the idea of phlogiston would be used, a supposed substance given off when fire burned. But Lavoisier and others would challenge that idea with an element, oxygen, that aided combustion and would be vital to life. The rest of the chapter would cover the role of oxygen in life, and how it is constantly consumed and created on Earth.
Chapter three looks at the role Gold would play in civilisations. Coveted by many, it's very inertness and reluctance to interact with other materials (unlike other metals) would make it precious as a store of value. The desire for gold would lead to advances in metallurgy to extract and purify it.
Chapter four looks at the various ways the now numerous elements are organised. Chemistry would show that the various elements combined in fixed amounts, leading to the idea of organising them based on their chemical relationships and also their weights relative to hydrogen, the lightest element known. By making and proving (or disproving) assumptions on how atoms are organised, we would eventually get the picture of an atom as one containing a nucleus consisting of protons and neutrons surrounded by a cloud of electrons. Mendeleyev would then become one of the first to organise the elements into a proper table and use it to predict the properties of elements that haven't been discovered.
Chapter five looks at the synthesis of new elements. Radioactivity was discovered and found to be able to transmute elements, changing them into new elements one proton or neutron at a time. But the discovery that some heavy atoms can split into two smaller ones with the release of energy would bring about the atomic age and the nuclear bomb and later, the ability to fuse smaller atoms together to release even more energy via thermonuclear reactions. It would also lead to a race to create ever heavier elements.
Chapter six looks at isotopes, atoms that have the same number of protons but different number of neutrons. Among the isotopes looked at included Carbon-14 and various isotopes of Uranium and other heavy elements for dating rocks and organisms, and other isotopes that can be used to determine ancient climates via the ratio of isotopes and in medicine by using short lived radioisotopes that can be detected by medical equipment.
Chapter seven would look at a few elements that have become important to modern civilisation: silicon, for producing transistors which, in their billions, are the hearts of computer chips, palladium, which act as a catalyst for many chemical processes and had a role in the infamous 'cold fusion' controversy, the 'rare earths' which drive much of the LCD and related lighting industries and the nobel gas argon, which plays a role in lamps and in transporting other gases, since it does not take part in reactions and so does not contaminate chemical reactions.
Chapter one gives a brief introduction in the history of elements. While Aristotle's idea of four 'elements' is probably well known, what the chapter shows it that the elements at the time were considered 'ideal' forms for objects in the work and were made up of mixtures of the elements in different proportions. Metallurgy would introduce a few variations to the idea of such 'elements' before the modern idea of chemical elements would take shape.
Chapter two looks at the role Antoine Laurent Lavoisier would have on the definition of elements. It would surround the discovery and nature of Oxygen. Air was at the time considered an element, but it has become recognised that different 'kinds' of air existed, with differed on whether the air could support life, keep fire alight, be 'bad' for health and so on. Originally, the idea of phlogiston would be used, a supposed substance given off when fire burned. But Lavoisier and others would challenge that idea with an element, oxygen, that aided combustion and would be vital to life. The rest of the chapter would cover the role of oxygen in life, and how it is constantly consumed and created on Earth.
Chapter three looks at the role Gold would play in civilisations. Coveted by many, it's very inertness and reluctance to interact with other materials (unlike other metals) would make it precious as a store of value. The desire for gold would lead to advances in metallurgy to extract and purify it.
Chapter four looks at the various ways the now numerous elements are organised. Chemistry would show that the various elements combined in fixed amounts, leading to the idea of organising them based on their chemical relationships and also their weights relative to hydrogen, the lightest element known. By making and proving (or disproving) assumptions on how atoms are organised, we would eventually get the picture of an atom as one containing a nucleus consisting of protons and neutrons surrounded by a cloud of electrons. Mendeleyev would then become one of the first to organise the elements into a proper table and use it to predict the properties of elements that haven't been discovered.
Chapter five looks at the synthesis of new elements. Radioactivity was discovered and found to be able to transmute elements, changing them into new elements one proton or neutron at a time. But the discovery that some heavy atoms can split into two smaller ones with the release of energy would bring about the atomic age and the nuclear bomb and later, the ability to fuse smaller atoms together to release even more energy via thermonuclear reactions. It would also lead to a race to create ever heavier elements.
Chapter six looks at isotopes, atoms that have the same number of protons but different number of neutrons. Among the isotopes looked at included Carbon-14 and various isotopes of Uranium and other heavy elements for dating rocks and organisms, and other isotopes that can be used to determine ancient climates via the ratio of isotopes and in medicine by using short lived radioisotopes that can be detected by medical equipment.
Chapter seven would look at a few elements that have become important to modern civilisation: silicon, for producing transistors which, in their billions, are the hearts of computer chips, palladium, which act as a catalyst for many chemical processes and had a role in the infamous 'cold fusion' controversy, the 'rare earths' which drive much of the LCD and related lighting industries and the nobel gas argon, which plays a role in lamps and in transporting other gases, since it does not take part in reactions and so does not contaminate chemical reactions.
November 19, 2020
Oldukça dolu dolu bir kitap, küçük de olsa. Dost Kitabevi Yayınlarının bu küçük kitaplardan oluşan serisinin diğer kitaplarını da merak ediyorum.
July 6, 2017
.اصلا انتظار نداشتم کتابش اینقدر جذاب باشه
!موضوعی که معمولا برام خسته کننده بوده اینقدر جذاب و پرکشش روایت شده که تا انتهای کتاب من رو با خودش همراه کرد
کتاب از قبل میلاد مسیح و نظرات فلاسفه در مورد شیمی و عناصر شروع میشود (که البته بیشتر نظریه پردازی فلسفی است تا شیمی) و به عصر بمب اتم و ساخت عناصر مصنوعی میرسد.
!موضوعی که معمولا برام خسته کننده بوده اینقدر جذاب و پرکشش روایت شده که تا انتهای کتاب من رو با خودش همراه کرد
کتاب از قبل میلاد مسیح و نظرات فلاسفه در مورد شیمی و عناصر شروع میشود (که البته بیشتر نظریه پردازی فلسفی است تا شیمی) و به عصر بمب اتم و ساخت عناصر مصنوعی میرسد.
May 11, 2024
3,5 redondeado hacia arriba porque el tipo escribe mejor de lo que te esperas y el tema es una delicia. Lo que le resta tanto a un libro que podría ser de 5 estrellas es su manera fabulosa de irse por la tangente, lo cual es particularmente reprochable en un libro tan corto e introductorio. ¿Con qué calidad de gónadas elefantiásicas este hombre se atreve a hablarme de economía y de historia romana del imperio en un libro de 160 páginas para tratar un tema tan inabarcable e interesante como la química?
April 7, 2019
A look at the periodic table, and the story behind the discovery of some of the elements. I enjoyed the aside stories, particularly about gold.
April 16, 2010
The book follows the historical progression of what the elements were/are considered to be - from the early Greek philosophers, through the alchemists, periodic table and sub-atomic world.
I found the first 2/3rds of the book informative & enjoyable and I felt this was focussed on the essential question of what an element actually is - i.e, a substance that is either not divisible or has some essentially unique quality or attributes which mark it our from something else. Clearly these lines blur as we move into the sub-atomic world but I felt the book lost its way in discussion isotopes and technological applications in the latter part. Although the section on isotopes was quite interesting looking at carbon dating and the like, I felt this veered away from the essential subject matter too much.
Summary: As a non-scientist but interested layman I found the book pitched at more or less the right level technically but it needed more continuity in keeping to the philosophical question of what an element is!
I found the first 2/3rds of the book informative & enjoyable and I felt this was focussed on the essential question of what an element actually is - i.e, a substance that is either not divisible or has some essentially unique quality or attributes which mark it our from something else. Clearly these lines blur as we move into the sub-atomic world but I felt the book lost its way in discussion isotopes and technological applications in the latter part. Although the section on isotopes was quite interesting looking at carbon dating and the like, I felt this veered away from the essential subject matter too much.
Summary: As a non-scientist but interested layman I found the book pitched at more or less the right level technically but it needed more continuity in keeping to the philosophical question of what an element is!
January 30, 2016
Bilim ve kimya sevenler için 3-4 saatte okunabilen şeker tadında bir kitap.
April 18, 2018
a great book for short introduction for this vast world but need more info for it
April 26, 2021
Coming into this book, I was expecting to get an overview of basically every naturally-occurring element and the patterns in the periodic table. I didn't get that (the author literally scoffs at it in the introduction), but the book was very interesting anyway.
It starts off with the history of the idea of the elements, e.g. the Ancient Greeks' four elements, and explained why. Having read a fair amount about the Chinese 5-element system (which was also mentioned), I found some interesting insights as to the motivation for having such an imperfect and artificially symmetric system.
Then came a chapter about oxygen, and how chemists like Lavoisier realised that the element they called "air" really had many components, including one that gave life (oxygen) and one that snuffed it out (nitrogen), which gave rise to the modern idea of the elements.
Chapter 3 was about gold, how the effort to obtain it propelled advances in metallurgy. This chapter contained some very interesting nuggets (ha!) about the history of gold, my favourite being the one about how the Nobel prize medals, which were made of gold, were hidden from the Nazis in Sweden during the war.
Following that came at last the chapter on the Periodic Table, earlier ideas surrounding the organisation of the elements and how wrestling with the idea of atomic mass eventually revealed the existence of protons and neutrons. Ball gives some intriguing indications about the patterns present in the Periodic Table and I was hoping he would elucidate that more (I only know the basics about valence and metallic properties and want to know more), but turns out I'll have to look elsewhere for that.
The remaining chapters I found a bit more scattered but still fascinating. Chapter 5 looks at nuclear chemistry and the synthesis of new elements. Chapter 6 at the uses of isotopes in carbon dating, measuring ancient climate change, and in medicine. Chapter 7 covers some elements have become prominent in our "Silicon Age": silicon, of course, but also palladium, the lanthanides, europium (used to give us the brilliant colours of our TVs - though only red and blue; they're still working on a really good green), and argon.
Overall, it was clear that Ball knows his stuff both in chemistry and in science exposition. I've had my eye on some of his other books for years (the trilogy about patterns in nature, in particular) so I may go seek them out now.
It starts off with the history of the idea of the elements, e.g. the Ancient Greeks' four elements, and explained why. Having read a fair amount about the Chinese 5-element system (which was also mentioned), I found some interesting insights as to the motivation for having such an imperfect and artificially symmetric system.
Then came a chapter about oxygen, and how chemists like Lavoisier realised that the element they called "air" really had many components, including one that gave life (oxygen) and one that snuffed it out (nitrogen), which gave rise to the modern idea of the elements.
Chapter 3 was about gold, how the effort to obtain it propelled advances in metallurgy. This chapter contained some very interesting nuggets (ha!) about the history of gold, my favourite being the one about how the Nobel prize medals, which were made of gold, were hidden from the Nazis in Sweden during the war.
Following that came at last the chapter on the Periodic Table, earlier ideas surrounding the organisation of the elements and how wrestling with the idea of atomic mass eventually revealed the existence of protons and neutrons. Ball gives some intriguing indications about the patterns present in the Periodic Table and I was hoping he would elucidate that more (I only know the basics about valence and metallic properties and want to know more), but turns out I'll have to look elsewhere for that.
The remaining chapters I found a bit more scattered but still fascinating. Chapter 5 looks at nuclear chemistry and the synthesis of new elements. Chapter 6 at the uses of isotopes in carbon dating, measuring ancient climate change, and in medicine. Chapter 7 covers some elements have become prominent in our "Silicon Age": silicon, of course, but also palladium, the lanthanides, europium (used to give us the brilliant colours of our TVs - though only red and blue; they're still working on a really good green), and argon.
Overall, it was clear that Ball knows his stuff both in chemistry and in science exposition. I've had my eye on some of his other books for years (the trilogy about patterns in nature, in particular) so I may go seek them out now.
May 20, 2021
a very concise book in introducing ideas about the elements, the periodic table, the development of human understanding of chemicals, and its impact in military, economics, and culture, and the course of our history....
"A single element can exhibit very different characteristics depending on what it is combined with. Chlorine is a corrosive, poisonous gas; combined with sodium in table salt, it is completely harmless. Carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen are the stuff of life, but carbon monoxide and cyanide (a combination of carbon and nitrogen) are deadly."
In fact, this book overturned my previous understanding of oxygen and life.
"why does oxygen imply life? Until the 1960s, scientists tended to believe that the Earth’s oxygen-rich atmosphere – it is roughly one-fifth oxygen and four-fifths nitrogen – was a ‘given’, a result of geological processes on the early Earth. According to this picture, a planet with an oxygen blanket could support life but does not necessarily do so.
Now they see things very differently. The chemical composition of the air is not a precondition for life but the result of it. Around two billion years ago, primitive living organisms transformed the atmosphere from one largely devoid of oxygen to one with plenty of it.
Nature, however, makes do. If the air is full of poison, it will learn to live on poison. We breathe oxygen not because it is inherently good for us but because we have evolved ways of making it less bad for us."
Valuable.
"A single element can exhibit very different characteristics depending on what it is combined with. Chlorine is a corrosive, poisonous gas; combined with sodium in table salt, it is completely harmless. Carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen are the stuff of life, but carbon monoxide and cyanide (a combination of carbon and nitrogen) are deadly."
In fact, this book overturned my previous understanding of oxygen and life.
"why does oxygen imply life? Until the 1960s, scientists tended to believe that the Earth’s oxygen-rich atmosphere – it is roughly one-fifth oxygen and four-fifths nitrogen – was a ‘given’, a result of geological processes on the early Earth. According to this picture, a planet with an oxygen blanket could support life but does not necessarily do so.
Now they see things very differently. The chemical composition of the air is not a precondition for life but the result of it. Around two billion years ago, primitive living organisms transformed the atmosphere from one largely devoid of oxygen to one with plenty of it.
Nature, however, makes do. If the air is full of poison, it will learn to live on poison. We breathe oxygen not because it is inherently good for us but because we have evolved ways of making it less bad for us."
Valuable.
January 31, 2022
A thoroughly enjoyable introduction to the elements. I guess there are dozens of ways one could approach writing about this topic, Ball goes in for a wide ranging approach. He starts with the pre-modern search for primary elements and then turns to two specific examples, oxygen and gold.
After exploring these two important elements we move onto the increasing discovery of many others, leading to the categorisation of them, most famously done with Mendeleev's periodic table.
Moving on from how they were discovered, Ball delves into how they are formed and from what they are constituted. Here we slide from chemistry into physics and the story of the splitting of the atom is told.
Ball ends with some short descriptions of certain important elements (iron, silicon, palladium, europium, and argon) and how they are used by humans today.
I couldn't really think of a way an introduction to a topic could be improved. It is perhaps due an update as the book is 20 years old now, but I've learnt a lot from this, not just how the elements have been found and used but even topics that I hadn't thought would have so much to them, such as how they've been named and how this reflects the societal values at the time.
After exploring these two important elements we move onto the increasing discovery of many others, leading to the categorisation of them, most famously done with Mendeleev's periodic table.
Moving on from how they were discovered, Ball delves into how they are formed and from what they are constituted. Here we slide from chemistry into physics and the story of the splitting of the atom is told.
Ball ends with some short descriptions of certain important elements (iron, silicon, palladium, europium, and argon) and how they are used by humans today.
I couldn't really think of a way an introduction to a topic could be improved. It is perhaps due an update as the book is 20 years old now, but I've learnt a lot from this, not just how the elements have been found and used but even topics that I hadn't thought would have so much to them, such as how they've been named and how this reflects the societal values at the time.
March 19, 2017
Interesting facts in each chapter
Chapter 1: Aristotle’s quartet
Aristotle’s quartet was believed over the years.
The book , written by Boyle, was against the quartet.
Chapter 2: Revolution: How oxygen changed the world
Lavoisier was known for the Newton or Darwin of chemistry, but was killed during the French Revolution; Robespierre’s Reign of Terror.
Scientists could not accept the fact that two elements turn to another substance, like chlorine and sodium turning into salt.
Chapter 3: Gold
There are many myths from the ancient society that makes gold valuable, even though platinum is more valuable in the reality.
Gold was used as the substitute of money and is still used in some situations of trading.
Chapter 4: The eightfold path: Organizing the elements
Mendeleyev thought of the periodic table while in a dream, which is thought to be caused by his unconscious mind trying to organize the elements.
John Priestly and Rutherford’s work contributed a lot to the creation of the table.
Chapter 5: The atom factories: Making new elements
Rutherford named alpha, beta, and gamma decay.
Uranium was created by nucleic fission.
Chapter 6: The chemical brothers: Why isotopes are useful
Isotopes have different numbers of neutrons but have the same number of protons.
There are two kinds of isotopes; stable isotopes and radioactive isotopes, which are used in different fields.
Chapter 7: For all practical purposes: Technologies of the elements
Silicon is an element.
Iron, silicon, platinum group and palladium are a few of the substances that are used in wide fields.
Chapter 1: Aristotle’s quartet
Aristotle’s quartet was believed over the years.
The book , written by Boyle, was against the quartet.
Chapter 2: Revolution: How oxygen changed the world
Lavoisier was known for the Newton or Darwin of chemistry, but was killed during the French Revolution; Robespierre’s Reign of Terror.
Scientists could not accept the fact that two elements turn to another substance, like chlorine and sodium turning into salt.
Chapter 3: Gold
There are many myths from the ancient society that makes gold valuable, even though platinum is more valuable in the reality.
Gold was used as the substitute of money and is still used in some situations of trading.
Chapter 4: The eightfold path: Organizing the elements
Mendeleyev thought of the periodic table while in a dream, which is thought to be caused by his unconscious mind trying to organize the elements.
John Priestly and Rutherford’s work contributed a lot to the creation of the table.
Chapter 5: The atom factories: Making new elements
Rutherford named alpha, beta, and gamma decay.
Uranium was created by nucleic fission.
Chapter 6: The chemical brothers: Why isotopes are useful
Isotopes have different numbers of neutrons but have the same number of protons.
There are two kinds of isotopes; stable isotopes and radioactive isotopes, which are used in different fields.
Chapter 7: For all practical purposes: Technologies of the elements
Silicon is an element.
Iron, silicon, platinum group and palladium are a few of the substances that are used in wide fields.
August 26, 2020
What I thought would be a quick read turned into months- not because of the language but just the vastness and density of the subject. Perhaps this reader just had to catch up. I love these little books because I feel like I gain a deep understanding of material in a limited amount of pages. This one was a weighted one, mainly because it the elements past a mythological and basic understanding are not in my wheelhouse of thought often. Ball does a great job explaining complexities to the layman. #104 of the Very Short Introductions did not disappoint.
March 26, 2021
A Stronger Meaning of Elements
This book effectively breaks down the elements found on the periodic table and more. Though there were some areas that were tedious to read through — especially if have a hard time keeping up with the science jargon — the author successfully provides evidence on how the elements that are both fundamental and man-made play a major role in creating and providing for our global society.
This book effectively breaks down the elements found on the periodic table and more. Though there were some areas that were tedious to read through — especially if have a hard time keeping up with the science jargon — the author successfully provides evidence on how the elements that are both fundamental and man-made play a major role in creating and providing for our global society.
January 19, 2025
يتناول الكتاب مقدمة موجزة عن العناصر الكيميائية
ويعرض تاريخ اكتشاف جزيئات العناصر من ارسطو الذي كان يعتقد ان المواد تتكون من مواد بدائية هي الماء-الهواء -التربة-النار الى الفهم الحديث للعناصر
-وكيف تم ترتيب العناصر الكيميائية في الجدول الدوري
-ويستعرض كيف تغير العالم باكتشاف العناصر مثل الاكسجين - الذهب -الحديد-الفولاذ- السيليكون-البلاديوم-الارجون- الجزيئات تحت الذرة البروتون-والإلكترون-والنيوترون- والعناصر الذرية ونظائرها
-واستخداماتها في المجالات الصناعية والطبية والتكنولوجية
October 3, 2018
How do you write a very short introduction for over 100 elements. Not easy but Philip does just that so well. He has provided the viewer with a cogent historical perspective of the world of elements. Especially loved the latter part of the book dealing with nuclear chemistry and the search for new elements. Choice of Oxygen and gold was also very apt. A must read.
January 13, 2020
Don't expect to learn Chemistry from nothing up out of this book. But if you have some prior knowledge this book is amazing. It gives a complete history of Chemistry and along the way teaches these topics. And in the final chapter 7 he gives some examples of use of the elements. This book is amazing for anyone with prior knowledge of Chemistry.
August 1, 2020
كتاب يزخر بالمعلومات القيمة ومفيد جدا كمقدمة لعلم الكيمياء , السرد التاريخي للاكتشافات مطروح بترتيب يربك القارئ
July 30, 2023
كتيّب ممتع، ونظرة عامة في تاريخ التصوّر عن العناصر الطبيعية، وجمع بعض ما أحاط بهذا التغيّر في التعريف.
November 6, 2024
to be updateed
October 22, 2010
Previously published as 'The Ingredients: A Guided Tour of the Elements', this second entry in this series from gifted science writer Philip Ball is well-paced, nicely-illustrated, and radiates his enthusiasm for the discipline. In 170 pages he takes the reader on a carefully selected journey through chemistry: from its earliest origins right up to its significance in cutting edge technology.
He begins with the system of four elements proposed by the ancient Greeks - air, earth, fire and water, before moving on to the medieval alchemists' belief in the transmutation of the elements, and then the back-to-front phlogiston theory of the 18th century, that would eventually lead to the discovery of oxygen. He also devotes a chapter to gold - its extraction, its symbolism and its practical uses. It isn't until chapter 4 that we see how the elements are actually organized, from Dalton's atomic symbols, to the modern Periodic Table. We also learn what a particular element's placement in the Table can tell us about its properties.
The rest of the book covers the 20th century to the present day. Chapter 5 focuses on the race to make new elements, and covers nuclear fission and fusion. Chapter 6 looks at the discovery of isotopes and the groundbreaking ways they were put to use, from carbon-dating to medical imaging. Finally, chapter 7 explores an arbitrary selection of lesser-known elements and examines their practical usage, from the noble gas argon, to palladium, once known as 'new silver', now the vital component of catalytic converters.
Together with a historical account of the discovery of the atom and an overview of atomic mass and atomic weight, this is an enjoyable little book. At this size, it's not a comprehensive introduction by any means, but Ball has handpicked a good selection of topics, and covered them well. There is plenty here to whet your appetite (or fill the knowledge gaps that have opened up since leaving school) and Ball's writing ensures that this is one of the better entries in the VSI series.
He begins with the system of four elements proposed by the ancient Greeks - air, earth, fire and water, before moving on to the medieval alchemists' belief in the transmutation of the elements, and then the back-to-front phlogiston theory of the 18th century, that would eventually lead to the discovery of oxygen. He also devotes a chapter to gold - its extraction, its symbolism and its practical uses. It isn't until chapter 4 that we see how the elements are actually organized, from Dalton's atomic symbols, to the modern Periodic Table. We also learn what a particular element's placement in the Table can tell us about its properties.
The rest of the book covers the 20th century to the present day. Chapter 5 focuses on the race to make new elements, and covers nuclear fission and fusion. Chapter 6 looks at the discovery of isotopes and the groundbreaking ways they were put to use, from carbon-dating to medical imaging. Finally, chapter 7 explores an arbitrary selection of lesser-known elements and examines their practical usage, from the noble gas argon, to palladium, once known as 'new silver', now the vital component of catalytic converters.
Together with a historical account of the discovery of the atom and an overview of atomic mass and atomic weight, this is an enjoyable little book. At this size, it's not a comprehensive introduction by any means, but Ball has handpicked a good selection of topics, and covered them well. There is plenty here to whet your appetite (or fill the knowledge gaps that have opened up since leaving school) and Ball's writing ensures that this is one of the better entries in the VSI series.
July 12, 2014
Like most of these "very short introductions", I thought this was well worth reading. There wasn't much in the way of ideas new to me - most of the key concepts described in the book are familiar from school days - but there's lots of historical tidbits and other interesting facts. On the down-side, I felt the author sometimes let his poetic side run away with him - the section on gold, for example, seems to over-emphasise the appeal of the metal itself as opposed to the wealth it conveys.
There was more in the book than I had expected on atomic physics as I was expecting a book that was thoroughly devoted to chemistry and its applications. But thinking about the title, it's just as important to understand what underlies the differences between the elements and how elements can be transmuted to one another, as it is to understand the effects of those differences.
Anyway, a good read, including good reminders of stuff you'll half remember from school and lots of other stuff besides. Small enough to fit into a jacket pocket so you can read in those odd scraps of time through the day :-)
There was more in the book than I had expected on atomic physics as I was expecting a book that was thoroughly devoted to chemistry and its applications. But thinking about the title, it's just as important to understand what underlies the differences between the elements and how elements can be transmuted to one another, as it is to understand the effects of those differences.
Anyway, a good read, including good reminders of stuff you'll half remember from school and lots of other stuff besides. Small enough to fit into a jacket pocket so you can read in those odd scraps of time through the day :-)
August 18, 2011
Anche se il titolo italiano non lo mostra, questo libro è la traduzione italiana di un volume della meritoria serie dell'Oxford University Press, dedicata per l'appunto alla chimica: inorganica, per gli amanti della precisione. Anzi no, perché la storia - a parte un'introduzione col pensiero degli antichi greci - prende l'abbrivio col '700 e quindi dal lento passaggio dall'alchimia alla chimica, con il lento definirsi degli elementi e la scomparsa di altri che elementi non lo erano (l'aria) o proprio non esistevano (il flogisto).
Il libro riesce ad arrivare a trattare anche la fisica atomica, vista chiaramente dal punto di vista chimico come la generazione di nuovi elementi e le lotte tra i vari gruppi di ricerca per assicurarsi la priorità delle scoperte, e ai radioisotopi; la prosa è coinvolgente e permette di farsi un'idea non scolastica di cosa possa essere la chimica degli elementi. La traduzione è scorrevole: certo che verificare le date, che in un paio di punti sono chiaramente errate, sarebbe stato meglio!
Il libro riesce ad arrivare a trattare anche la fisica atomica, vista chiaramente dal punto di vista chimico come la generazione di nuovi elementi e le lotte tra i vari gruppi di ricerca per assicurarsi la priorità delle scoperte, e ai radioisotopi; la prosa è coinvolgente e permette di farsi un'idea non scolastica di cosa possa essere la chimica degli elementi. La traduzione è scorrevole: certo che verificare le date, che in un paio di punti sono chiaramente errate, sarebbe stato meglio!
November 13, 2012
What a book! Anyone who wants to write a book that teaches and excites people about science and learning should use this book as a guide. The problem I often have with in-depth non-fiction books, and often magazine and newspaper articles too, is the author assumes the reader is familiar with the basics of the subject, and usually I'm not, or I wouldn't be reading to try to learn more. This author does a great job of packing in the information and making it interesting and easy to understand.
May 20, 2016
Io adoro Philip Ball, è uno scrittore che sa il fatto suo e scrive di scienza come se fosse un lungo e appassionante romanzo. In italiano, per lo meno, i libri di argomento chimico sono pochi, e questo riesce da solo a coprire molti, molti buchi. Le storie su alcuni degli elementi della tavola periodica sono divertenti, interessanti, talvolta esilaranti, tutte istruttive e, il che non guasta, scritte veramente bene.
June 18, 2012
Such a broad topic, so little space - too bad the book has to be selective instead of comprehensive. The basics are covered, but it leaves you wanting for more.
July 27, 2015
Very good review of the history, chemistry and current state of thinking about the elements. Took me back to my days as a chemistry student.
May 13, 2020
Отличная книга и по истории и по химии. Написана с большим вкусом.
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