Periodic Tales

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

If only chemistry had been like this at school Matt Ridley, Prospect
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Elements. Everything in the universe is made of them, including you. And like you, the elements have personalities, attitudes, talents, shortcomings, stories rich with meaning.

Here youll meet iron that rains from the heavens. Youll learn how lead can tell your future while zinc may one day line your coffin. Youll 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.

Unlocking their astonishing secrets and colourful pasts, Periodic Tales is a voyage of wonder and discovery, showing that their stories are our stories, and their lives are inextricable from our own.
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A love letter to the chemical elements. Aldersey-Williams is full of good stories, and he knows how to tell them wellSunday Telegraph

Great fun to read and an endless fund of unlikely and improbable anecdotesFinancial Times

The history, science, art, literature and everyday applications of all the elements from aluminium to zincThe Times