Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements
by John Emsley
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Book Summary Information
Author: John EmsleyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-09-18
ISBN: 0198503407
Number of pages: 560
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements
Book Review: A Book I've Been Looking For!
Summary: 4 Stars
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!
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