Periodic Tales: A Cultural History of the Elements, from Arsenic to Zinc

It's unusual for me to rate highly a book that is not a page-turner. I read at least a dozen science books and about as many history books in a year, often reading 2-3 books simultaneously. This book took me 3 months to read. At times, I wanted to quit reading and give it a 2 star rating. This was due to the extraordinary level of minutia in areas that I knew almost nothing about, even though I had a dual major of chemistry and physics when at university. When the author feels that he has to outline an entire Shakespeare play just because gold and silver are mentioned or write for several pages about a favorite architect because he uses a particular metal, I became bored. But then I realized that at one time, I was a student of Shakespeare and would have, at that time, enjoyed revisiting the play. The same could be said of architecture and the other subjects that the author explores in fine detail. So, I have to admit that any ill-leanings I had while reading are clearly a reflection of the current tastes of this reader and not the author.I must say that I've never read a book where I had to look up so many words! I thought my vocabulary skills were superb but this book put me in my place. And, it has nothing to do with the fact that the author is British, which some reviewers claim, and who no doubt marked the author down because of their own embarrassment. It has more to do with the skill that the author wields with being able to find just the right word to proxy for an entire sentence.I highlight words and passages that I want to remember, and I marked so many pages for this book that you could almost write a novelette with those passages. So even though the book was a drudgery at times, to be honest, it was because of the weakness of this reader in so many areas about the cultural history of mankind -- reason enough for me to reread the book sometime.One last point. A couple reviewers criticized the book for poor organization. I don't agree. The order of presentation of the elements is irrelevant. The manner in which the stories are told is what's important and Hugh Aldersey-Williams is a master story teller. Another criticism is the difficulty with interpreting photos on a Kindle. I agree, but that's the territory that comes with a Kindle. The photos, however, are not at all germane to understanding the stories. The interested reader can use the Amazon "Look Inside" feature to enjoy quite a few of the photos. I counted 11 pictures that can be enjoyed in this manner.

In his 2011 book Periodic Tales, science journalist Hugh Aldersey-Williams delves deeply into the history, science, and lore of the periodic table and the chemical elements catalogued within it. As an avid collector of element samples, Aldersey-Williams applies his acquisitive enthusiasm for the subject to his research, tracking down sundry data on each element with thoroughness and verve. If you are at all fascinated by the fundamental building blocks of matter, this book will certainly teach you much on the subject. Its main fault, however, is that it fails to give any coherent structure to what feels like a collection of miscellaneous tangential anecdotes.The subtitle of Periodic Tales proclaims it a “Cultural History,” a phrase which in this case seems intended to relinquish the responsibility of being a science book and give Aldersey-Williams license to write whatever he feels like. The contents of the book are arranged very haphazardly, making it feel like a collection of unrelated magazine articles, similar to what you might find in a National Geographic but not quite as engaging. Much of what you’ll read in this book seems like it could be postscripted with the phrase, “. . . but I digress.” When Aldersey-Williams sticks to science history and discusses how the elements were discovered, isolated, or in some cases created, or how they are utilized in industry, the book is really quite fascinating, but when he goes off on the perceived gender of a particular element, an instance where an element is mentioned in a poem, or how a relatively unknown contemporary artist made a sculpture out of some weird metal, interest quickly wanes. At one point he interviews someone who lives in a town that’s mentioned in a Thomas Hardy novel, and he spends two pages talking about this novel, even though it has nothing to do with the elements. What it all adds up to is fuel for some future game of Trivial Pursuit, but even after having just finished the book I find myself struggling to remember much of the details because they weren’t presented in any sort of cohesively organized narrative.The book is divided into five sections which could not be more arbitrary—Power, Fire, Craft, Beauty, and Earth. Because the author often discusses more than one element in each chapter, he can’t present them in order by atomic number, but couldn’t he at least have arranged them by chemical family? Or why not go with a chronological organization, from ancient alchemy to contemporary nuclear physics? Wouldn’t that have been a better way for the reader to experience the “Cultural History” promised by the subtitle?Aldersey-Williams is a Brit, and the book appears to have been written for a British audience. That’s not a criticism, just a clarification for American readers, who won’t always get the author’s jokes or pop culture references. That won’t hinder your overall understanding of the text. He conducts most of his research and interviews in Britain, though he does travel elsewhere in the world when the elements lead him there.For the most part I enjoyed reading Periodic Tales, but the disjointed patchwork approach made it feel like a long haul. If you’re really interested in chemistry and enjoy reading about the history of science you will find much to like here, but there will likely also be moments when you’ll question the relevance of what you’re reading and wonder if it’s worth your time.

I discovered something myself! This is the year of the periodic table. Thank you PubChem. The author notes that the public barely knows the elements that seed the chemistry and technology that enriches our 21stC experience of the world. I am acquainted with molecular biology and organic chemistry. This book brought my attention back to the whole slate of the elements. Usually background info on discovery is an unsatisfying, spare scaffold of facts names , dates, noteworthy features of the substance. Here is a glimpse behind the scenes of history describing how the list went from 4 elemental forces earth, wind, fire, and water to the 100 plus elemental substances that fit snuggly in the periodic table. Makes me want to buy a cauldron and light a fire releasing the constituents bound in minerals.

An interesting approach to what is a scientific subject. The science, history of the discovery, and the cultural aspects of each element are described in a knowledgeable -- and often entertaining way. It is a book that one can dip into at any point, leave after a few pages, then come back later without loss.

The Periodic Table is a thing of ordered beauty, but Aldersey-Williams' text seems to meander aimlessly amongst the elements, with his poetic sensibilities sometimes overwhelming solid scientific explanation.

Parla principalmente dell'utilizzo dei vari elementi per la realizzazione di pigmenti per coloranti o opere d'arte ed architettoniche.Interessanti le storie sulle origini degli elementi ma è sempre prolisso, mooolto prolisso, sull'utilizzo di un certo elemento per qualche opera d'arte.Nessun accenno sulle proprietà fisico/chimiche del materiale.Comunque scritto bene e richiede un livello di conoscenza della lingua inglese non troppo elevato.Ok se siete artisti, sconsigliato a chimici e fisici non appassionati d'arte e pittura.

Bitte um Kontaktaufnahme.Das Buch ist beschädigt geliefert worden.

Cette fameuse table de Mendeliev m'a, depuis le lycée, fasciné par sa (relative) simplicité et la richesse de ce qu'on peut en déduire.J'ai beaucoup apprécié toutes ces histoires, que l'auteur raconte sur un ton très "british" sans dédaigner pour autant la culture française, au point d'insérer des jeux de mots "en français dans le texte" (Anti-moine...).