It's Elementary!

Following in the footsteps of the critically acclaimed and award-winning science bestsellers What Makes Me?, Can You Feel the Force?, and Go Figure!, this engaging book takes an in-depth look at the magical world of chemistry and sprinkles it with elements of fun.

Children's Literature

Winston tells readers that "Everything is elements." The Greeks are given credit as being the ones who wanted to know what everything was made of and they divided everything into four elements. It was Demicritus who realized but could not prove that everything was made of atoms. Much of the knowledge of early science was kept in the great library at Alexandria, but it burned and the texts were lost, so we will never know how vast their knowledge was at that time. One of the things that alchemists tried to do was find the combination that would produce gold. The book has a wonderful time line that runs through the pages explaining major discoveries and also noting when ancient theories were debunked and replaced with new knowledge based upon observation and experimentation. There is a big spread showing the periodic table, followed by a discussion about the elements, starting with the simplest to the more complex. The book also touches on the elements needed to keep us healthy and how elements are used. For example, sodium is a component of soaps and is used in chemical solutions to put out fires and so much more. The closing pages of the book summarize the elements in the periodic table by group and contain a glossary and an index. This book would be a wonderful supplement to chemistry or physics class and also a good choice to satisfy the curiosity of budding young scientists. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot

Johnny Ball is the host of several popular British TV shows. His shows and videos have won 12 awards, including a New York International Emmy nomination, the ITV "Presenter of the Year" Craft Award and a BAFTA. He is the author of DK's Go Figure!