Platinum

Children's Literature

"The Elements" series describes the characteristics, sources, and everyday uses of an element along with its discoverers, history, and importance to our lives. Did you know?" sections explain various aspects of this expensive and extremely dense metal such as how it is recycled or how it is used to stabilize photographs. There are diagrams of the element's atom and a quick "Facts" chart. Photographs include the platinum crown made for the setting of the Koh-i-noor diamond, various drugs that use platinum, mining of the precious metal in South Africa, and industrial uses of the element. The straightforward text ends with the periodic table. This section covers chemical reactions and writing an equation and balancing. This would be known material to high school students of chemistry, but new to most middle school readers. This series would appeal to a slightly younger reader. Table of contents, glossary, and index are included. 2004, Benchmark Books/Marshall Cavendish, Ages 11 to 16.
—Susan Hepler, Ph.D.