Ball, Philip (Author)
University of Chicago Press
Physical Details: 224
Language: English
From water, air, and fire to tennessine and oganesson, celebrated science writer Philip Ball leads us through the full sweep of the field of chemistry in this exquisitely illustrated history of the elements. The Elements is a stunning visual journey through the discovery of the chemical building blocks of our universe. By piecing together the history of the periodic table, Ball explores not only how we have come to understand what everything is made of, but also how chemistry developed into a modern science. Ball groups the elements into chronological eras of discovery, covering seven millennia from the first known to the last named. As he moves from prehistory and classical antiquity to the age of atomic bombs and particle accelerators, Ball highlights images and stories from around the world and sheds needed light on those who struggled for their ideas to gain inclusion. By also featuring some elements that aren't true elements but were long thought to be--from the foundational prote hyle and heavenly aetherof the ancient Greeks to more recent false elements like phlogiston and caloric--The Elements boldly tells the full history of the central science of chemistry.
...MoreReview Vanessa A. Seifert (2023) Review of "The Elements: A Visual History of Their Discovery". Metascience: An International Review Journal for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (pp. 121-124).
Review Karoliina Pulkkinen (2022) Review of "The Elements: A Visual History of Their Discovery". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 426-427).
Review Eric R. Scerri (2022) Review of "The Elements: A Visual History of Their Discovery". Ambix: Journal of the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry (pp. 427-428).
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Foundations of Chemistry
The Chemical Educator
Historia Scientiarum: International Journal of the History of Science Society of Japan
Circumscribere: International Journal for the History of Science
Centaurus: International Magazine of the History of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
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