Elemental Av Tim James

The Universe came into being 13.8 billion years ago. At this point, all of existence could be summed up as an endless soup of particles frothing at temperatures many times hotter than the Sun. It was chaos. Fortunately, as the Universe expanded, everything began to cool and the particles stabilised. It was around this time, as disorder gave way to order, that the elements were born. Fast forward to June 2016 and the periodic table of elements was finally completed with the discovery and addition of four new elements. At last we could identify all the ingredients necessary to make a world. But it doesn't stop there. Human ingenuity knows no bounds; we have even begun to invent our own elements and have created an entire science devoted to their study: chemistry. <br/> <br/>When it comes to chemistry, Tim James knows his stuff. In Elemental he tells the story of the periodic table from its ancient Greek roots, when you could count the number of elements humans were aware of on one hand, to the modern alchemists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, who have used nuclear chemistry and physics to generate new elements and complete the periodic table. In addition to this, James answers questions such as: <br/> <br/>What is the chemical symbol for a human? <br/> <br/>What would happen if all of the elements were mixed together? <br/> <br/>How many bananas can you stand next to before you die of radiation sickness? <br/> <br/>Which liquid can teleport through walls? <br/> <br/>Why is the medieval dream of transmuting lead into gold now a reality?

SELECTED AS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2018 BY THE DAILY MAIL 'A hugely entertaining tour of the periodic table and the 118 elements that are the basic building blocks of everything' Daily MailIn 2016, with the addition of four final elements - nihonium, moscovium, tennessine and oganesson - to make a total of 118 elements, the periodic table was finally complete, rendering any pre-existing books on the subject obsolete. Tim James, the science YouTuber and secondary-school teacher we all wish we'd had, provides an accessible and wonderfully entertaining 'biography of chemistry' that uses stories to explain the positions and patterns of elements in the periodic table. Many popular science titles tend to tell the history of scientific developments, leaving the actual science largely unexplained; James, however, makes use of stories to explain the principles of chemistry within the table, showing its relevance to everyday life.Quirkily illustrated and filled with humour, this is the perfect book for students wanting to learn chemistry or for parents wanting to help, but it is also for anyone who wants to understand how our world works at a fundamental level. The periodic table, that abstract and seemingly jumbled graphic, holds (nearly) all the answers. As James puts it, elements are 'the building blocks nature uses for cosmic cookery: the purest substances making up everything from beetroot to bicycles.'Whether you're studying the periodic table for the first time or are simply interested in the fundamental building blocks of the universe - from the core of the sun to the networks in our brains - Elemental is the perfect guide.Website: timjamesscience.com YouTube: timjamesScience Twitter: @tjamesScience