Elements and Theodore Gray
Last modified on 2012-11-16 21:28:40 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
The Elements
A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe
(click cover image for more information and to purchase)
By Theodore Gray and with photographs by Theodore Gray and Nick Mann
—“The periodic table is the universal catalog of everything you can drop on your foot”—
—Theodore Gray
“Theodore Gray…has attained a level of near superhuman geekery that the rest of us can only mutely admire.”
— Cecil Adams, “The Straight Dope”
Everything in the world that is tangible is made up of elements, and elements have two faces—their pure states, and the range of chemical compounds they form when they combine with other elements. The Elements provides us with the rare opportunity to see both, up close and personal. Based on seven years of research and photography, the pictures in this book make up the most complete, and visually arresting, portrait of every element in the universe.
Organized in order of appearance in the periodic table, the book showcases each element (wherever possible) with a big, beautiful photograph of the pure element. For example, oxygen is a colorless gas, but at -183ºC, it turns into a pale blue liquid. Also included are photographs that show examples of the way that element lives in the world—the compounds and applications in which we experience the element in daily life.
Each element is accompanied by its story: where we learn, for example, that fluorine (element 9) is one of the most reactive elements. If you blow a stream of fluorine gas at almost anything it will burst into flames, but because it’s so reactive, its resulting compounds are very stable.
Essential scientific information including atomic weight, atomic radius, a crystal structure diagram, and graphs representing electron filling order, the atomic emission spectrum, and the temperatures at which the element is a solid, liquid, or gas, is also included for each element.
“Theodore Gray is passionate about the periodic table, and his collection of elements rivals that of any museum’s. With his characteristic wit and erudition, and above all with gorgeous photographs, he gives intriguing examples—ranging from commonplace to quirky—of each element’s unique properties and uses. This glorious book is more than just a guide to the elements; it will fundamentally deepen your appreciation of the substances that make up our world.”
—Oliver Sacks, author of Awakenings, Musicophillia, Uncle Tungsten, and many others
“Even if this book weren’t absolutely gorgeous, it would still be a worthwhile investment because of how well it works as Coffee Table Education. This is when you leave a book lying around that is so tempting the kids pick it up and start learning stuff without even being asked! Delightful.”
—Wired’s “GeekDad”
“This book gets firmly placed on my list of must-haves for anyone interested in science and the nature of our world and the universe. Very appropriate for science fans of any age.”
—Gavin Scott (California)
“Chock full of beautifully done photos, as well as sharp wit. Just about every page has something silly somewhere. For example:
‘Sodium is the most explosive and the best tasting of all the alkali metals.’
‘Disposable oxygen tanks for hobby brazing and as a refreshing pick-me-up…’
‘So many important chemicals have been discovered by accident that one has to wonder what a bunch of bumblers chemists are.’
‘Bananas are high in potassium, thus both healthy and radioactive.’
‘This piece of the mineral thorite might contain an atom of francium, if you watch closely.’”—Steve W. Bonds (Oregon)
And now if you want even more ELEMENTS, try:
Theodore Gray’s Elements VaultTreasures of the Periodic Table with Removable Archival Documents and Real Element Samples—including Pure Gold! —
(click cover image for more information and to purchase)
This book picks up where The Elements left off. Organized into the nine major groups of the periodic table, including the alkali metals, the alkali earth metals, the transition metals, the nonmetals, the metalloids, the halogens, the noble gases, the actinides, and the lanthanides, Elements Vault includes all new text, new photographs, and even more information about the elements.
Elements Vault also includes 20 removable historic documents related to the elements and the field of chemistry, such as Einstein’s famous letter to Roosevelt explaining the potential of uranium for use in nuclear weapons, a genuine advertisement for lithium-laced 7UP soda, Mendeleev’s original notes on the periodic table, and more. Each of these documents is individually packaged in an envelope attached to the book page. The document can be removed and handled and then put back into the book for safekeeping. Also included is a gorgeous 20″ x 10″ poster of the unique rainbow spectrum emitted by each element in the periodic table.
Real samples of pure elements: gold, silicon, boron, promethium, and zirconium also find a home in this book.
“A few years ago, [Black Dog & Leventhal] had a hit with The Elements. Authored and made especially kid-friendly by Popular Science columnist Theodore Gray, the book was a feast of microphotography and earthbound explorations of pretty out-there stuff. Elements Vault belongs right next to it on the family bookcase. It’s one of those books we see more and more of these days—the kind packed with extra bits; a show-and-tell between covers. In this case, envelope-enclosed collectibles (postcards, reproductions of historic stamps, elaborate charts, mineral samples) relating to each of the periodic table’s elements are bound into almost every eye-popping spread. Tucked within each book is even a bitsy nugget of gold.”
—National Public Radio’s John McAlley
Click here to see Elements wall and desk calendars, puzzle, and photographic elements card deck
Theo Gray’s Mad Science
Experiments You Can Do at Home—But Probably Shouldn’t
Available in both hardcover and paperback
“What a magnificent book. It’s gorgeous, playful, and draws you in. Every single photo shows not only a deep love of science in the abstract, but also a tinkerer’s love of the STUFF of science; the tools and glass, the clay and metal, and all the things that make science accessible to everyone.”
—Adam Savage, co-host of Mythbusters
Theo demonstrates fascinating scientific principles through 52 visually thrilling, daredevil experiments. Each experiment is accompanied by stunning full-color photographs that provide a front-row seat to rarely seen chemical reactions and glorious subatomic activity. To further enhance the vicarious science experience, Theo includes ingredients and step-by-step descriptions of how he performed the experiments.
What good is this Nobel Prize around my neck if it doesn’t produce admiration for science writers such as Theo Gray, whose skillful work helps convert young students into serious researchers?”
—Leon Lederman, winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics
“I’ve spent twenty-two years working with Theo Gray creating software, seeing him find simple ways to do the seemingly impossible. You’re in for a treat when he applies the same creativity and insight to revealing the science of everyday things.”
—Stephen Wolfram, creator of Mathematica® and author of A New Kind of Science
In Mad Science Theo:
- Launches a toy rocket using the energy released from an Oreo cookie
- Ignites a phosphorus sun by suspending half a gram of white phosphorus in a globe filled with pure oxygen
- Fires up a homemade hot tub by adding 500 pounds of quicklime to water
- Traps lighting in a plastic block
- Makes perfectly edible ice cream using a fire extinguisher
Black Dog & Leventhal is proud to present another new science-themed book featuring visually appealing and awe-inspiring imagery:
Solar System
A Visual Exploration of the Planets, Moons, and Other Heavenly Bodies that Orbit Our Sun
The first-ever print book created from an iPad app.
(click cover image for more information and to purchase)
Never before have the wonders of our solar system—all its planets, dwarf planets, the sun, moons, rocky Asteroid Belt, and icy Kuiper Belt—been so immediately accessible to readers of all ages. Beginning with a fascinating overview and then organized by planet, in order of its distance from the sun, Solar System takes us on a trip across time and space that includes a front-row seat to the explosive birth of the solar system, a journey to (and then deep inside) each of its eight planets, and even an in-depth exploration of asteroids and comets.
With hundreds of gorgeous images produced especially for this project and through a collaboration between NASA and the graphics experts at Planetary Visions Ltd. and Joe Zeff Design, Solar System gives us page after page of unique, detailed, and never-before-seen views, both photographic and computer-generated. Take a dive down into the canyons of Mars; ride across the rings of Saturn; fly over the volcanoes of Io, Jupiter’s so-called Pizza Moon; and sail through the fiery loops of gas that are constantly erupting from our sun.
Every planet and moon is introduced with a big, beautiful, full-page image and a databox that shows the orbit and position of the planet or moon in relation to surrounding bodies, as well as the diameter, mass, volume, surface temperature, atmospheric makeup, and orbital period of the planet, a scale comparison graphic, and a planet cross-section for the eight planets.
Award-winning author and CalTech radio astronomer Marcus Chown explains everything to us in easy-to-understand, exciting style. The result is a gorgeous and thoroughly entertaining—not to mention educational—book.
