| As a young high school student I was inspired by a 1969 Time Life Pocket Book titled Matter.
The book works at many levels and discusses the history of chemistry, the nature of gasses, liquids
and solids, and the structure of the nucleus. The book still reads well 33 years after it was published.
The middle part of the book contains a beautifully organised gallery of the elements. The elements
are grouped by attributes and each one has a picture with a short caption to describe its properties
and uses. I think it's worth pausing and considering that everything in the universe is made out
of the elements in this table, and all of the elements beyond hydrogen are manufactured in stars
and novas. Click an element to pop-up details. |
 |
