The elements The new guide to the building blocks of our universe

This lavishly illustrated guide to the periodic table of elements is easy to navigate and will be welcomed by students of all ages. Most of the more common elements (e.g., silver, gold, helium) get multipage spreads with color photographs, while less common ones (most rare-earth metals) feel a little shafted, with just a paragraph. Though similar to The Periodic Table: A Visual Guide to the Elements (2014), the content here is arranged differently, and there are more illustrations, making this similarly priced guide an affordable additional option for most circulating science collections.--Vnuk, Rebecca Copyright 2015 Booklist

Challoner (Genius: Great Inventors and Their Creations) presents a well-illustrated guide to the elements. Here is both a concise, visual introduction to basic concepts about the atom and a short history of the elements and development of the periodic table, as well as a profile for each element organized by the appropriate color-coded periodic table grouping. Challoner has created an attractively presented, up-to-date collection of profiles on the elements and how they affect our daily lives. Their impact on smartphone technology, forensic and medical applications, and historical photos mesh into a seamless narrative. VERDICT Those wishing to add to their collection of guides to the elements may want to examine John Emlsey's Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements or Theodore Gray's more recent The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe for similar information and presentation. Strongly recommended for all science readers and instructors looking for supplements to their classroom texts.-Elizabeth A. Brown, Binghamton Univ. Libs., NY (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.