The elements
Subtitle: a very short introduction
By: Philip Ball.
Series: Very short introductions ;
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Oxford; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 179
Subjects: Chemical elements
Description: This work traces the history and cultural impact of the elements on humankind, and examines why people have long sought to identify the substances around them.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 164) and index.
"First published as The ingredients, 2002"--T.p. verso.
Table of contents: title: 1.; title: Aristotle's quartet : the elements in antiquity -- -- 2.; title: Revolution : how oxygen changed the world -- -- 3.; title: Gold : the glorious and accursed element -- -- 4. The; title: eightfold path : organizing the elements -- -- 5. The; title: atom factories : making new elements -- -- 6. The; title: chemical brothers : why isotopes are useful -- -- 7.; title: For all practical purposes : technologies of the elements.