Elemental

What is the chemical symbol for a human? What's the strongest acid ever made? Can human beings really spontaneously combust? An exploration of the periodic table in its final form, Elemental answers these questions and more.

If you want to understand how our world works, the periodic table holds the answers. When the seventh row of the periodic table of elements was completed in June 2016 with the addition of four final elements—nihonium, moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson—we at last could identify all the ingredients necessary to construct our world.

In Elemental, chemist and science educator Tim James provides an informative, entertaining, and quirkily illustrated guide to the table that shows clearly how this abstract and seemingly jumbled graphic is relevant to our day-to-day lives.

James 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...