Product Description

A `travel guide' to the periodic table, explaining the history, geography and the rules of behaviour in this imagined land.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #93373 in Books
• Published on: 1996-09-02
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Synopsis
The Periodic Kingdom is a journey of imagination in which Peter Atkins treats the periodic table of elements - the 109 chemical elements in the world, from which everything is made - as a country, a periodic kingdom, each region of which corresponds to an element. Arranged much like a travel guide, the book introduces the reader to the general features of the table, the history of the elements, and the underlying arrangement of the table in terms of the structure and properties of atoms. Atkins sees elements as finely balanced living personalities, with quirks of character and certain, not always outward, dispositions, and the kingdom is thus a land of intellectual satisfaction and infinite delight.

About the Author
Peter Atkins gained his PhD at Leicester University and his MA at Oxford, where he is Lecturer in Physical Chemistry and Fellow of Lincoln College. Visiting professorships have taken him all over the world - to Israel, Japan, China, France and New Zealand. His research interests include quantum theory, particularly the theory of molecular properties.

Customer Reviews

Sounds cheesy but works brilliantly
Peter Atkins describes the features of the chemical elements using the idea of a "kingdom" as an extended metaphor. He draws relief "maps" of the periodic table with elements shown as different heights according to their properties - for example, in one "map" the highest peaks are the elements with the largest atomic diameters; in another, they are the elements with the highest ionisation energies.

It all sounds a bit Mickey Mouse, but it works surprisingly well. As someone who gave up chemistry at 16, I welcomed a book which refreshed - and considerably augmented - my understanding of the subject with minimal requirement of imaginative effort on my part.

Obviously, this isn't a book for PhD students, but anyone else with a passing interest in this rudimentary field of science should find it very enlightening.

Original, factual and well written
A book which describes the periodic table as a country - I liked the idea. As a Chemistry student, the periodic table can seem a bit like a map of a strange foreign country, with a perculiar logic behind it's layout, and unpronouncable place names dotted around. This book is well written, and if you're interested in Chemistry then worth reading. It might be helpful to any student struggling with periodic trends and patterns, if they can be bothered to read through it!, as it has a novel approach to explaining things which may stick in your mind. Or totally confuse you. There's an extremely comprehensive index and even a couple of diagrams. It's a good idea and not badly written, presenting a highly factual content in an accessible way. Worth a read if you're interested in science.

A truly magnificent book
When asked to explain why a certain element behaves a certain way, chemists almost always reach for their well-worn periodic table. When asked to explain in more detail, sooner or later quantum mechanics enters into the discussion. At this stage, for the average person, the question has not been answered, since the answer is likely to be incomprehensible. Enter Atkins' book about the periodic table. Everybody will learn something from it, no matter how (in)experienced they are. Novices at chemistry will learn about the periodic table the right way, and will do so right from the start. Seasoned chemists and chemistry teachers will scratch their heads in amazement at Atkins' ability to turn something difficult into something logical. There's something in here for everybody; it's destined to become a classic.