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Nature鈥檚 Building Blocks: An A-Z guide to the elements by John Emsley,
Oxford University Press, 拢18.99, ISBN 0198503415

DOES the thought of a re-usable laxative appal you? Your ancestors weren鈥檛
put off. Pills of antimony metal were sold in the Middle Ages: of course, they
went straight through. And forget the stories about the royals being
blue-blooded. Spiders, octopuses, snails and oysters are the true blue
bloods鈥攂ecause their blood contains copper instead of iron.

John Emsley bills these memorable tales as 鈥渆lements of surprise鈥�, adding an
intriguing new slant to the periodic table in his A-Z guide to the elements.

In Nature鈥檚 Building Blocks he does an admirable job of organising
masses of material about the 118 (or so) chemical elements. We learn about each
element鈥檚 history, its medical and biological uses, its economic, political and
environmental impact and last鈥攂ut not least鈥攖hose 鈥渆lements of
surprise鈥�. Did you know that the gold in the sea is worth $1500 trillion,
and that Nobel prizewinner Fritz Haber got involved in a crazy scheme to extract
it to pay off Germany鈥檚 debts after the First World War? Or that gallium is the
only metal that melts in your hand?

This fascinating book should also appeal to anyone who has even a passing
interest in chemistry鈥攁lthough the rather formal A-Z layout may be
off-putting. And at times Emsley鈥檚 cheery style lapses into a disturbing
pedantry. For instance, do we really need to be told how to pronounce 鈥渃arbon鈥�?
(It鈥檚 kar-bon, if you must know.) But it鈥檒l be deeply useful for both teachers
and students of chemistry, at almost any level.