Hugh Aldersey-Williams

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The Science and Lore of the Greatest Force on Earth

Tide

The Human Body, Its Parts and The Stories They Tell

Anatomies

Panicology

Periodic Tales

Penguin Shop: 3 Clothbound Classics for £33

Science writing at its best ... fascinating and beautiful ... if only chemistry had been like this at school ... to meander through the periodic table with him ... is like going round a zoo with Gerald Durrell ... a rich compilation of delicious tales, but it offers greater rewards, too

Immensely engaging and continually makes one sit up in &shy;surprise

Full of good stories and he knows how to tell them well ... an agreeable jumble of anecdote, reflection and information

Great fun to read and an endless fund of unlikely and improbable anecdotes ... sharp and often witty

A joyous romp through the chemical elements

Not only a cultural history of the elements, it is also a lament to the loss of science as a hobby

A flashily brainy book, crammed with literary references and held together by a personal quest to collect as many elements as possible

'Elements are fun' is the essential premise of Hugh Aldersey-Williams's new book and by heck he's right ... Aldersey-Williams mourns the fact chemistry isn't really sexy any more; Periodic Tales is a step towards it getting its mojo back

Imaginative and fun ... almost every page yields a nugget

The Curious Lives of the Elements

Everything in the universe is made of them, including you. 
 
Like you, the elements have personalities, attitudes, talents, shortcomings, stories rich with meaning. 
 
Here you'll meet iron that rains from the heavens and noble gases that light the way to vice. You'll learn how lead can tell your future while zinc may one day line your coffin. You'll discover what connects the bones in your body with the Whitehouse in Washington, the glow of a streetlamp with the salt on your dinner table. 
 
Unlocking their astonishing secrets and colourful pasts, Periodic Tales is a voyage of wonder and discovery, showing that their stories are our stories, and their lives are inextricable from our own.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
'If only chemistry had been like this at school' Matt Ridley, Prospect 
 ________________ 
 
Elements. Everything in the universe is made of them, including you. And like you, the elements have personalities, attitudes, talents, shortcomings, stories rich with meaning. 
 
 Here you'll meet iron that rains from the heavens. You'll learn how lead can tell your future while zinc may one day line your coffin. You'll discover what connects the bones in your body with the Whitehouse in Washington, the glow of a streetlamp with the salt on your dinner table. 
 
 Unlocking their astonishing secrets and colourful pasts, Periodic Tales is a voyage of wonder and discovery, showing that their stories are our stories, and their lives are inextricable from our own. 
________________ 
 
 'A love letter to the chemical elements. Aldersey-Williams is full of good stories, and he knows how to tell them well' Sunday Telegraph 
 
 'Great fun to read and an endless fund of unlikely and improbable anecdotes' Financial Times 
 
 'The history, science, art, literature and everyday applications of all the elements from aluminium to zinc' The Times

Hugh Aldersey-Williams studied natural sciences at Cambridge. He is the author of several books exploring science, design and architecture - including Periodic Tales, Anatomies and The Adventures of Sir Thomas Browne in the 21st Century - and has curated exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Wellcome Collection. He lives in Norfolk with his wife and son.

Periodic Tales

The Curious Lives of the Elements

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About Hugh Aldersey-Williams

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