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Matt Tweed

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Essential Elements: Atoms, Quarks, and the Periodic Table (Wooden Books) Hardcover – April 1, 2003

by Matt Tweed (Author)

4.5 16 ratings

Part of: Mathemagical Ancient Wizdom (5 books)

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For anyone interested in the tiny building blocks of our universe, Matt Tweed-the illustrator of Useful Mathematical & Physical Formulae-offers a fascinating introduction to the complex and beautiful world of the elements. Tweed reveals the principal properties and interactions of substances familiar (carbon, oxygen, water) and unfamiliar (rare earth elements and subatomic particles). He explains atomic bonding, radioactivity, and DNA, and presents alternative ways of visualizing the periodic table, as well as a succinct synthesis of the Big Bang. Scientists and laymen alike will be entranced.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Matthew Tweed is a producer, mathematician, and illustrator.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Walker Books (April 1, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 64 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0802714080
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0802714084
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 0.5 x 7.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,899,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,904 in General Chemistry

Customer Reviews:
4.5 16 ratings

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4.5 out of 5

16 global ratings

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Brianna

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2015

Perfect Condition

Thousands of years of discoveries in Chemistry wrapped up in 58 pages

Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2009

Another delightful little tome by Wooden Books, that takes an immense and complicated subject and condenses it into 58 (really only 29 ,because half are illustrations)pages. It is done in such a way that anyone,regardless of their scientific education,will find it a fascinating journey into what science knows about how our world is made up.It is a great example of demonstrating how simplicity is the measure of genius.It takes terms ,concepts etc., that everyone has heard ,one time or another;as well as scientific terms that most have never heard and explains them in a way that shows how they all combine to make our world what it is.The complexity of our world is simply mindboggling and we can only wonder ,inspite of all the discoveries,how little we really know about everything--or as a matter of fact--about anything.Throughout history,mankind has always had a sense of wonder about the world around him;some actually believed they knew all the answers,but as the future continues,mankind continues to discover things that have never even been imagined.
Just imagine if ihe wisest men at the time ,say at the beginning of the 1st Century,sat around a table,with this book in their hands,how amazed they would have been to learn what was between its covers. Now,just think how a similar group would think how little we knew,if they were looking at a revised copy in the 30th Century.
Today; we wonder how the ancients built the Pyramids with knowing so little;will they wonder how we explored space ,with our present day knowledge?

How's this for demonstrating a point?

How big would the Earth be if it had no air between its atoms? About as big as a baseball...."Uncle John's 15th AHH- INSPIRING Bathroom Reader"..Page 299

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Frunobulax

A Wonderful Little Book!

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2003

Tiny and almost like a child's book, this puppy helped me catch up with all the new stuff that's been going on in the world of physics since I took the subject in high school decades ago. Only slightly larger than a CD jewel case and only 58 pages - and half of those are filled with diagrams - it still took me the better part of my Sunday morning to read and comprehend it. I was particularly impressed with the last page: a graphic representation of 36 different electron orbitals. I also liked the alternatives to the periodic tables that he offers. And his depiction of the universe since the Big Bang is enlightening. I finished the book amazed at how much of everything is nothing.
The author also has added a sense of playfulness to the diagrams (and occasionally, the text) that helps to keep this subject from turning into the snoozer it traditionally is. Now I know why all those nerdy, high-end mathematician-types are so passionate about their work!
If you take mass transit to work, this is an excellent book for you.

25 people found this helpful

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Carl Schmid

Changed.

Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2014

Verified Purchase

I think it was cancelled and I was notified, did not yet purchase, changed mind.

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William P. Palmer

A review of ‘Essential elements: Atoms, quarks, and the periodic table’ by Matt Tweed - contains many errors

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2016

A review of ‘Essential elements: Atoms, quarks, and the periodic table’ by Matt Tweed

CITATION: Tweed, M. (2003). Essential elements: Atoms, quarks, and the periodic table. New York: Walker & Co (Wooden Books).

Reviewer: Dr W. P. Palmer

This is a very short book (58 pages), which attempts to cover the whole of chemistry, related to the nature of matter in this space. Anyone who has visited a large public or university library containing packed shelves of many meters of books about chemistry will clearly understand that the author has set himself an impossible task. Each topic is only one small page long (less than 300 words) with the following page consisting of a complex explanatory diagram.

The diagram on p. 3 has two Thursdays. One of these is probably meant to be a Saturday. On p.6, the term isotope is incorrectly defined: Tweed writes ‘Isotopes of the same element can have radically diverse chemical properties’. The first of these errors can be viewed as a misprint. The second error is a misunderstanding of basic chemistry that makes one worry about the book generally.

I have just found that the 2003 book ‘Essential elements’ is now included as Book 3 in a much larger book containing all the six smaller Wooden Books, each of which makes up a chapter of the 410-page book called ‘Sciencia’ published in 2011. The publishers have made corrections and I note that the new book has changed the former error from Thursday to Saturday. The erroneous paragraph about isotopes has been removed entirely.

I would thus suggest that anyone wanting to use this book, purchases the larger book called ‘Sciencia’, which has corrected errors that I noticed in the earlier book. There may well have been other errors that have now been corrected.

Generally, there are other features of the book that are novel. The style of diagrams is unusual and some readers may well like these as explaining difficult concepts. The book also goes further into the nature of matter than is usual in other chemistry books.

My suggestion is to purchase ‘Sciencia’ rather than ‘Essential elements’.

BILL PALMER

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

E. Nicholson

Great value

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2022

Verified Purchase

Arrived promptly and well packed. Birthday gift for husband who has met the author so knew what to expect in the contents. A nice book which will almost certainly be passed on to grandchild who is a budding scientist. Suitable for readers in teens upwards.