The periodic table of elements, first encountered by many of us at school, provides an arrangement of the chemical elements, ordered by their atomic number, ele

This Very Short Introduction traces the history and cultural impact of the elements on humankind, and examines why people have long sought to identify the subst

Most people remember chemistry from their schooldays as largely incomprehensible, a subject that was fact-rich but understanding-poor, smelly, and so far remove

From man's first exploration of natural materials and their transformations to today's materials science, chemistry has always been the central discipline that

Peter Atkins' Very Short Introduction explores the contributions physical chemistry has made to all branches of chemistry. Providing insight into its central co