Elements of the Periodic Table

ELEMENTS - a book, a diary, art work and poems

It started with me buying a book. The book gave me a buzz and reminded me of an old diary I had, the art work for the elements commissioned by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the poems of Roger McGough.

The Book - The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean

Back Bay Books (2011) ISBN 978-0-316-05163-7

It's been a while since I enjoyed a Science book as much as this one. So much information to add spice to teaching and to highlight how behind the times I've become. Highly recommended.

The Diary



Not sure of the details but a poster with the diary is (c) T.W.Gray & N. Mann (2009)

Images can make all the difference to a presentation. Beats me why presenters don't take more pride in their work.

The Art

Yes, images can really make a difference and those produced for the Royal Society of Chemistry for their Periodic Table are among some of my favourites.

http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table

The Poems
I'm not sure if Roger McGough wrote a number of "element" poems for a TV documentary or if the poems were taken from his collection "Defying Gravity" (Viking 1992 ISBN 0-670-84413-6) They are well worth looking up and, if you can find a copy of the TV broadcast, the visuals add to the words.