The Elements: Their Origin, Abundance, and Distribution [Paperback]

P. A. Cox (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 019855298X | ISBN-13: 978-0198552987 | Publication Date: August 24, 1989

Here is the first book to provide a complete natural history of the elements. This interdisciplinary guide will give the reader a broad, non-technical view of the origin of the elements, the factors controlling their abundances, and their distributions in the Earth, solar system, and universe. This unique volume is based on a series of lectures given for freshman chemistry students and will be of equal value to both undergraduates and professors in all physical sciences. It includes a broad introduction to the range of existing elements and information on their nuclear and chemical properties, as well as coverage of radioactive elements, the condensation of the elements, the elements of life and the oceans. Valuable appendix materials include coverage of elemental abundances and isotopic composition, while suggestions for further reading are provided at the end of each chapter.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A lucidly written introductory book that uses an interdisciplinary approach to answer questions on the nature, history, and abundance of the elements on the earth and in the universe . . . . Because of the book's broad scope, it is useful as a reference and it also could be used as a text in a course designed to attract students interested in a more general picture of science. For beginning science students, it is an ideal work because the author includes at the end of each chapter a summary of important points and an annotated bibliography." --Choice

About the Author

P. A. Cox is at University of Oxford.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 24, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019855298X
• ISBN-13: 978-0198552987
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,262,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great recreational reading for chemists, August 29, 2009

By 

Paul Forster "Paul" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Elements: Their Origin, Abundance, and Distribution (Paperback)

This work by P.A. Cox offers a useful overview of how matter came to be distributed as we see it today. Despite its age, little has changed in the basics that are presented here. The book is quite specialized; it is targeted towards chemists, cut covers topics primarily out of cosmology and geology, so it is certainly not for everyone. I would strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject and at least a batchelor's degree in chemistry.

Personally, I use this book as the basis for a lecture in a senior-level university Inorganic Chemistry course.

5.0 out of 5 stars Most satisfying book on origins, September 25, 2011

By 

Ryoji Watanabe - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Elements: Their Origin, Abundance, and Distribution (Paperback)

I was lead to this book following a curiosity about the relative abundance of the elements. I was pleasantly surprised to find such a broad answer, introducing me to new fundamental viewpoints and questions on the topic of origins.

Since the question of origins is so fundamental, and the story told by this book so satisfying, this book fills a special spot on my bookshelf now.

What I found outstanding about this book:
- Origins means the Big Bang, and there are many and more famous books on That Topic. But if you really want to know about our material origins, then you need to ask what ultimately leads to the actual material around us on this rock. The Big Bang, and even generic stellar physics, doesn't give the whole story. This book made me appreciate the full and unique question of our origins - and provides a most satisfying story of what we know and how we know it.
- As an introductory book it totally hits the mark by teaching lots of big picture intuition about the major mechanisms. It consistently picks the right level of detail to teach things that are wide ranging and memorable but which do not need more advanced understanding than what the book provides. For instances, his coverage of nuclear physics is perfectly satisfying for this story on origins, and he teaches a lot of intuition just based on the relative strengths and ranges of nuclear vs electromagnetic forces.
- This is a really *high quality* work of scientific exposition. He provides just the right graphs that display trends I am curious about, or to illustrate his engaging story. In some graphs he zooms in on just the right interesting regions that concretely exemplify the models.
- Practical note: Don't confuse this book by its title with many other books about the the *chemistry* of the elements, or the periodic table. This books is about *origins* - of material in and around you on Earth and the Solar System. So it includes fun tours of nuclear physics, stellar astrophysics, geology.

Finally, I found this to be a rare science book that was so consistently satisfying of my curiosity that I did not want to put it down reading it from cover to cover.

All this, and only a few Amazon reviews? Yeah, this such an unsung book I had to come here and write about it!

0 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars About the chemical elements, March 11, 2004

By 

henadzi filipenka "hfilipenk" (Grodno Belarus) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Elements: Their Origin, Abundance, and Distribution (Paperback)

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"On the problem of crystal metallic lattice in densest packing..."
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"The model of atom,s nucleus and the table of elements"
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