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
Product Description
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.
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