The Elements: Their Origin, Abundance, and Distribution (Paperback)

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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

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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Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; annotated edition edition (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 (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #559,214 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #81 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Chemistry > Inorganic
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 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)

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.

0 of 7 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

Please see at: www.sciteclibrary.ru
"On the problem of crystal metallic lattice in densest packing..."
Henadzi Filipenka
"The model of atom,s nucleus and the table of elements"
Henadzi Filipenka