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Histórias Periódicas: A Curiosa Vida Dos Elementos (2013)

by Hugh Aldersey-Williams(Favorite Author)

3.68 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Record

review 1: A few weeks (or months) ago, there was a series on TV called "Chemistry: A Volatile History". At about the same period, I discovered a quiz on the Internet in which you had to name all the elements (112 of them) within 10 minutes, and was shocked at how few I knew (including NONE of the newer ones, many of which I had never even heard of). Together, these two things reawakened an old interest in science. I remember reading the biography of Marie Curie when I was quite young. I was interested in scientific discovery and astronomy, and would have loved to be a scientist, if only I had the brain for it (which I didn't and don't). I'm not really interested in the atomic weights, or the actual speed of light or the technology involved in making discoveries or getting to o... morether planets. I'm more interested in the human beings that make the discoveries, the wonder and beauty of the discoveries themselves or the impact of them on humanity. I suppose this dichotomy between my interest in science and my ability to understand it technically was the impetus for my love of science fiction, a genre I devoured for decades and was often truly excited by. I don't read much any more as the genre seems to have degenerated into soppy fantasy which doesn't interest me much at all. Talking about my reawakened interest in the elements to a friend who has an MA in Chemistry from Oxford (I forget which college and it doesn't matter much), he recommended and lent me this book.On the face of it, this book was ideal for me because it is about the lives of the elements, their personalities and attitudes, talents and shortcomings (I got that from the back cover of the book), where elements fit into our culture, our history and literature, science and art. I thought this was an interesting way to look at elements and it was, I learnt many things I didn't know but there were several aspects of the book that irritated me somewhat. There are writers who seem to be able to turn their hand to anything and you can imagine a publisher saying to one of them, "We need a book about the duck-billed platypus, can you do it?" And this sort of writer can, and to make it seem like it is obvious he is the one the publisher should have gone to, he will claim a lifelong interest in duck-billed platypuses, dating from the day an aunt gave him a toy one when he was still in his pram. I remember once reading a book about the astronauts by a writer who claimed to have spaceships on his pyjamas when he was a tot. Hugh Aldersley-Williams struck me as one of these, with his boyhood collection of elements, though I was probably wrong as seemingly he actually trained as a chemist. I can't help thinking, though, that it isn't possible for anyone to be as knowledgeable as he appears. I can't rid myself of the impression that this book is the result of an army of researchers, and him just the front man. There is a sticker on the book saying "As heard on Radio 4" which reinforces this impression. Aldersley-Williams's role seems to have been wafting about the world to "chemical" locations. He seems to have visited an unbelievable number of places for just one book, no doubt at the taxpayers' expense, since this is the BBC.I looked at the Wikipedia entry on Hugh Aldersley-Williams, which is short and sparse, but in it, I saw that the Daily Telegraph described this book as lucid. I suppose it is, but I think it may not be that accessible to a lot of people. I think I have an above average vocabulary, but there were lots of words that I thought were obscure, and I don't mean scientific words. There is a certain aura of pomposity in the writing and verbiage for its own sake. This writer never says car when he can say automobile instead. The other thing that struck me about the writer was that the subject seemed to give free rein to artistic pretension. There are many descriptions of the meaning of works of art that I found laughable, such as the one about the dirty handkerchiefs that had belonged to famous people. Sometimes the language was out and out fun, though. I liked the description of the Airstream, with its "buxom aluminium nakedness", and the one about the Buick: "The male characteristics formed in chrome find their female counterpart in the painted curves of the bodywork, making these designs into fully conceived hermaphroditic sex machines." There is a certain dirty old man reek to this prose that I found hilarious. More puzzling were assertions such as it being long accepted that gold is masculine and silver feminine. Accepted by who? This was news to me.Since I am being a bit negative (sorry) I'll mention the pictures, which I thought added absolutely nothing. For one thing they were grainy black and white. I can't imagine who chose them, who decided that a picture of an aluminium teapot was more interesting than a picture of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, one of the most admired works of contemporary architecture with its curved sheets of titanium.I don't want to be too negative, though. I enjoyed reading the book and learnt a lot. I thought the idea of considering where the elements fit into our history, art, literature was an excellent one, and the breadth of coverage was pretty impressive. Even the slightly bombastic language and the arty pretension had a certain charm, though the writer is certainly no chemical Bill Bryson. Occasionally, I was moved by the obvious passion the writer has for his subject, such as his description of his excursion to a mine at Ytterby in Sweden, which illustrated the enormous contribution to the discovery of the elements (the rare earths) made by the Swedish. PS - as of today, I can name all 112 elements in less than 10 minutes!
review 2: For the budding element collector, this is a great read. For the layperson who thinks they're going to get a couple of fun stories about each of the elements, I would suggest looking somewhere else.I picked this up intrigued by its title and cover. Ever wondered what the rich history of each of the elements of the famous periodic table have in store? You will definitely find that here. I have a deeper understanding of how and why certain elements were named, the geographic clusters of where many elements were "discovered," the origins of the reputations of certain elements like arsenic, and so on. Why was silver considered so valuable, but not so much these days? Where can I get my hands on some plutonium? What is so incredible about the lovely liquid metal, mercury? It's a very fascinating read indeed.I'd recommend this book for someone who is definitely interested in the field of science and particularly chemistry. The text isn't exactly accessible for the typical light reader, in my opinion. But if you are interested in what it has to offer, then take a look. less

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