In Their Element: How Chemistry Made the Modern World

Oct 11, 2024 4:30 PM

Author:BBC Radio,Full Cast

Join world-leading scientists as they delve into the incredible stories behind 16 elements, including the dark and controversial history of gold; how a solar eclipse in 1868 led to the discovery of the periodic table's most notorious escape artist, helium; the role of iron in the rise and fall of human civilisations; why you might find iodine in British milk, but not necessarily anywhere else in the world; and how a discovery in boiled urine led to the trade union movement and a chemical weapon.

Far from being confined to a laboratory, In Their Element weaves chemistry back into our everyday lives.

From the incredible power of lithium to our use and abuse of lead, to why carbon is the backbone of life, but silicone is the world's crucial building block. We learn why fluorine is called 'the tiger of chemistry', how sodium might be the key to a new generation of painkillers, that mercury is integral to hundreds of years of scientific discoveries, and the extraordinary story of how the health impact of phosphorus on a group of Irish girls changed politics forever.

In Their Element is a fascinating introduction to both the history of chemistry and a debate about the way we use raw materials in the modern world.

1 Mercury

2 Oxygen

3 Lithium

4 Carbon

5 Silicon

6 Lead

7 Phosphorus

8 Iodine

9 Fluorine

10 Iron

11 Sodium

12 Silver

13 Aluminium

14 Gold

15 Helium

16 Strontium

Reviews

So delightful! Mathematics is playful, surprising, and enchanting, but those qualities are often obscured behind intimidating equations and formalism. Milo Beckman brings them out into the open for everyone to share.

—— Sean Carroll, author of Something Deeply Hidden

A playful paean to the pleasures of studying higher math ... readers with an abundance of curiosity and the time to puzzle over Beckman's many examples, riddles, and questions, will make many fascinating discoveries.

—— Publishers Weekly

A pleasant, amusing look at mathematics as a description of everything.

—— Kirkus

With charm, unwavering enthusiasm, and a lot of cartoons, Math Without Numbers waltzes the reader through a garden of higher mathematics

—— Jordan Ellenberg, author of How Not To Be Wrong

Math Without Numbers explores deep mathematical topics-and shows how mathematicians think-in completely readable prose. The puzzles and games are bonuses. Very enjoyable

—— Will Shortz, crossword editor , The New York Times

The book's accessible language and illustrations makes understanding some of the most complex (and possibly most intimidating) math concepts feel as effortless as breathing. Beckman's approachable writing and Erazo's delightful illustration combine to tell an insightful and entertaining story about math

—— Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec, co-authors of Dear Data

This is the book for you if you've ever been curious about the wonderful ideas and concepts underlying modern math, but been too frightened to make a start. Milo Beckman gives us a friendly introduction to unfamiliar concepts and ideas that show why modern math is such a fascinating and rewarding branch of human thought

—— Graham Farmelo, author of The Universe Speaks in Numbers

Math Without Numbers offers an accessible and whimsically illustrated glimpse of what pure mathematicians study, all while capturing the playful spirit with which they do it

—— Grant Sanderson, creator of 3blue1brown

A playful paean to the pleasures of studying higher math...Readers with an abundance of curiosity and the time to puzzle over Beckman's many examples, riddles, and questions, will make many fascinating discoveries

—— Publishers Weekly

A remarkably wide-ranging new meditation on quantum theory. . . With the light touch of a skilled storyteller. . . Rovelli is not afraid to mix quantum physics and eastern philosophy

—— Manjit Kumar , Guardian

A great tonic for long-isolated minds . . . a thrilling story, written with Rovelli's accustomed wit and panache. After reading him, you'll look at the grains of beach sand between your toes with an entirely new eye

—— Irish Independent

Inspiring. . . Without mathematics or experiment, by page 81 your thoughts are at the frontier of quantum theory

—— Alexander Masters , Spectator

A delight . . . it is a pleasure to travel in Rovelli's company

—— New Statesman

Travelogue meets biography meets a masterful explanation of quantum theory in this warm and fascinating account

—— Guardian

Explained with uncanny insight and lyrical grace

—— Time

A new vision, one with a remarkable power in delivering new answers to old quantum riddles. . . original and graceful

—— Jenann T. Ismael , TLS

Bracing and refreshing. . . Rovelli is offering a new way to understand not just the world but our place in it, too

—— NPR

Carlo Rovelli is a genius and an amazing communicator. . . What I love about his writing is that it always comes back to people -- people interacting with other people, who are interacting with their world. This is the place where science comes to life

—— Neil Gaiman

When life feels strange, Rovelli's books remind me that there is beauty in the strangeness

—— Johny Pitts

Rovelli is a brilliant and lucid teacher who uses his understanding of theoretical physics and the quantum world to talk about the complexity of our everyday reality

—— Russell Brand

Carlo Rovelli's imaginative rigour, his lively humour and his beautiful writing are inspiring

—— Erica Wagner

Rovelli opens windows onto the imagination for all of us

—— Antony Gormley

I always find with Carlo Rovelli's books that there are moments when you get a real hit of understanding -- a jigsaw in your mind that just falls into place

—— Robin Ince

Helgoland is a wonderful guide to the most extraordinary story in physics. It will reset your view of the universe

—— Marcus du Sautoy

Hooked me so hard I read the entire book in one sitting. And then twice more

—— Lisa Feldman Barrett , Chronicle of Higher Education

The old, solid world, if you believed in it at all, breaks into a glorious shimmer of limitless potential

—— Brian Morton , Tablet

Rovelli has an uncanny knack for instilling wonder and explaining complex theories in plain, entertaining ways

—— Irish Times

I'm keen for everyone to read Helgoland: a wonderfully lucid and poetic account of the foundations of quantum physics. It combines a compelling history with Rovelli's own intriguing - and for me very appealing - views about the basis of all things

—— Anil Seth, author of Being You

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