Review:
I realized as I was putting together some book lists for my various liaison departments at work that chemistry is one of my weak areas. This was originally published in 2013, so there are almost certainly details that are out-of-date, but I was drawn to the "visual guide" aspect in the title (pictures make the nonfiction go down easier) so I decided to give this a shot.
This book covers each of the 118 known elements, including a page or two for almost all of them. Each element gets a picture or two (either of the element in its pure form, when possible, or of something related to the element), basic information about it (melting point, boiling point, crystal structure, color, phase, etc.), and a text section detailing how/when the element was discovered, what its properties are, what its commercial and medical uses are (if any), how common it is, etc.
This isn't meant to be read from cover to cover, although that's essentially what I did. I used it as bedtime reading material, getting through a few elements each night. It could be a bit repetitive, especially near the end, so I occasionally skimmed info that was the same from one element to the next. For me, the most interesting parts were the properties of the elements and their applications.
The slightly dated aspects of the book were most noticeable when sections mentioned how much of the element was estimated to be available on Earth - in some cases, the projected dates when supply might not be able to meet demand turned out to be either now or the recent past, so I occasionally found myself wondering what an updated version of the text might say. I wasn't generally curious enough to go looking up the information myself, though.
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