Molecules: The Elements and the Architecture of Everything

+So in my review of The Elements, I stupidly suggested that the book was a great example of why e-books weren't going to replace physical books any time soon. Well we know how that turned out (the fully interactive Elements app on iOS is breathtaking and undoubtedly many times more popular than the book). I'm sure Touch Press is about to release Molecules as an iOS e-book app too [Update: they did], but I'm still really glad I got the physical book. "The Elements" and "Molecules" look very similar, but there are some subtle differences due to the difference in their subjects. The Elements was primarily a beautiful picture book and catalog of all the elements. But that made it somewhat more abstract since most of us rarely interact directly with more than a handful of elements, and their atomic nature is less a part of every day experience. The text was mostly interesting trivia for each element. Molecules on the other hand moves up a layer from atoms to molecular compounds, and as such it comes a step closer to our daily experience. The Elements was a book you mostly looked at, but Molecules is a book you'll want to READ since it's jam packed full of interesting and useful information about the chemistry of nature and human industry. It's still just as lavishly illustrated and beautifully produced as The Elements, but there's much more depth here because the author is not compelled to cover "all" of anything as was the case in the earlier book (where honestly there are a lot of pretty boring or obscure elements). Amazon's "Look Inside" feature lets you see what most of the book looks like if you want to see examples of the topics covered, but it does a good job of covering (in an interesting and visual way) both the chemistry of how atoms become molecules and then the properties of various molecular species, as well as numerous higher level applications and what sort of molecules we experience through our senses (color, scent, taste, etc.) as well as those with biological applications (painkillers for example). A great gift for a child or anyone about to begin their study of the sciences, especially chemistry. It's a book with a very high signal to noise ratio, one that will leave you feeling smarter after you read it. G.

I LOVE this book. It's was difficult to put down once I started reading it. What I loved the most was that the book leaned toward organic chemistry, which is my favorite chemistry topic. The illustrations were very clear; I especially liked how the author rendered molecules with a faint glow — not only does it underscore the reality about what electrons truly are, it also aesthetically looks very pleasing against the black background of the book's pages. The photography was crisp and the subjects were varied and well thought out. Despite having just completed 1200 pages of general chemistry, I still learned an important thing or two that I didn't know before. The topic of this book, molecules, is such a broad umbrella that 1000 people could write such a book and you'd have 1000 very different approaches, some good and others not so good. With such an expansive set of things the author could have touched on, I think he did a good job in selecting what to mention and what to leave out, while still being both educational and entertaining. In short, I'd say you can't be disappointed in this book (unless you just really hate chemistry and/or the physical sciences). (That being said, my only complaint, and it's a minor one at that, is Theodore's rather opinionated views on things. If a second edition ever comes out, I would recommend to the author and the publisher to remove the few places where he thrusts his personal opinions on the reader. Not everyone holds the same beliefs, and opinions don't really belong in a book dealing with science anyway.)

Great information.

This is a terrific book. I've never seen anything like it, except Gray's earlier book, Elements, also terrific. Great for anyone who has even a passing interest in chemistry or learning about what stuff is made of. Visually stunning, coverage of wide array of topics, jammed packed with examples each with a beautiful photograph and most with chemical diagrams. Amazingly the chemical diagrams are beautiful too, clear and consistent with color coded atoms and presented with an artist's touch. Just as good is Gray's text which is always interesting and insightful. You can pick up a lot of chemistry from Gray's text. This is a book you can open anywhere and start reading. A book that for a technical person is just plain fun. The only (minor) omission I noted was in describing glucose in the sugar section he didn't mention that glucose is biologically the king of sugars. The sugar in your blood that 'feeds' all the cells of the body is glucose.

This book is really clear and easy to follow. It is also very entertaining - not at all what you expect from a book on this subject. Perhaps people who have studied chemistry at school would not find it useful, but for me, who never studied the subject, I thought it was excellent, and inspiring.

Excelentes ilustraciones y comentarios. A cualquiera que le guste la química, la bioquimica o la naturaleza le encantará el libro.

Estou satisfeita

This is one AWESOME book. As a pharmacist, and someone who loves science and chemicals, I appreciate the work that Theodore Gray has done of adding cool tidbits and stories about these different compounds. Technical (but not daunting) in some areas and just plain jaw dropping in other, his style of writing is witty, pertinent, and makes you want to read more. I got his other book (elements) as well and can highly recommend it too!

It had all the necessary information in a wonderful book.