Why Galileo's finger? Galileo, one of whose fingers is preserved in a vessel displayed in Florence, provided much of the impetus for modern science, pointing the way out of medieval ignorance. In this brilliant account of the central ideas of contemporary science, Peter Atkins celebrates the effectiveness of Galileo's symbolic finger for revealing the nature of our universe, our world, and ourselves.
Galileo's Finger takes the reader on an extraordinary journey that embraces the ten central ideas of current science. "By a great idea," writes Peter Atkins, "I mean a simple concept of great...

Das Periodensystem der Elemente mag bei manchem unangenehme Erinnerungen an den Chemieunterricht der Schule wecken - ein merkwurdig gestaltetes Ordnungsschema aus lauter Kasten, in denen eine verwirrende Fulle von Buchstabenkurzeln und Zahlenwerten die naturlichen Zusammenhange zwischen den chemischen Elementen erklaren sollte. Vom Wasserstoff bis zu den Transuranen, von den Edelgasen bis zu den Ubergangsmetallen - sie alle fanden hier ihren Platz, und doch blieb das System ihrer Anordnung fur viele abstrakt. Dem renommierten Lehr- und Sachbuchautor P. W. Atkins gelingt es in seinem neuen...

In this new edition of the book that was called "the most beautiful chemistry book ever written," Peter Atkins reveals the molecules responsible for the experiences of our everyday life in fabrics, drugs, plastics, explosives, detergents, fragrances, tastes, and sex. Atkins gives a non-technical account of a range of aspects of the world around us, revealing unexpected connections and insight into how it can be understood in terms of the atoms and molecules from which it is built. This new edition has dozens of new molecules, new graphic presentations, and a more accessible account of the...