From Arsenic to Zirconium: Poems and Surprising Facts about the Elements

How appropriate that Peter Davern, a chemistry lecturer at the University of Limerick in Ireland, has composed a poetic treatise featuring the basic ninety-two elements of the periodic table along with a condensed glance at the ephemeral transuranic constituents. Each of the elements is gifted with a six-line rhyming poem that exposes basic features of that component. Hydrogen starts the series labeled as ‘rocket man’ and its relevance is exposed as the bonds that sustain the genetic code and its connections in allowing water to flow. Check out element number twenty-two, titanium which helps mend our buckled bodies It is found implanted in the knee and hip joints, making up your eyeglass frames, and even contributes the whiteness to toothpaste and cosmetics. Try some Pepto Bismol for gastric discomfort, the bismuth might help. Find those elements that serve as therapeutics or as a poison depending on the dose. This elegantly constructed poetic version of the periodic table and the attributes of its elements serves as a numeric alphabet guide to the basic makeup of our world. It should be a required text from grade school to the home library. Kudos to the author for presenting the elements as the legos, the building blocks of nature in such an entertaining and fascinating manner. Some color pencils could enhance the radiance of the verses and a spiral binder would help to flip the pages.