Short Synopsis
Award-winning science writer Hugh Aldersey-Williams offers listeners a captivating look at the elements and the amazing, little-known stories behind their discoveries.

Full Synopsis
Like the alphabet, the calendar, or the zodiac, the periodic table of the chemical elements has a permanent place in our imagination. But aside from the handful of common ones (iron, carbon, copper, gold), the elements themselves remain wrapped in mystery. We do not know what most of them look like, how they exist in nature, how they got their names, or of what use they are to us. Unlocking their astonishing secrets and colorful pasts, Periodic Tales is a passionate journey through mines and artists' studios, to factories and cathedrals, into the woods and to the sea to discover the true stories of these fascinating but mysterious building blocks of the universe.

"Narrator Antony Ferguson's British accent adds just the right touch to the author's style…" ---AudioFile

"[Periodic Tales is] exquisitely voiced by Antony Ferguson, a member of the cadre of audiobook performers who could probably make census data sound compelling. ---Library Journal Audio Review

"[Hugh's] virtuoso tour of the periodic table reflects its full complement of the human condition." ---Publishers Weekly

"A lucid, enjoyable collection of stories that, element by element, demystify the iconic periodic table." ---Kirkus

"The audiobook was full of fascinating information and the narrator did a wonderful job in presenting the material in an interesting way." ---Mixed Media Reviews