Sixth Form Recommended Reading

Periodic Tales by Hugh Aldersey-Williams Packed with fascinating stories and unexpected information about the building blocks of our universe, in Periodic Tales you'll meet iron that rains from the heavens and noble gases that light the way to vice. You'll learn how lead

The Secrets of Alchemy by Lawrence Principe

can tell your future while zinc may one day line your coffin. You'll discover what connects the bones in your body with the Whitehouse in Washington, the glow of a streetlamp with the salt on your dinner table. The book is divided into five sections, Power, Fire, Craft, Beauty and Earth, which group elements according to their primary cultural connotations, rather than their position on the periodic table and in doing so allow for a fresh look at the various elements.

Lawrence M. Principe, one of the world's leading authorities on the subject, brings alchemy out of the shadows and restores it to its important place in human history and culture. By surveying what alchemy was and how it began, developed, and overlapped with a range of ideas and pursuits, he illuminates the practice. Vividly depicting the place of alchemy during its heyday in early modern Europe, he explores how alchemy has fit into wider views of the cosmos and humanity, touching on its enduring place in literature, fine art, theatre, and religion as well as its recent acceptance as a serious subject of study for historians of science. In addition, he introduces the reader to some of the most fascinating alchemists, such as Zosimos and Basil Valentine, whose lives dot alchemy's long reign from the third century down to the present day. Through his exploration of alchemists and their times, Principe pieces together closely guarded clues from obscure and fragmented texts to reveal alchemy's secrets, and - most exciting for budding alchemists - uses them to recreate many of the most famous recipes in his lab, including those for the "glass of antimony" and "philosophers' tree."

Atkins’ Molecules by Peter Atkins Discover the molecules responsible for the experiences of our everyday life - including fabrics, drugs, plastics, explosives, detergents, fragrances and tastes.

With engaging prose Peter Atkins gives a non technical account of an incredible range of aspects of the world around us, showing unexpected connections, and giving an insight into how this amazing world can be understood in terms of the atoms and molecules from which it is built.