The Elements We Live By: How Iron Helps Us Breathe, Potassium Lets Us See, and Other Surprising Superpowers of the Periodic Table

By Anja Royne

Some elements get all the attention: glittering gold, radioactive uranium—materials we call “precious” because they are so rare. But what could be more precious than the building blocks of life—from the oxygen in our air to the carbon in all living things?

In The Elements We Live By, physicist and award-winning author Anja Røyne reminds us that we’d be lost without the quiet heroes of the periodic table. Our bodies need phosphorous to hold our DNA together, potassium to power our optic nerves, and many more elements—in just the right amounts—to function. Other fundamental elements keep our technology (and society) running: Our phones contain arsenic, boron, and gallium to control signals and store information; indium and tin for the touch screen; and lithium for the battery.

Everything is made of elements—every galaxy, star, and planet—from the iron in Earth’s core to the silicon in its sand. But that doesn’t mean the elements we rely on will never run out; for example, about half the lithium we need is extracted from rocks in Australia, and the other half is from saltwater in Argentina and Chile. As Røyne travels the world to find where these elements exist (some in ever-shrinking amounts), she shows how vitally urgent it is for us to protect them—the elements of our very existence.

“Not just a discussion of basic chemistry, this is a volume that looks at the human impact on the planet and what we can learn from nature…Useful for science or sociology courses that address the various impacts of natural resource development or for popular science readers.” —School Library Journal

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Magical Elements of the Periodic Table Presented Alphabetically By The Metal Horn Unicorns

By Sybrina Durant with Illustrations by Pumudi Gardiyawasam

Metals and all the other elements from the periodic table make everything seem magical.

You can see it everywhere… in buildings. . .transportation…communications. . .medicines and even in the food you eat!

All technology and everything that makes life modern come from the magical elements in the earth, water and the air.

Think of it like this, “No Metal – No Magic…and No Technology.”
You can learn about all about it in The Magical Elements of the Periodic Table Presented Alphabetically by The Metal Horn Unicorns.

26 techno-magical elements are presented from A to Z by the magical metal horn unicorn tribe from Unimaise.

Every element page shows you

1. Where the featured element comes from.
2. When it was discovered.
3. Scientific info about the element.
4. Everyday uses for it.
5. Plus a bunch of interesting facts!
6. Last but not least, each element is represented by a unicorn who wields its magical powers.

The theme of “No Metal, No Magic” flows throughout the entire book. Ultimately, if there’s no metal, there can be no magic. Any metal-horned unicorn will tell you that. Without metal and all the other elements of the periodic table there would be no technology for us modern people, either. Now, that’s “Techno-Magical!”

The book also has an amazing unicorn themed periodic table plus special pages featuring
elemental compounds and alloys. Trading cards representing each of the 26 unicorns and their elements plus fun lesson cards and more are also available as printable downloads. Kids will have fun singing along with the No Metal, No Magic song, too.

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