The Elements By Theodore Gray
Photographs by Theodore Gray and Nick Mann
BUY THE BOOK Special feature for people who already own it

Praise for The Elements
"This glorious book is more than just a guide to the elements; it will fundamentally deepen your appreciation of the substances that make up our world."
-Oliver Sacks, author of Awakenings and Uncle Tungsten

"This is the element book that in style and content outshines all element books! My reaction: elemental delight."
-Roald Hoffmann, writer and Nobel Laureate

"The book is gorgeous. I lost an hour after it arrived just diving into it."
-Adam Savage, star of MythBusters
I am deeply honored to have such kind words said about my book, and I invite you to judge for yourself whether they are deserved. This is a book I've put a lot of heart and soul into: It's not just a catalog of pictures or a dry recitation of the properties and applications of the elements. It's a personal conversation with the stuff we're made of.

I love to see and feel this stuff, and I've tried to make the elements as real for you as I can, through photography and by telling the stories that make them meaningful to me. You may be tempted to just look at the pictures, but I encourage you to read the text as well: Some of it's quite interesting, if I do say so myself.

Here are two samples pages to give you a flavor of what's inside. Click either one and it will open up much larger in a new window (in some browsers you may need to click the image again to get it to display full size so you can read the text).


The printing quality of this book is truly extraordinary. The pictures leap out from a deep black background, just as brightly as they do on the computer screen. (And the metalized cover is pretty nifty!) If you don't believe me how packed this book is with elements, take a look at this complete catalog of the pages in the book.

If you love science, or art, or life, or anything really, you'll love this book. (And if you like Tom Lehrer's song The Elements, you'll also like the promo video I made up for fun, which combines some of the images from the book with his iconic song.)

If it isn't obvious, this book makes an outstanding gift, especially if you buy a signed copy directly from me (you can use the comment field on the final checkout page to request a specific inscription, or if you leave it blank you'll just get my lovely signature).

Click here to buy the book!
(And don't miss my other periodic table products!)


If you already own The Elements and want to find out more about the samples shown in it, and even see rotating 3D video of almost all of them, this page will show you everything.