The Beauty of Chemistry: Art, Wonder, and Science by Philip Ball is a visual and intellectual treat. Chemistry is not just about microscopic atoms doing inscrutable things; it is the process that makes flowers and galaxies. We rely on it for bread-baking, vegetable-growing, and producing the materials of daily life. In stunning images and illuminating text, this book captures chemistry as it unfolds. Using such techniques as microphotography, time-lapse photography, and infrared thermal imaging, The Beauty of Chemistry shows us how chemistry underpins the formation of snowflakes, the science of champagne, the colors of flowers, and other wonders of nature and technology. We see the marvelous configurations of chemical gardens; the amazing transformations of evaporation, distillation, and precipitation; heat made visible; and more.

The Beauty of Chemistry: Art, Wonder, and Science does a great job of showing the wonder of chemistry to those that might not otherwise look to closely. I was in awe at the images, and think the book is well worth a look to enjoy based on those pages on their own. However, I found the explanations of the images and science involved to be well written and accessible. In fact, I found some beauty in the structure and details of the science itself. I think this is a wonderful book showing the true beauty that we do not often appreciate in our world- sometimes because it is so big or small that we cannot see it, and sometimes because we are just not noticing. I liked that there was a glossary, list of sources for the used quotations, and other important pieces of information in the the endpages. That is something that sometimes gets left out, and seeing it included always makes me happy.

The Beauty of Chemistry: Art, Wonder, and Science is a great book to simply look at and enjoy the stunning images, but it is also a book that explains the wonder of science and the natural world that creates these things.

Chemistry is one of my favorite disciplines, it allows us to know how many common and rare events occur, from points of view other than biological and physical.

To begin with, the book deals with different events and processes that occur in the world, explaining the chemistry behind it. For example, it touches on crystallization, precipitation and polarity, Redox reactions, thermodynamics, and even a little of microbiology. The book is quite interesting due to the fact that, although it is scientific, it uses analogies to explain various chemical processes and makes them easier to understand. The explanation is very exact and doesn't use complicated language, advanced chemistry knowledge is not necessary, concepts that may be strange for some people are explained clearly.

I like that it presents a bit of the history of how different concepts were discovered, such as the laws of thermodynamics and the structure of DNA. It has very clear and beautiful images, the quality is excellent, the chemical phenomena that occur are perfectly appreciated, it is something that I loved about the book. However, something that I would like to emphasize is the structure of the book, I would sincerely recommend that you buy the physical book and not the ebook, to appreciate the content better.

It's a great book for those interested in chemistry but who are afraid to read a science book because they think they will not understand it, this book explains basic concepts in an easy and fluent way while remaining professional and educational. Many people would fall in love with chemistry if they read this book and if not, at least they will know the beauty of it.

Is this book for you?
Perfect for: Lovers of chemistry, photography, and science.
Do I recommend it? Yes, I loved it.

The Beauty of Chemistry is a beautifully illustrated coffee-table book homage to the artistic side of chemistry. Released 11th May 2021 from MIT Press, it's 392 pages and is available in hardcover and e-book formats.

This is an extremely graphics heavy book full of awe inspiring and beautiful photos and illustrations. There are some chemistry concepts included in layman accessible language, but it's not in any way a textbook of chemistry. The text, engaging and erudite, by Philip Ball is worth the price of admission, but it's the stunning illustrations which kept me turning the pages. They are sublime; from the most mundane (CO2 bubbles in a soft drink) to the most exotic, the photos are arresting.

Whilst I enjoyed all the chapters (arranged roughly thematically: bubbles, crystals, precipitation reactions, dendritic growth, combustion, electrochemistry, plant chromatism, heat reactions, organic chemistry, and patterns), it was the appendices, and especially the molecule models which I really enjoyed. The molecules were rendered in the space-filling 3D models familiar to every student of chemistry, and the explanations were understandable and informative. Reading and looking at these would make a fun game even for very small children who would almost certainly love seeing them (and learning them) again and again with a willing adult.

Because of the colorful photography and graphics heavy format, the hardcover format would be a much better choice than e-book format.

Five stars, with the codicil that this is not a textbook of chemistry. It would make a superlative choice for public, classroom, or home library.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Thank you for the kind preview permission and thanks Netgalley. I have quite high expectation as Chemistry is my favorite subject in school and Mr Ball is one f my favorite science writer. Yet this is nothing more than a collection of science photos. I have to admit I am quite disappointed. That's when Theodore Gray would say been there done that. Even the photographs are quite mediocre. My two cents would be re-edited from a photography-based coffee table book to a text-based molecule book. Otherwise, it looks like a cheap version of Gray's "Molecules: The Elements and the Architecture of Everything". Anyway, thanks for the kindness of preview permission. Hope all future success and let's bring more high quality chemistry books to the market, not just pictures.

As to be expected from Philip Ball, a solid book that captures both the science and beauty of chemistry. Highly recommended!

Thanks to MIT Press for access to a digital ARC via NetGalley.

Coffee-table book on chemistry

I enjoyed this book. Although a science book, all the text is plainly worded and the explanations are clear. The photography is excellent, with more beautiful art in the appendix. The only fault I found with the book was that a lot of the visuals were repetitive. Nonetheless, this was a worthwhile read. Thank you to NetGalley and MIT Press for the advance reader copy.

The Beauty of Chemistry is a must-have for any science lover (though I don't recommend the ebook version). Topics presented range from bubbles to crystals and dendritic growth to electrochemistry. Each topic is discussed and brought to life through photographs that will tantalize any budding inquirer.

Thank you, NetGalley and MIT Press for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

I love this book and I wish the physical copies weren't going to be $50 or I'd buy one for my 13 year-old science-loving son in a heartbeat because I know he would too. It's a massive book and filled with chapters about all different chemistry topics like flames and patterns. Each chapter is brimming with beautiful, fascinating photographs and really good text that fully explains each chemistry topic. I love, love, love it. The text is suited for adults or older kids/teens (especially those with a good science background), though the photos will appeal to all ages. This is a fantastic resource and also would make a beautiful and educational coffee table book.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

The topics this book covers are really interesting. It explains them in fairly understandable terms but at times it sort of loses it's train of thought I felt. I believe that the goal was to make the book more approachable to a wider audience, and I believe that is also the reason for my biggest complaint about this book (and I can’t believe I'm saying this)
there are entirely too many pictures here.
For each example process there are at least 4 or five photos of the same thing. So if one were to count the pages of text and pages of just photos and compare them, I'm sure that the ratio would be one to 1:1. Don't get me wrong, the photos are amazing, breath-taking even, but we didn't really need this many. I know the title is "beauty" of chemistry, but this was a bit too much.
What I loved was the "Further reading" section in each chapter. I like it when a nonfiction book sends you on further explorations of the covered topic. Very well done.
And my final complaint - there is a moment in the chapter on heat when the author talks about the wavelength of light and he says "770 to 430 millionths of a millimetre." I don't get that. Why not use the term nanometre (and in parenthesis explain this)? When in other chapters he mentions other chemical terms, he uses them and explains them of course, but he doesn't shy away from science. So why here?
Don't know.
All in all, I'd recommend this book to people who are interested in the amazingly beautiful world of chemistry.

I’m not the only science nerd!!! I have always thought images and concepts in chemistry were nothing short of miraculous and just beautiful. This book captures so many of the fascinating popular concepts, like bubbles, crystals, flames, precipitation and colors in plants. There are also some lesser-known beauties, like electrochemistry, patterns and dendritic growth. I am so impressed with the images captured and appreciative of the descriptions provided. I would love to see more books like this with other scientific specialties as well. There is a captive audience for sure, both for academics and for pleasure.
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own and freely given.

Every good coffee-table book has great photography. That's the point. The better ones also have great text, and there's a lot of great introductory (and then some) chemistry going on in this one. Really delightful. Fair warning: Your monochrome e-reader absolutely won't cut it! If you must read it digitally, an iPad is probably mandatory!