By Theodore Gray

"The periodic table," says author Theodore Gray, "is the universal catalog of everything you can drop on your foot." Everything in the world that is tangible is made up of elements, and elements have two faces - their pure states, and the range of chemical compounds they form when they combine with other elements. The Elements provides us with the rare opportunity to see both, up close and personal. Based on seven years of research and photography, the pictures in this book make up the most complete, and visually arresting, portrait of every element in the universe.

Organized in order of appearance in the periodic table, the book showcases each element (whenever possible) with a big, beautiful photograph of the pure element. For example, oxygen (element 8) nis a colorless gas, but at -183¦C, it turns into a pale blue liquid. Also included are photographs that show examples of the way that element lives in the world - the compounds and applications in which we experience the element in daily life.

The text that accompanies each spread tells the story of the element. It is here where we learn, for example, that flourine (element 9) is one of the most reactive elements. If you blow a stream of flourine gas at almost anything it will burst into flames, but because it's so reactive, its resulting compounds are very stable.

Along with the story of each element is essential scientific data including atomic weight, atomic radius, a crystal structure diagram, and graphs representing electron tilling order, the atomic emission spectrum, and the temperatures at which the element is a solid, liquid, or gas. An explanation of these properties, along with a complete tour of the structure of the periodic table, is included in the introduction.

The ultimate combination of hard science and photographic artistry, The Elements is the perfect book for every sentient creature in the universe.

It's the original Hoberman toy and itfs now a classic and a favorite of kids and adults everywhere. It expands from 9" to 30" in diameter with a magical motion that amazes everyone that sees it.

All Spheres comes with a pulley, hardware and instructions to hang as a cool, kinetic mobile; an educational booklet about the geometry of the Sphere; and a "21 Cool Things to Do" activity sheet.

Imagine a Rubik's Cube that actually makes you smarter; an Erector Set that never stops erecting; a Hula Hoop you don't look ridiculous playing with; Silly Putty that isn't silly; cram it all in a jar, turn the fun up to 11, and you've got BuckyBalls!

Each set contains 216 powerful rare earth magnets that can be shaped, molded, torn apart and snapped together in UNLIMITED WAYS. Make sculptures, puzzles, patterns, shapes, stick stuff to the fridge, invent a new game-trying to find something more useful is useless.


BuckyBalls are not a toy. They are not suitable for small children and should not be used around electronics.

Perplexus is a maze game where players must maneuver a small marble around challenging barriers inside a transparent sphere. Unlike traditional flat-surface mazes that are composed of one path, Perplexus houses various exhilarating tracks with 100 barriers and provides a three dimensional experience. Players select which track they would like to attempt, and then must work with gravity and carefully shift, flip, and twist the sphere to guide the marble. Players can race each other or the clock. On top of being entertaining, Perplexus is also an educational toy, and assists in child development. It is a great toy for children to exercise their motor and dexterity skills, as well as improve their hand-eye coordination. Its small size makes it easily portable. No batteries required. Ages 6 and above.

Celebrate forty years of the Exploratorium with this beautiful thermos-style bottle. Available in three colors, these fifteen-ounce Laguna Tumblers are made of 18/8 stainless steel, and the double wall foam insulation keeps your hot beverages hot and your cold drinks cold. The snap-fit lid screws on tight, and the sippable pop-top is perfect for controlling spills and keeping your beverages sealed.

Celebrate the Exploratorium's 40th anniversary with this compact, lightweight pair of binoculars. Perfect for hiking, sports and concerts, and featuring our 40th anniversary logo, this sleek, metal pair folds up and fits into a compact leather sleeve for easy transportation wherever you go. Also included is a special cloth for cleaning the lenses.

Frank Oppenheimer and the World He Made Up

By K. C. Cole, Forward by Murray Gell-Mann

As a yong man, Frank Oppenheimer followed in his famous brother's footsteps - growing up in a privileged Manhattan household, becoming a physicist, working on the atomic bomb. Tragically, Frank and Robert both had their careers destroyed by the Red Scare. Then their paths diverged. Robert died an almost ruined man, but Frank came into his own, emerging from ten years of exile on a Colorado ranch to create not just a multimillion-dollar institution but also a revolution that was felt all over the world. His Exploratorium was a "museum of human awareness" that combined art and science while it encouraged play, experimentation, and a sense of joy and wonder; its success inspired a transformation in museums around the globe. In many ways it was Frank's answer to the atom bomb.

K. C. Cole - a friend and colleague of Frank's for many years - has drawn from letters, documents, and extensive interviews to write a very personal story of the man whose irrepressible spirit would inspire so many.

Elementeo Chemistry Card Game injects fun and fantasy into learning and transports kids to the world of chemistry!

In Elementeo, elements have their own personality and fight with each other using their properties and oxidation states - Oxygen Life Giver rusts metals, Copper Cyclops shocks element cards around him, and Helium Genie airlifts element cards in balloons. Throughout the game, players create compounds, combat with element reactions, and conquer their opponent with black holes and slippery bases.

What better way to learn chemistry than while having fun!

Presented at the American Chemical Society Annual Conference, National Academies of Sciences, and the National Association of Gifted Children Conference, Elementeo has excited students, teachers, parents, and scientists as an innovative way of igniting interest in chemistry for 3d to 8th graders.

By Theo Gray

In Mad Science, Theodore Gray demonstrates scientific principles through extreme experiments. He launches a toy rocket using the energy released from an Oreo cookie, ignites a phosphorous sun by suspending half a gram of white phosphorus in a globe filled with pure oxygen, whips up a batch of homemade nylon thread by linking the molecules of hexamethylenediamine and sebacoyl chloride, and gets the party started by adding 500 pounds of quicklime to water to create a homemade hot tub.

Every experiment in Mad Science is accompanied by stunning full-color photographs that provide a front-row seat to exotic chemical reactions and glorious subatomic activity. To further enhance the hands-on experience, Gray includes step-by-step instructions for nearly every experiment. Following all of the safety guidelines, readers can re-create many of the book's 55 experiments, from making ice cubes that sink to building sodium acetate sculptures to lighting pure steel on fire. (Other demonstrations, such as making a mercury motor or creating glowing oxygen bubbles, would be just plain crazy to attempt without the aid of an experienced chemist or someone who has performed the experiment successfully before.)

But whether one re-enacts the controlled madness or just bears witness to it, Gray's writing is fresh, humorous, and makes the science exciting and easy to understand. Not only are the experiments visually arresting, each one explains a principle of elemental science in a unique and compelling way. Culled from Gray's column, "Gray Matter," which has been a favorite of Popular Science magazine readers for years, these experiments have been expanded to include even more of the fascinating science behind them and dozens of never-before-seen photographs.

Mad Science is the perfect book for anyone fascinated by all things electrical, chemical, or explosive, and who loves a vicarious thrill

From the Exploratorium's famed Teacher Institute comes a unique, hands-on activity book that provides instructions for creating junior versions, or "snacks," of many of the museum's amazing exhibits. Designed by science teachers, these snacks can be used as classroom demonstrations, labs, science projects, or just for fun. All of the projects are easy to build with common materials.

This new edition includes updated activities plus several new snacks, illustrations, references, tips from teachers, and correlations to national science standards.

Using The Exploratorium Science Snackbook as your guide, you can construct an anti-gravity mirror, create electrical "fleas," duck into a kaleidoscope, or build a bicycle wheel gyro. Discover how to create exhibits that explore the mysteries of energy and matter, light and color, force and motion, vision and perception, sound and hearing.