Oxygen is required by humans and animals for breathing, neon lamps light up offices and streets, and chromium is shiny - but did you know that some component so of mobile phones contain arsenic, your spectacle frames could be made up of rhodium, and that tin plague is not a disease? And could you name even three researchers we can thank for all this? One of the greatest feats of mankind was the discovery of the elements and their ordering into a periodic Table. The author, Hans-Jurgen Quadbeck-Seeger, former Head of Research of BASF and President of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh; German Chemical Society), clearly illustrates for each element the history of its discovery along with its chemical and physical properties. Where do ewe encounter the element sin our daily life, and what roles do they play? This book with its wealth of interesting details and corresponding vivid, graphical illustrations makes for light reading while at the same time providing fascinating gems of information. "World of the Elements - Elements of the World" makes an excellent accompaniment to "The Periodic table Through History".