Product Description
Discovered by alchemists, prescribed by apothecaries, exploited by nineteenth-century industrialists, and abused by twentieth-century combatants, phosphorus is one of nature's deadliest- and most fascinating- creations. Now award-winning author John Emsley combines his gift for storytelling with his scientific expertise to present an enthralling account of this eerily luminescent element. From murders-by-phosphorus where the bodies glowed green, to the match factory strike that helped end child labor in England, to the irony of the World War II firebombing of Hamburg, to even deadlier compounds derived from phosphorus today. The 13th Element weaves together a rich tableau of brilliant and oddball characters, social upheavals, and curious, bizarre, and horrific events that comprise the surprising 300-year history of nature's most nefarious element.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 14 reviews)

Suprisingly Interesting by Stargyrl1022 (Wernersville, PA USA)

4 Stars
June 28, 2009
I was required to read this book for a high school chemistry course this past year. While I am not typically fond of scientific reading, especially regarding elements and their uses, I found this book to be surprisingly entertaining and informational. Emsley combines both scientific facts and human interest stories to make the novel a worthwhile read for anyone with a slight background in chemistry. I enjoyed the book much more than I had originally thought I would, and was able to read it cover to cover in about two weeks. There were a few chapters that I found rather dull towards the beginning, more specifically the medical chapter and the initial chapters detailing the discovery of phosphorous. I am sure someone of a more scientific mind would find these chapters enjoyable, but I was personally bored by them. I also found several grammatical and spelling errors throughout the pages that have nothing to do with differences between the American and English dialects. Overall, I found the book interesting enough for a piece of assigned reading. I would recommend The 13th Element mainly to science students looking for an engrossing read or high school teachers looking for a fairly easy book to assign students.

Not the best written, but interesting enough by tortle (usa)

4 Stars
November 24, 2008
I had read Life's Matrix: A Biography of Water by Philip Ball previously, and this book seemed to fit into the niche of something I would enjoy. The 13th Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus is an interesting book, filled with interesting material to support it's subject. However I wouldn't exactly call it particularly well written. Not well enough to recommend to those who aren't scientists in profession or heart. I believe the problem is that it lacked cohesiveness. As if he was writing off an outline, but found it difficult to actually stick to his outline. I found it amusing to start with how he would often go on and on and then say, well we'll talk about this in Chapter 10, or for more on this see Chapter 3, or for more on that see Chapter 5, or even, we covered this in Chapter 2 (not exact quotes, I don't have the book in front of me). His chapters were often formatted to go from the first documented discovery of phosphorus forward a couple of centuries. Then the next chapter would bring you back again to the 17th century and might go as far forward as the present, but only if the present wasn't covered in a future chapter. The chapter on human combustion provided a large number of examples to support the different sides of the discussion, however I was left wondering what had been left out as many on both were nearly identical as to description; minus names, dates, and places.

A fun history of the element Phosphorus by Bert (Kalispell, MT)

5 Stars
March 20, 2007
An easy, entertaining read. Fun and informative. I'm sure glad I don't work in a match factory in 1900.

Elementally speaking, a multiple personality by Ammaz (Baja Georgia)

5 Stars
October 05, 2005
I have dabbled in the area of phosphorus chemistry for too many years and the prospect of a leisurely read about the historical and other aspects of the element proved irresistible. This is an enjoyable book and points out how science has evolved and the enormous creativity of our ancestors for good and not so good. The chemistry of phosphorus can used to improve many aspects of life but unfortunately has been applied to too many sinister roles in history. If only mankind had the maturity to match its technology. And remember the element "phosphorus" is spelled with two "O" not three (Thanks JP).

If you teach chemistry, you must read this book! by Frances C. Monroe (DeLand, Florida USA)

5 Stars
April 29, 2003
Fascinating reading about the mysteries of phosphorus. This covers everthing you wanted to know about phosphorus and more! By the time you finish this book you'll know how phosphorus was discovered, how it contributes to eutrophication (and what exactly eutrophication is, anyway), the symptoms of "phossy jaw", how a match is made, and many other fascinating facts about phosphorus. The author has resisted making this a "fact a page" list, and has put together the history of phosphorus in an ejoyable, coherent fashion. If you love books about chemistry, you'll have trouble putting this one down.

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