The Elements We Live By

How Iron Helps Us Breathe, Potassium Lets Us See, and Other Surprising Superpowers of the Periodic Table

By: Anja Røyne

Narrated by: Donna Postel

An around-the-world journey to discover where in the wild we can find the elements of life and the surprising ways they're essential to our survival

We all know that we depend on elements for survival - from the oxygen in the air we breathe to the carbon in the molecular structures of all living things. But we don't often stop to appreciate how, say, phosphorous holds our DNA together or how potassium powers our optic nerves so that we can see.

In The Elements We Live By, physicist and award-winning author Anja Røyne takes us on an astonishing journey through chemistry and physics, introducing the building blocks from which we humans - and the world - are made. Not only does Røyne explain why our bodies need iron, phosphorus, silicon, potassium, and many more elements in just the right amounts in order to function, she also leads us around the world to where these precious elements are found (some of them in ever-shrinking quantities).

You'll understand how precariously balanced our lives - and ways of life - really are, and you'll see these unsung heroes of the periodic table in an entirely new light.

©2018, 2020 Anja Røyne; translation copyright 2020 by The Experiment, LLC (P)2020 Tantor

Excellent Storytelling

I love the work the author did on representing huge timelapses equivalent to the hours of a normal day, and the way how the elements spawned, how they interact and the finite resources in earth. 10/10

not great, not terrible.

there are many other books that do better job on this topic. I plan on retuning the book. it is not one I would enjoy listening to again.

It does discuss elements

Book was okay, some interesting thoughts fron the author. I would have like more in depth discussion on the elements. Parts of the book felt off topic which was still interesting just off topic of chemistry.

Summary: Earth good Man bad

A velvet-touch, preachy read about over-population, climate change, disappearing resources disguised as something about the PTE.

After some brief discussion on the PTE, the "agenda" quickly transitions to a soft assault on humanity.

Someone should give me a medal for finishing this drivel.