Log In Register

Hunting the Elements 1x113

Where do nature’s building blocks come from—the hidden ingredients of everything in our world, from the carbon in our bodies to the metals in our smart phones? They’re called the elements, and most people encounter them packed together in an uninspiring chart—the periodic table. But as David Pogue, animated host of NOVA’s popular MAKING STUFF series and technology correspondent of The New York Times discovers, that chart’s dull appearance is misleading. The story of the elements is a rich stew simmering with passion, madness, and obsessive scientific rivalry.