I am in the process of researching and writing a book. The book is not going to be an academic tome, but rather a layman’s guide to the elements. It is aimed at high school kids with an interest in chemistry (but not as a textbook) and at other people that would like to know a little more about some of the more common elements. We are hoping to bring some character to each element with colorful illustrations and descriptions.

This is my first attempt at this sort of thing, and as I expected it is pretty hard work. The research is very time consuming and the writing is tricky in as much as each word needs careful scrutiny. Having spent so much time on each sentence it can be discouraging to have my original prose butchered by the editor! I almost feel like one of my student’s that gets their work graded by me with red ink all over it after they have spent such a long time working on their problems! It can be a bit discouraging in say the least. I guess it’s a big learning curve.

The plan is to have it published in the UK and the US. I’ll update progress on the blog from time to time.