Wonderful Life with the Elements

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At the beginning of the year we did an article on The Elements. It has been touted as “the most beautiful Periodic Table Products in the world.” After having spent some time with it, we could not agree more. The photography is excellent, the info on each element engaging, and the layout and presentation were first rate. We didn’t think we would find anything to match it and we still haven’t. However, what we have found is another take on the Periodic Table which is just as innovative, engaging, and amazingly enough…entertaining. This fresh new look is by Japanese artist Bunpei Yorifuji in his fantastically illustrated book, Wonderful Life with the Elements.

Wonderful Life with the Elements: The Periodic Table Personified is a whimsical guide to the elements, their relevance in our everyday life, and their place in the overall order of things. The author/illustrator, Bunpei Yorifuji, is well known in Japan for using humor to make a point. Yorifuji made extensive use of his distinctive style in this guide.

The book comes with a large fold-out chart of all the elements laid out in their customary locations. What is interesting are the patterns which pop out. That is part of the quirky fun of this book. By looking at the more detailed descriptions, the meaning of the patterns and the various relationships can readily be understood.

We can’t stress enough how much we enjoyed the creative graphics in this wonderful little book. Bunpei Yorifuji’s clever use of anthropomorphic graphics to connect the elements and their properties to one another makes the information amusingly memorable. It is one of those books we will pick up and flip through time and time again. This is because we know we can open to any page and find something interesting. Pick one up, you will see what we mean.