Until now, popular science has relegated the atom to a supporting role in defining the different chemical elements of the periodic table. This bold new title places its subject center stage, shining the spotlight directly onto the structure and properties of this tiniest amount of anything it is possible to identify. The book covers a huge range of topics, including the development of scientific thinking about the atom, the basic structure of the atom, how the interactions between atoms account for the familiar properties of everyday materials; the power and mystery of the atomic nucleus, and what the mysterious quantum realm of subatomic particles and their interactions can tell us about the very nature of reality. Sparkling text banishes an outdated world of dull chemistry, as it brightly introduces the reader to what everything is made of and how it all works, on the most fundamental level.