Reviving my inner science geek

I have fallen in love with a book that I have heard of but never read - until I purchased it on the iPad yesterday. The Elements is an iPad app version of a book by Theodore Gray that covers all the of elements from Hydrogen to Lawrencium in gorgeous detail. It is an absolutely fantastic presentation of a book with animation, music, interactivity and integration with Wolfram Alpha. There's even the Thom Lehrer song about the elements included (with much prettier graphics than the Youtube video linked to there).

I spent quite a bit of time last night reading up on the elements, something I normally do not do any more. Even though I love science it seems that I haven't taken much time outside of my IT duties to think about things like elements. Did you know that Americium - a synthetic radioactive element following plutonium on the periodic table - can be purchased in any hardware store? In fact, there's a good chance you have it in your home right now.

Another great application for the iPad is Star Walk, a stunning astronomy application that lets you easily locate constellations, planets and other astronomical objects in the night sky. The iPad will be absolutely fantastic to take out on some clear night or to my next camping trip. It's like having a portable planetarium. Astronomy is another subject that I love but have not pursued much in my busy life.

The ease with which I was able to acquire these applications and then have them available at my fingertips means that I can now fill my spare time with some scientific interests. Sure, I could have done that before by hauling around a set of books or reading through Wikipedia, but something about the presentations of these topics in these two applications spark my interest in a way that Web sites have not.

It's exciting how the iPad offers new ways to explore and diversify my interests.