We're delighted to announce that Mike Barfield's amazing fun and fact-filled new book The Element in the Room has been shortlisted in this year's Blue Peter Book Awards! Read on to find out more…

If you’re anything like us, you’re curious about how things are made – whether that’s art, design, or something a little more fundamental and based in the materials that make up the world. In The Element in the Room narrator Sherlock Ohms takes you, the reader, on a journey from the smallest building blocks of our world, all the way up to concepts of the entire universe…

From the big bang to the periodic table, and to the everyday things that make up your own personal world, you’ll soon be able to identify the science behind the everyday.

So why not get started here? What can you find in your home, or school room right now?

Hydrogen

Scientists estimate that there are about one quinvigintillion atoms in the universe.

That’s a 1 followed by 78 zeros. Or if you prefer, one million million million million million million million million million million million million million million million million atoms. Either way it’s a huge number, and nine in every ten are hydrogen atoms.

Helium

Introducing the second most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen…

Oxygen

When the earth formed over 4 billion years ago its atmosphere contained almost no oxygen. As simple life forms evolved, they began producing O2 as a waste product. Slowly it built up in the atmosphere, and today without oxygen almost every living thing on earth would die…

Magnesium

Magnesium is light and burns in air with a bright-white flame. It puts the spark into sparklers…

Iron

Iron is essential to haemoglobin, the molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen around our bodies. It's also why our blood and many meats we eat are red…

Lithium

Most of the world's lithium goes into making the batteries used in portable electronic devices. These include tablets, mobile phones and laptops, so you shouldn't struggle to track it down!

There is so much more to discover… join Sherlock Ohms on his journey with The Element in the Room now. Go to the 'Downloads & Extras' section for a sneak peak at two of the book's very special Atomic Comics!

Find out more about the Blue Peter Book Awards here.