Coffee table books for nerds

This past northern summer I was on vacation on Lopez Island in Washington state [near my wife's hometown]. While browsing in the bookstore I came across this fantastic "coffee table" book The Elements by Theodore Gray (co-founder of Wolfram Research).

There is a page for each element with a fascinating description and beautiful photos. A sample is above. You can view all the pages on the book webpage.

I bought a softcover version for US$25. I think it is important to support local bookstores, particularly given the vagaries of Amazon.

 I was thinking that it would be really nice if there was also a book about molecules, since they are a lot more interesting than atoms. A week later I was in the U of Washington bookstore and I came across Molecules by Theodore Gray! He has also developed some fancy mobile phone apps.

Now the hardcopy cost me US$15. This tells you something else about bookstores...

I am also told that some young kids love these books.