"The Elements": Probably the First Fully Visually Satisfying Interactive eBook

On April 5, 2010 Theodore Gray, co-founder of Wolfram Research, makers of Mathematica, as well as a Popular Science columnist, and an element collector, issued the ebook version of his 2009 printed book, The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe, for the Apple iPad.

Gray's ebook may have been the first interactive book to take full advantage of the features of the iPad, including splendid high resolution graphics, the ability to rotate objects, the ability to visualize objects in 3-dimensions using inexpensive 3-D glasses, and full connectivity to the Wolfram Alpha knowledge engine for additional data.

♦ In December 2013 a video which Gray discussed the features, design, and production of the ebook, The Elements was available from YouTube: