speljamr reviewed The disappearing spoon by Sam Kean
Review of 'The disappearing spoon' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
All of us remember the periodic table from our high school science classes, but have you ever thought about how it came to be and all the history that surrounds those elements? Sam Kean seems to have spent a good deal of time researching exactly that and has brought us a compelling read about all the amazing stories that surround the periodic table of elements.
The stories include the hunt for new elements, the private lives of the scientists involved, the stupid things some of them did that lead to discoveries (or in some cases miss a discovery they should have made), and my all-time favorite of the book, the nuclear boyscout. You'll be surprised at just how rich the history of the periodic table actually is, and just how fascinating some of the people who make up the history really are.
The …
All of us remember the periodic table from our high school science classes, but have you ever thought about how it came to be and all the history that surrounds those elements? Sam Kean seems to have spent a good deal of time researching exactly that and has brought us a compelling read about all the amazing stories that surround the periodic table of elements.
The stories include the hunt for new elements, the private lives of the scientists involved, the stupid things some of them did that lead to discoveries (or in some cases miss a discovery they should have made), and my all-time favorite of the book, the nuclear boyscout. You'll be surprised at just how rich the history of the periodic table actually is, and just how fascinating some of the people who make up the history really are.
The writing style is extremely fluid and makes this a very easy read. There are some spots where some knowledge of chemistry (nothing more than high school level) is helpful, but even someone with no knowledge of the subject should still be able to follow along well enough. I found myself wanting to keep coming back to this one every time I had to take a break from reading; it really was hard to put down.
