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Aug 13, 2010

Jason rated it:

Stop the search. Recall the teams. I have found the non-fiction, summer read of 2010! The Disappearing Spoon.

First, what’s a summer read, Mr. Josey Wales thumbnail photo? A summer read is one you can enjoy during a vacation to the beach, with fresh cocktails and clean towels provided by the swarthy, bronzed attendant at a seafront hotel. You can finish it in a few days in bite-sized chunks, it doesn’t overpower you academically, you learn a little, and the subject is something More...

12 comments like (28 people liked it)

Jul 07, 2011

Woodge rated it:

This book was an interesting compendium of stories linking up the various elements of the Periodic Table. Not only did I learn about the various scientists who discovered this or that element, but I learned a good deal about many of the elements themselves. It was entertaining enough that I kept coming back to it to read more. I've got a much better understanding now of elements and what makes them differ from each other. And I didn't even realize that elements can change (or decay) into other e More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jan 20, 2011

Valerie rated it:

This does for the periodic table what I am always trying to do for math....link the science to the historical events, the people, and the economics that push scientific discoveries. I was fascinated by the many details about the hunt for elements, the private lives of the Curies, the radioactive boy scout, the dangers of storing rare elements in the Congo, and that the same man who invented nitrogen rich fertilizers, is also the inventor of zyklon B. It also made me want to read more about Th More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Nov 17, 2011

Kate rated it:

Okay. Let me tell it to you honestly.

This book is not the most well written book - the sentences are clunky and there is not a clear narrative. It is much more of a rambling collection of stories and facts and quirky science knowledge.

That said, I couldn't get back to reading this fast enough. I thought about a book about the scientific table throughout the day. I stole a few minutes wherever I could. I carried this book with me and was even *gasp* early to pick up the ki More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Mar 01, 2011

Jeff rated it:

I enjoyed reading this book. It is a good mixture of stories, theories, facts, and trivia related to the periodic table (but much more interesting than that might sound). The author strikes a good balance between explaining the chemistry and telling related stories in an entertaining way. Along the way, he covers the "human side" of the scientists who made key discoveries related to the periodic table; how science is affected by both commerce and politics, even office politics within l More...

6 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 28, 2011

Dave rated it:

For me this book was a pleasure to listen to. I plan to read a paper or e-book edition shortly. A delightful, an engaging blend of lyrical prose, historic anecdotes and fascinating information. Reminiscent, to me, of some of the writing of Lewis Thomas, Oliver Sacks, Barry Lopez, Edward Abbey and John McPhee.

Brain/mind candy or chicken soup for the nerd's soul. Does that make me a dualist?

The chapter essays are wide ranging anecdotal expositions of elements and families More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 24, 2011

Kristen rated it:

This is the kind of science book I really enjoy. It's written for the layperson, it has a lot of really interesting stories, and it focuses a lot on the people behind the science and gives the human element (see also A Short History of Nearly Everything).

I love that I now know why lithium works in helping people cope with depression and bipolar disorder (and it's such a fascinating reason!), and that I better understand some of the chemistry involved in the periodic table. I also de More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 30, 2011

MAP rated it:

Chemistry for non-chemists. It started and ended slowly, but around the time he started talking about planets I got really into it. Around the time he got into chemistry in extreme temperatures, I was done.

That said, he makes chemistry fun, especially the history and personalities that are involved.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 22, 2012

Djinnjer rated it:

So far, not so great. The degree of anthropomorphizing of atoms in the introductory chapters has left me completely puzzled about the actual science involved. I have no idea what it means that oxygen is "a bully." Does oxygen shake down other atoms for electrons? How does that even work?

~~However, the chapter on chemical warfare has been (disturbing but) interesting. If the rest of the book is historical-figures character-driven, rather than atomic character-driven, then~~ More...

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Jan 06, 2012

Paul added it

My GR friend Jason writes sturdy and trustworthy reviews, but I must take exception with him here :

The Disappearing Spoon is quick, light reading out in the sun. It handles complex theory in a comfortable, approachable way.

Yes, it is all that, IF such stuff as this makes sense to you :

The strongest solo acid is still the boron-based carborane (HCB11C111) And this boron acid has the best punchline so far : it's simultaneously the world's strongest and gentlest More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 23, 2011

Lucas rated it:

Chemistry was distinctly not my thing in my college days. This book was on a “top 10 science books of 2010″ list, however, so I picked it up. It did not disappoint. I’d compare it to Bryson’s “Short History of Nearly Everything” in that it illuminates the scientific concepts by telling the tales of the individuals who made the discoveries or, in some cases, were affected by quirks of chemistry.

I found the writing graceful and clear but it wass dense and I found myself skipping back f More...

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Dec 11, 2011

Nathan rated it:

This book constipated my reading for almost a month. I have overdue fines from other books that were stacked up behind it. Not because I wasn't enjoying the book: it's readable, fascinating, and chock full of the very anecdotes about science and scientists that I love. So then, why the hell did I find this book so hard?

It's precisely because the book is a collection of anecdotes that it was so hard to read. I felt like I was trying to grasp quicksilver (mercury, symbol Hg from Latin More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 04, 2011

Brad rated it:

Just to get this out of the way: I liked this book quite a bit. I learned a lot about chemistry, and there were a number of interesting historical tidbits. Anyone interested in history will find this book engaging, and nobody could argue that it's well written.

However, I was a little disappointed. The title implies that it's a sweeping look at all of human history, using the periodic table as a thematic link, but that's not really true. Instead, it mostly focuses on the scientific hist More...

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Aug 24, 2011

Shelley rated it:

This book takes a monumental topic -- the periodic table -- and breaks it down into various digestible topic areas. While I enjoyed it (and learned a lot of history of science trivia I'd been unaware of, what with my head stuck in the 18th century) and had a few "a-ha" moments as some organic chemistry concepts FINALLY made sense to me (14 years after my last ochem class), I have two big problems with the book.

-1 star because the book needed editing. Badly. Kean's writing i More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 17, 2011

Naina rated it:

If you read one book this year, make it Sam Kean's The Disappearing Spoon (..and other tales from the periodic table).

For those who hated chemistry after high school and couldn't quite understand the notes of sheer LOVE our professors used for this dry and seemingly pointless table, you would wish a thousand times that this treasure of a book was in print then.

Full of quirky anecdotes about all the elements in the periodic table (in no particular order) and replete with More...

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May 29, 2011

Jason rated it:

Sometimes books just fall in my lap....
Although I do pretty much put myself in a position where they seem to fall from the sky at a brisk rate. I went to Barnes & Noble the other day with the wife, ostensibly to get a cup of coffee, and picked up this book and Jose Saramago's 'The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis'. I couldn't tell you what it was about it that caught my attention.
I'm doing that thing again where I read too many books at once, but despite my inward pleas to the cont More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 08, 2011

Craig rated it:

I was a chemical engineering major in college, so some of the background information (like the basics of the periodic table) was familiar to me and therefore a little tedious to read. Outside of that, however, this was a fascinating book that I think would be accessible to non-beakerheads.

Each chapter is devoted to a group of elements that are related. Instead of going for the obvious groupings (the inert gasses, the halogens, etc.) he comes at them from a refreshingly sideways directi More...

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Apr 02, 2011

Mark rated it:

In this book Sam Kean reviews the ordering and discovery of the elements, the history of the periodic table, the people who developed it, and the uses to which the elements are put. Despite the dryness of that description, the book is anything but dry: Sam Kean animates the book with personal accounts of the chemists and physicists who did the work, including their foibles as well as their genius.

The scope of the topics covered is enormous and thoroughly engaging, including war (e.g., More...

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Apr 01, 2011

Cheryl added it

While Sam Kean was studying physics in college, he found the formulas and lab work dull, but was fascinated by his professors' "science chitchat," interesting little stories about the elements' role in "history, etymology, alchemy, mythology, literature, poison forensics, and psychology." He writes, "There's a funny, or odd, or chilling tale attached to every element of the periodic table." And this book tells those tales. There is a structure to this book. Kean goe More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 26, 2011

Jean rated it:

Listened to this book (13 hours!) on a trip last week. Very interesting stories, particularly the radioactive boy scout and lots about the scientists who discovered the elements and the politics behind the stories. Some I had heard before, like the Watson/Crick "discovery" of the double helix, for which others should have shared int he credit. I particularly liked the discussions about how chemicals have improved our lives, including the author's assertion that we are who we are becaus More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 13, 2011

Chris rated it:

One of the prettiest books I have on my shelves right now is Theodore Gray's The Elements, a visual collection of all the elements that make up the physical universe. "Everything you can drop on your foot," as he says. In it, he provides wonderful pictures and descriptions of the elements that we know, arranged as they would be in the periodic table. It's a gorgeous book, one that everyone should have - especially if you have children. If you want your kids to become interested in scie More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 18, 2011

Corinne rated it:

The subtitle of this book is: and Other True Tales of Madness, Love and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements. The Periodic Table! Chemistry! How could I possibly be completely enthralled by such a book? How could I dare give it five stars when I wasn't able to truly understand a lot of what I read?

Because of the writing, pure and simple.

Kean makes chemistry accessible for the willing-to-make-an-intellectual-effort layperson - but it's not just the More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2011

Nathalie rated it:

This book is truly one of the best physics and chemistry books I have ever read.
Usually I cannot get through the whole book because I get bored since it is filled with numbers, and physics facts that don't really interests me except for the scientist's life and events that took place in his life.
But this book is filled with events, scientists that discovered elements of the periodic table, historical facts and events and stories that happened along the way that are so interesting.
More...

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Dec 25, 2010

rmn rated it:

I should have liked this book more and I can't really explain why I didn't. It's not poorly written (though it ain't Solzhenitsyn) and it's not that uninteresting of a topic, but I just found that after the first 40ish pages, I dreaded having to read more. It was like pulling teeth, only a bit less painful, even without the option of novocaine.

I think part of it was that the book wasn't well organized. The author seemed to jump around the periodic table at his whim without keeping a More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Nov 16, 2010

Matt rated it:

I am probably like a lot of people in that everything I learned about the periodic table, I learned in the span of a single year at the age of 15, and I had forgotten the vast majority of that three months later. This book didn't exactly make up for my lifetime of neglect of this subject, but I must give it a lot of credit. I was plenty entertained, I learned a lot (much of which I promise I have already forgotten even as I type this), and I was rarely lost on any concepts the author tried to co More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 11, 2010

Laurie rated it:

The disappearing spoon of the title is one made of gallium. Gallium has a low melting point, and a favorite chemical student prank of the past was to cast a spoon of this metal and then hand it to someone when they served tea, in order to watch the face of the tea taker as the spoon melted in the tea cup. This is an example of the elemental anecdotes served up in this history of the periodic table and the discovery of elements.

Kean, a popular science writer, walks us through the devel More...

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Nov 08, 2010

Jim rated it:

The book is more history than science, but uses the periodic table as the basis for engaging that history. The disappearing spoon is a reference to gallium and it’s likeness to aluminum, though with a melting point of 84 degrees. Apparently it was considered quite a prank to mold a spoon of gallium and watch as the person who used it had it melt in their hands or tea during use. Kean uses stories like this to illustrate the properties of the elements on the periodic table and how their placemen More...

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Nov 08, 2010

Emily rated it:

This book, told in a breezy anecdotal style, partakes of the happy midcentury attitude that science is uplifting for everyone. It tells a series of stories about different elements in the periodic table--their discovery or invention, their uses, their dangers. You'll have to decide on your own if that sounds like fun or a chore. Having given it a try, I enjoyed the way the author used themes to weave his miscellany together loosely. For example, one chapter deals with the use of different metals More...

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Oct 19, 2010

Nick rated it:

Other than his style of footnoting, which I found distracting, this was an outstanding book on the history of science, told through the elements of the periodic table. While technically a book about chemistry, it actually wanders into biology, nuclear physics, astrophysics, alchemy, theology and a host of other areas, not all of them purely scientific. Some of the odd scandals and pseudo-scandals of science have a lot to do with popular culture and societal beliefs.
While some of the sectio More...

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Oct 09, 2010

Kater rated it:

I pretty much knew I was going to like this book as soon as I heard about it. I mean, come on, it's about science! Some of the factoids I learned in this book will stick with me for a long time, like the naturally occurring nuclear reactor in Africa, or the reason why the Washington monument is capped with aluminum.

At first I was disappointed that the book had end notes instead of footnotes. I do like footnotes. However, many of them were so long that I understood the reason for it. More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)