I am an engineer, and have spent a good chunk of my life dealing with parts of the periodic table. I bought this book on an impulse, and I am glad I did. It was a very enjoyable experience reading it, and I was sorry when it came to an end.
=== The Good Stuff ===
* Sam Kean does a great job in mixing a litte science, a touch of history, some genuine supposition and a dash of humor. The result is a view of the periodic table, its history, and a number of stories about some of its residents. He writes in a fun, easy to read style, and doesn't include a lot of technical jargon or fifteen letter words.
* Kean is mostly careful about what is proven knowledge versus what is informed supposition, although he occasionally gets careless with what is fact versus hearsay. Still, most of the "how this was discovered" stories are more for entertainment value, this is a perfectly acceptable standard.
* While this is in no way a chemistry or physics book, to understand the beauty, logic, and difficulty in constructing the periodic table, you need to know some details about the structure of an atom. Kean strikes a nice balance. The text is technical enough to highlight what makes the periodic table so clever and useful, but yet perfectly understandable by anyone with even the slightest hint of how an atom is constructed.
* Kean has a gift of tying history, myth, science and intelligent guesswork together. As an example, he relates a tale of an area of Asia Minor, where copper, zinc and tin ores exist, often mingled together. Copper and tin, mixed together make bronze, a dull, yellowy metal. But copper and zinc mixed together make brass, a very shiny golden metal, which can plausibly be mistaken for gold by ancient alchemists. And Asia Minor is noted for having some very early bronze foundries, and coincidentally, the legendary home of King Midas. Kean can't prove that some ancient process for replacing the tin in bronze with zinc, and thereby making brass, was mistaken for alchemy, but it is an interesting bit of supposition..
Kean also relates a marvelous story about John Bardeen, who won the Nobel prize for the transistor in the 1950's. At the award ceremony, the King of Sweden asked why he hadn't brought his sons along to the ceremony. "Next time" quipped Bardeen. In 1972, when he was awarded a 2nd Nobel Prize for superconductivity, Bardeen introduced his adult sons to the King.
=== The Not-So-Good Stuff===
* Kean writes with a sarcastic wit, something that I enjoy but which some readers might find objectionable.
* Some of the tales that Kean relates, for instance the story of Lise Meitner, are rather complicated and involve a fairly obtuse plot and cast of characters. Her discovery of fission, and the lack of credit she received for it are more appropriate for a 300 page work rather than a page or two. A brief overview poses more questions than it answers.
=== Summary ===
* A very enjoyable book. Its obvious appeal is to anyone who is more than a casual user of the periodic table. However, there are enough stories and anecdotes in the book that even non-techies will probably enjoy it. I'd recommend it to anyone who has ever stared at the familiar chart in any classroom and wondered what it means.
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Popular Highlights in this book
That’s half of chemistry in one sentence: atoms that don’t have enough electrons in the outer level will fight, barter, beg, make and break alliances, or do whatever they must to get the right number.Highlighted by 1,245 Kindle readers- Instead of a proton donor, then, an acid is an electron thief. In contrast, bases such as bleach or lye, which are the opposites of acids, might be called electron donors.Highlighted by 935 Kindle readers
- The atomic number plus the number of neutrons is called the atomic weight.Highlighted by 888 Kindle readers
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Make chemistry a fun and exciting story? Yes.
Sam Kean wants to tell science stories and he is very good at it. If you are an educated person who is looking back on their schooling after some years and seeing big holes, you should give The Disappearing Spoon a try. I have a friend who has his doctorate in chemistry who complained that no one ever thinks chemistry is exciting and has great personalities. He recommended the book, and I am glad he did. You would not think that what an element wants to do with its electrons would catch your attention, but it does. But the book is way more than mechanics. It is people, it is discovery, it is sociology and politics, and it is just fun. No tests, no papers, just enjoying a subject you were too scared to approach before.
Top reviews from other countries
amazon4rkb
𝙰 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎
Reviewed in India on May 31, 2021
amazon4rkb
Reviewed in India on May 31, 2021
...𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 118 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕?
...𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚞𝚖 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝?
...𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝-𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚋-𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕?
...𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚝* 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 41 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚕?
...𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 137 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚘𝚡 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎?
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚢 (𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘) 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢.
'𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚂𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚗' 𝚋𝚢 𝚂𝚊𝚖 𝙺𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕- 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚐𝚊𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.
𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚌-𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎.
𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚌 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚝.
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝙼𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚟 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 (𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢) 𝙼𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚢.
𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙺𝚎𝚊𝚗'𝚜 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍-𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚊 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚍𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑, 𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚓𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎.
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚡 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙳𝙽𝙰 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚞𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚖𝚋 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛.
𝙱𝚘𝚗𝚞𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕-𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 150 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 - 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎.
𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍.
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚞𝚖 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚎𝚊 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍.
[*𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝙽 𝙻𝚎𝚠𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚄𝚂, 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚛. ]
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