I finally finished this one. It was a read for the Flat Book Society and I believe I was the last one still reading The Disappearing Spoon. It was not an easy read, especially at times. The first couple of chapters were all over the place and I know a lot of people DNFed at this point. I continued a...
I really tried, you guys. I love popular science books, because although it wasn't my best subject at school, I found a lot of the history behind the discipline really interesting. So I read as many of these books as I can. However, this one alternately confused me and bored me to tears. I don't...
DNF @ page 81. Dear fellow Flatbookers, I am so sorry. I really thought I had turned a corner. I really thought I had found a book that could keep my interest and that would not lead me to yet another DNF of a pop science book. But here's the thing, after making it through Part 1 of Kean's ...
Finished the first chapter, and I take what I said back. Sam Kean isn't condescending; he's trying to imitate his earlier terrible teachers and mystify us. I thought I understood the periodic table, but Kean's explanations were all over the place and diverged into so many tangents about Plato and ...
Date Published: August 18, 2010 Format: Audiobook (Tantor Audio) Source: RB Digital/RAF Lakenheath Library Date Read: January 3-5, 2019 BL's Flat Book Society book club pick for January 2019 Blurb: Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? Why did the Japanese kill Godzilla with missiles made of cadmiu...
Storytelling at its best. The author steps through the periodic table and tells the stories he knows about the elements' uses, discoveries, etc. The stories are all short, and therefore, of course, a little over-simplified. I don't think some of them would pass a rigorous scholarly historical int...
This book is a fun romp through chemistry's periodic table, and an enjoyable read. Sam Kean has a real knack for picking stories about the elements (and the creation of the table itself) that are not only informative, but make entertaining reading. Kean focuses on the personalities of the scienti...
A fun read, for a certain value of fun. This is a book for science geeks, or those curious about science. If you're a full-fledged science geek, this could be a relatively light side read. If you're more of a layman, it's an opportunity to read some science that shouldn't be too far over your head, ...
very impressive, very well-edited prose dealing with the various interesting elements of the periodic table. Kean in one or two places over-explains, he has a noticeable stylistic quirk of suddenly bringing up a contemporary reference yttrium is a very interesting element. it is used in record playe...
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