Nonfiction: The Disappearing Spoon, Sam Kean

The Disappearing Spoon
Sam Kean (The Violinist's Thumb)
ISBN: 9780316051644
Read February 2, 2016
Microhistory of the elements of the periodic table, focused on interesting stories about the scientists and science surrounding each element.


I really enjoyed Kean's voice in this book.  I didn't realize (despite the nearly identical covers) that he was also the author of The Violinist's Thumb, but as I read, there was a niggling familiarity with how the stories were arranged and how they called-back and referenced each other as the narrative built up.  It's a neat trick, and one that I imagine is difficult to manage, and he's done it cheekily and with a lighthearted flair.

Microhistories are one of my favorite types of nonfiction, and this one is no exception.  I enjoyed learning about all the weird coincidences and correlations that lead to the development of the modern periodic table and of all the elements in their current arrangements, and of the potential paths for future development.  If this book had been part of my chemistry education, I might have had half a chance of figuring any of it out and being interested in it all.