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Reviews
Periodic Tales: A Cultural History of the Elements, from Arsenic to Zinc by Hugh Aldersey-Williams
danteandvirgil's review against another edition
Was due back to the library. I might pick it back up another time.
bungo_books's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Follows the authors personal curiosity, which at times is fascinating and fun to follow, at other times a bit dull.
adorkablesmile's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
A thoughtful and eye-opening deep dive into the discovery of various elements. Rather than taking us through each individually, Aldersley-Williams divides them into groups based on their properties; thus we begin with the precious metals and their effects on politics and culture, travel through the postwar race to claim and name the radioactive elements, and finish in Ytterby, Sweden, where one mine brought more than half a dozen rare earth metals into the table with the help of some long-forgotten mining engineers. Along the way we discover some of the chemicals that make up our everyday world.
It's a solid book weaving a story of discovery through history, from the earliest alchemy to the discovery of mass spectroscopy and beyond. But be warned: as a result, its a dense read. Trying to push straight through will net you a confusion of names, places and times, with little to anchor you. Best taken as a slow read, to savour the story.
It's a solid book weaving a story of discovery through history, from the earliest alchemy to the discovery of mass spectroscopy and beyond. But be warned: as a result, its a dense read. Trying to push straight through will net you a confusion of names, places and times, with little to anchor you. Best taken as a slow read, to savour the story.
biscuitben's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
3.25
Too slow for me but very thorough and detailed
dobbydoo22's review against another edition
3.0
Tons of interesting facts and trivia, and a unique approach to the cultural history of chemical elements. The reason I only gave it three stars is that the narrative sometimes gets a little too boggy for my taste and a bit repetitive (how many times do we need to be reminded that elements were distilled from ores in order to be discovered, much less have the process painted for us in detail?). I think it's worth the read, however, because it does contain a lot of history and insights into just how lab chemistry and physics have developed so many things that we take for granted in daily life.
tobynicks's review against another edition
3.0
Was a good book but not great, started out well but then started to drag a bit.