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lukerik's review
informative
fast-paced
4.0
Fast paced, highly readable, and hugely entertaining. I’m not even inherently interested in physics and chemistry but it kept my attention right to the end. You don’t need to know a lot about the natural world. A few key concepts are explained in simple images so you can follow along. This is a narrative history of the discoveries, not an explanation of them. There are also some jokes.
The book is poorly illustrated but there’s a documentary here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe5WT22-AO8
which focuses on the Ninov fraud and which uses this book as a main source. It has the best graphical representation of the periodic table I’ve seen and really helped me understand what these scientists were doing.
The book is poorly illustrated but there’s a documentary here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe5WT22-AO8
which focuses on the Ninov fraud and which uses this book as a main source. It has the best graphical representation of the periodic table I’ve seen and really helped me understand what these scientists were doing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Sexism
pferdina's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.0
Very interesting history of the science involved in synthesizing or discovering the elements after uranium. This was published in 2019, so it finishes very recently. Included are mini biographies of the leading scientists such as Seaborg, Oganessian, Hoffman, and others.
dustspectre's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
A well written book about a facinating topic! Easily one of my favourite nonfictions so far