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themeadowofashtrees's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
4.75
mariahmmm's review against another edition
funny
informative
slow-paced
3.0
An in-depth overview on the history, discovery, and use of all the elements within the periodic table; covering topics including war time, art and the economy, and extraterrestrial life forms.
This was such a huge endeavour and unfortunately was not successful. So much ground was covered in this book that I felt I was drowning most of the time. Humour abounds but did little to carry the heavy material along. More diagrams to explain complex, or even comical, parts would have been helpful.
This was such a huge endeavour and unfortunately was not successful. So much ground was covered in this book that I felt I was drowning most of the time. Humour abounds but did little to carry the heavy material along. More diagrams to explain complex, or even comical, parts would have been helpful.
robivy's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. You have to be really, really into science to like this one. It was interesting for sure, but at times I felt myself wishing it would just end, and I felt the author could have gotten a better result by making it about half as long. I would have given it 4 stars if it had been more concise.
stormcorvin's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0
Science with EQ
spamrisk's review against another edition
4.0
If I were smarter,
I think I'd like this book more.
Needed more pictures.
I think I'd like this book more.
Needed more pictures.
omegabeth's review against another edition
2.0
Not for me. Too much atomic science, not enough story. Nearly DNF, but after chapter 3 or so things did pick up. I also found that reading the endnotes as they came up helped me stay engaged. The writing is decent, and I could see that for the right person/brain/state of mind this could be a lot of fun, but did not enjoy it.
demosthenes's review against another edition
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Super interesting, I really liked it! I learned a lot, and I wasn't bogged down by boring descriptions. It was informational but not dry, and I always got a little kick of intellectual pleasure whenever I found a new little fun fact. It makes me feel unique, knowing about these elements (like that meme with one person at a party, and im the person, and im thinking 'nobody knows that polonium was found by Marie Curie and is named after the Latin word for Poland (Polonia) and not Polonius from Hamlet,' thats what im thinking).
inkfire's review against another edition
3.0
This book was super interesting and I learned a lot about chemistry and physics and history while I was reading. But there were also a ton of biases embedded in the narrative that didn't seem to be based on anything real.
Like the idea that the Periodic table was justified by research after it was made because the one we have now is as correct as it is possible to be, and any other arrangement of elements would therefore be wrong. Which he then disagreed with in the last chapter. It was weird.
It was all very interesting, though.
Like the idea that the Periodic table was justified by research after it was made because the one we have now is as correct as it is possible to be, and any other arrangement of elements would therefore be wrong. Which he then disagreed with in the last chapter. It was weird.
It was all very interesting, though.