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informative
medium-paced
Sometimes I just want to read something that will make me smarter. Enter...The Disappearing Soon. A lot of people don't know this about me, but I spent my first 3 years of college as a chemical engineering major. I actually really love chemistry. Or I used to. When I saw this book, I could not even fathom how a book about the periodic table could be narrative non-fiction. Non-fiction, yes. Narrative, no. Yet, here we are.
I enjoyed this book. Was it gripping? No. Was my mind blown? Yes, at times. I did not know that elements were added to the periodical table as late as 2009. I had never heard of a pancake atom. I had no idea how much I did not know. While the book was interesting, I'm not sure how much of it I will retain or even be able to relate. It was fascinating but incredibly full of information.
I enjoyed this book. Was it gripping? No. Was my mind blown? Yes, at times. I did not know that elements were added to the periodical table as late as 2009. I had never heard of a pancake atom. I had no idea how much I did not know. While the book was interesting, I'm not sure how much of it I will retain or even be able to relate. It was fascinating but incredibly full of information.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Rounding this up to a 3.5⭐. I was expecting more of a Quackery/Dr. Mutter's Marvels but it was little more science-based than fact/history of the periodic table than I thought. I learned some interesting things but we shall see what I retain and what I don't, heehee
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
I expected this book to be more about the individual stories of the people who discovered the elements, but it turned into more of a chemistry lesson that I just couldn't bring myself to finish. It's very well written but in the first 100 pages is more about protons, electrons, and bunch of other stuff I've forgotten since high school. I was really looking forward to this book being more about the human element of what into making the periodic table is today, and I got lost among the chemistry/scientific language that was beyond me.
LOVED THIS. So entertaining and detailed and funny - zigzagging all over history, chemistry, physics, society, geology. I learned so much and want to learn more. I'm off to read The Violinist's Thumb now.
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
I’ve owned this book for several years and finally got around to reading it with the help of the audiobook version from my library.
I expected a chapter for each element starting with Hydrogen with scientific information and anecdotes. The organization wasn’t quite so structured and the anecdotes covered a wide range of topics, not all strictly about a single element.
I enjoyed this book and it is definitely worth keeping in my book collection. As with a lot of nonfiction, there were stories that I felt the author embellished. I recall even hearing a few times something like “nobody can be sure that this actually happened.”
I expected a chapter for each element starting with Hydrogen with scientific information and anecdotes. The organization wasn’t quite so structured and the anecdotes covered a wide range of topics, not all strictly about a single element.
I enjoyed this book and it is definitely worth keeping in my book collection. As with a lot of nonfiction, there were stories that I felt the author embellished. I recall even hearing a few times something like “nobody can be sure that this actually happened.”
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
Kean set out to reveal the stories and the drama in the periodic table, and this book does just that. The problem becomes that the elements don’t really create enough cohesion by themselves. I would say this book whet my appetite to dig deeper into some of the stories (particularly about Nobel Prize winners), and I can see how those alienated from Chemistry (for whatever reason) might appreciate it more after reading this, but it ended up being a bit too much like drinking out of a fire hose, constantly peppered with new facts and stories, for me to really remember or learn much.
I really did like this book, but frequently found myself wishing it hadn't been quite so long since I'd taken chemistry. It got rather technical sometimes and I'd have to really go back and re-read passages several times to make sure I understood what Kean was saying. This book was good and interesting but not necessarily written for laymen.
If you have a favorite element, or if you want one, you should pick up this book, because it will tell you everything you never knew you wanted to know about the periodic table.
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