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informative
slow-paced
Really fun book. The author conquers a host of topics through the periodic table. His enthusiasm and humor are very apparent. The unusual footnote format is a lot of fun as well and led me on several tangents while reading. Well written. Picking through a couple of the chapters now to relive the topics.
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
What a great book! It reminded me of Isaac Asimov's popular science writing - which is a compliment - although a little less of the author's voice and more focus on the Nobel prizes. But overall a very enjoyable book about chemistry and physics and the people who shaped these fields in the last 130 years. (Includes a discussion of the "cold fusion" controversy of recent past.) Sam Kean won an award for best science writers under 30 and it's easy to see why. His prose is very fluid, engaging and narrative.
This book is interesting in a "I wish I knew this stuff in high school/university when it would have helped me understand the chemical world a little better" kind of way. I am always interested in the historical significance of discoveries and how the story of science plays out. But much of the book is clunky. Some of the most interesting facts are buried in the footnotes at the end of the book and at the end I was just left wishing the book was a little ... more. (More what, I don't quite know)
It's a little heavy for a 'summer' read, but if you are interested in scientific history you should give it a go.
It's a little heavy for a 'summer' read, but if you are interested in scientific history you should give it a go.
I had to read the damn thing in print so you know it had to be good for me to make it all the way through it.
I thought I would like this, but my mind kept wandering. I was more interested in the scientists than the science.
cool concept, but so boring for me that i had to give up and move on.
informative
slow-paced
Not for me. But definitely for someone
challenging
informative
slow-paced