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It's not every day that I get to rate two books five stars, back to back. This was one of the best nonfictions I have read in the past year. Sam Kean tells the tale of the Periodic Table, but not in a dry, technical language. Instead, he tells you the behind-the-scenes stories of each of the elements and how they were discovered. Each element's family history, abilities, relations, similarities, and uses are all told. Some stories involve war, intrigue, mystery, pure science, and a lot of head scratching. I have not read another author who was able to take physics and chemistry and weave them into such a great tale. I almost felt like I was reading a Sherlock Holmes type story at certain points of the book. He keeps the pages turning quickly.