He introduces two American scientists who, in a Cold War competition with the Soviets, discovered one-sixth of all the elements, including several they created in the lab. Kean also covers humans’ development of poison gases during the First World War. Kean explains where atoms come from and recounts the discovery of the neutron, which humans then used to break atoms and release energy, such as in atomic bombs. Part 2, discusses the origins of the elements and how in human hands they can wreak havoc. Kean explains why carbon is so important to organisms and why we use silicon in computers instead of germanium. Part 1 outlines the basic principles behind and creation of the periodic table, explaining the chart’s organization and describing how electrons make possible the chemistry of materials and life. By the end of the book, all the naturally occurring elements, and most of the artificial ones known to science in 2010, have taken their bows. Eacchapter also highlights a handful of elements, displaying their oddities and sometimes freakish properties. These and dozens of other scientists, some quirky, some tragic, have their moments in The Disappearing Spoon. Linus Pauling conjured up the quantum mechanics of chemistry but muffed a chance to be the first to decipher DNA’s workings. Enrico Fermi caused the first manmade atomic fission but didn’t realize it Lise Meitner figured it out but couldn’t accept the Nobel Prize because of her Jewish background. Luis Alvarez found iridium where it doesn’t belong and deduced that the dinosaurs died from a giant space rock.

Marie Curie discovered and experimented with radioactive materials, won two Nobel Prizes for her efforts, and succumbed to cancer from radiation. From Plato’s early surmises about the nature of atoms to Glenn Seaborg’s carefully arranged modern periodic table of the 1960s, the story of the elements is filled with drama, humor, triumph, tears, and even death.

The disappearing spoon book