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The Disappearing Spoon
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The Disappearing Spoon (2010) (edit title/settings)

And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements

by Sam Kean (Author) (edit contributors)

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The Periodic Table is one of man's crowning scientific achievements. But it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in THE DISAPPEARING SPOON follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their... read more

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  • “God does not play dice with the universe.”
    Albert Einstein
  • “Einstein! Stop telling God what to do.”
    Neils Bohr
  • “We eat and breathe the periodic table; people bet and lose huge sums on it; philosophers use it to probe the meaning of science; it poisons people; it spawns wars. Between hydrogen at the top left and the man-made impossibilities lurking along the bottom, you can find bubbles, bombs, money, alchemy, petty politics, history, poison, crime, and love. Even some science.”

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When most people think of the periodic table, they remember a chart hanging on the front wall of their high school chemistry class, an asymmetric expanse of columns and rows looming over one of the teacher's shoulders.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Introduction

Part I: Orientation: Column by Column, Row by Row
1. Geography is Destiny
2. Near Twins and Black Sheep: The Genealogy of Elements
3. The Galapagos of the Periodic Table

Part II: Making Atoms, Breaking Atoms
4. Where Atoms Come From: "We Are All Star Stuff"
5. Elements in Times of War
6. Completing the Table . . .with a Bang
7. Extending the Table, Expanding the Cold War

Part III: Periodic Confusion: The Emergence of Complexity
8. From Physics to Biology
9. Poisoner's Corridor: "Ouch-Ouch"
10. Take Two Elements, Call Me in the Morning
11. How Elements Deceive

Part IV: The Elements of Human Character
12. Political Elements
13. Elements in Money
14. Artistic Elements
15. An Element of Madness

Part V: Element Science Today and Tomorrow
16. Chemistry Way, Way Below Zero
17. Spheres of Splendor: The Science of Bubbles
18. Tools of Ridiculous Precision
19. Above (and Beyond) the Periodic Table

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Sam Kean (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Hachette Book Group
Country: United States
Publication Date: July 2010
ISBN: 978-0-316-05164-4
Page Count: 393

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