Disappearing Spoon- Ch. 8-9

Chapter 8:

Attention to detail plays a humongous role in science. Making sure you have the correct information in an experiment, or while researching, prevents you from having to deal with a bunch of skewed data in the end. Unfortunately, the scientists Pauling and Segre didn't quite grasp this concept. In a feverish race to catch a Nobel Prize, they were doing research in their own fields and working together at Berkeley. Pauling was studying DNA and its ability to carry genetic information. He made a big mistake and observed a dry sample of DNA rather than a wet one. The two had different numbers of helixes, and in studying the dry one, he missed out on his shot at the Nobel Prize. Some students at Cambridge discovered Pauling's mistake and claimed the prize for their own. Segre was among the many who wanted to discover new elements. He took to experimenting with strips of molybdenum, hoping to find some element hidden inside of it. He did: technetium. Technetium is element 43, and was perhaps the most elusive of all the elements in the table. Several claimed they'd discovered it for the "first time", only to be proved wrong.

Chapter 9:

This chapter discussed toxic elements that are present in our everyday lives, and how they can harm us. Sometimes we don't even realize that radioactive, unstable, and in other ways toxic elements are around us. One such element is cadmium. Cadmium was a product of warfare, specifically Japanese warfare. After the battles had been fought, remnants of the toxic element could be found in the water. There were some rice farmers near the Kamioka mines that ate what they harvested and fell sick with mysterious illnesses. These illnesses seemed to be chronic, and it was discovered later that cadmium is toxic when ingested. In spite of this, cadmium is not the most poisonous element--no, those are lead, thallium, and polonium. There are other elements, like the alkali metals, that would literally explode inside someone once they came into contact with any moisture.  Chapter 9 also talked about how troublesome kids can be when they get their heads into science. David Hahn, described by Kean as a sixteen year old boy scout, spent a lot of time in his mother's shed playing with something crude. Something he called a nuclear reactor. It was his wish to end the world's hunger for oil by offering them an alternative. His young research didn't go very far; he got stuck doing chore-like work.