Disappearing Spoon: Intro, Ch.1-2

The Disappearing Spoon begins by likening the periodic table to some kind of ancient treasure. A holy grail of ordinary people and scientists. Though Sam Kean chooses to focus on the element mercury throughout the introduction, he always ties his points back to a central idea, that the periodic table stands as the basic building block, as atoms do, for all scientific play. He begins his story by retelling for the reader a childhood memory of catching strep throat and  having his mouth full of mercury thermometers. Living in an age where it appears taboo to handle the stuff, I was eager to read about his early experiences with mercury. By describing the silvery metal as though it's living, breathing, and existing as humans do, Kean creates an atmosphere that clearly lays out the importance--and interest--of the periodic table.

Like fat and happy kings on thrones, the elements live in a castle called the periodic table. The only reference to this analogy is in the beginning of chapter 1 (which, might I add, was painfully tedious to read). While Kean doesn't go too in depth in explaining why the elements situate themselves how they do, he does describe how the castle would crumble if one was removed from its spot. The chapter talks about the properties of each part of the periodic table, like how alkali metals react easily and quickly with halogens. Kean throws in some nifty scientific history, sarcastically spinning the tales of under-appreciated chemists from Germany.

If ever someone has tried to read a really long word and gotten discouraged enough to shut the book, it happened in chapter two, with the tongue-twister that is the tobacco mosaic virus. Its word is just that--a mosaic. For only the most artful of tongues. Kean seems flirtatious with carbon in this chapter, diving into its properties in forming amino acids. He takes a breath and tells the reader what an amino acid is, as well. (This book might as well be a Chemistry lesson; Darcy, I can see where you found it dry.) The chapter ends with a sweet little description of silicon and germanium integration in technology.