The Disappearing Spoon and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of

Categories:

14.29

Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? Why did the Japanese kill Godzilla with missiles made of cadmium (Cd, 48)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie’s reputation? And why did tellurium (Te, 52) lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history?

The periodic table is one of our crowning scientific achievements, but it’s also a treasure trove of passion, adventure, betrayal and obsession. The fascinating tales in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, gold and every single element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, conflict, the arts, medicine and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.

Why did a little lithium (Li, 3) help cure poet Robert Lowell of his madness? And how did gallium (Ga, 31) become the go-to element for laboratory pranksters? The Disappearing Spoon has the answers, fusing science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, discovery and alchemy, from the big bang through to the end of time.

ISBN: 9780552777506

In stock

The infectious tales and astounding details in ‘The Disappearing Spoon’ follow carbon, neon, silicon and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.

Additional information

Weight0.273 kg
Dimensions19.8 × 12.7 × 2.4 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

390

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

540.9 (edition:22)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K

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