Book Reviews: The Disappearing Spoon

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I went out on a limb trying this book and I was not disappointed. I usually read fantasy, history, or theology, but I thought I needed to stretch myself a little bit. This book did exactly what I hoped it would. It taught me a little more about science and a lot more about the periodic table than I retained in high school. However, it did so in a series of vignettes that were engaging and practical. They also brought in enough of the character studies, history, and other subjects that are my cup of tea (minus the gallium spoon) that the science was approachable and digestible.

I would recommend this for readers who:
Really like history or science but don’t feel well versed in the other subject.
Like deeper subjects but also find they have short attention spans.
Realize they didn’t pay enough attention in science class.
Enjoy clever writing and entertaining footnotes.

You might not like this book:
If you want a systematic element by element approach.
If you need your books to be in tidy chronological order.
If you find the things people study more interesting than the people that study them.
If you will be easily offended by a more atheistic tone in the writing.
If you don’t like books, conversational tones, or the sense that there is a crazy other world going on that we can’t see.

I’m usually the Goodreads user that just slaps some stars up and walks away, but I was compelled to respond to this book that really tries to make the story of the periodic table one that is so human and so understandable… even if it still just looks like a strange block castle to me.


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