 A thinker's book,
This review is from: The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements (Paperback)
As a former teacher, I could have some fun with the "kids" just from the information I read in this book. Not a student of chemistry, but a person who loves the back stories, who loves connections, I found this book satisfying.It constantly reminded me that everything we use for our lives, comes from the earth, and now 'man made' is entering the field. I then wondered are we on the verge of the revolution of..."light"? I suspect we are ...and as I read this book, I had a flash..... why can't light provide our power....as we beam lasers into space, I think it will become more and more obvious as a source of power to replace atomic energy and fossil fuels, both seem primitive to me for some reason, as I digest what I read in this book. A friend told me as I came to the end of this book that she was starting to get headaches, and in almost the same breath disclosed she was taking magnesium supplements. I was reminded of the connection between calcium, magnesium and potassium, as I read this book, so I told her about the connection of the minerals, so she could make a decision on her future. There are so many things we could teach in grade school to raise the level of intelligence to the state of the wonders we are achieving in science, and just the use of the information in a book like this....on the scale of the grade one is teaching, of course, could do so much to elevate knowledge of tomorrow's world. Although some of the reading may be difficult, as any avid reader of science knows, absorption of the ideas, is what counts, the concepts of what is happening, not the formulas, and not the so called ...errors that a chemistry professor might note. Personally, I think a book like this deserves first rate credit, for keeping my interest, while conveying ideas, and stimulating thoughts. Most of all, the best benefit of this book is to remind all of us, that our power is in the soil of this earth, and what we make of it for the best use. I happen to be reading the 2nd book in the trilogy of the Second World WarThe Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (Liberation Trilogy) at the same time ...and I need to take breath breaks from the war...The Disappearing Spoon, explains the way the Germans cleverly mined in Colorado to improve their steel with molybdenum...during the 1st world war. Then of course they discovered the beauty of tungsten in steel to increase the power of Big Bertha in the 2nd World War...and I was swallowed once again with the horrors of that war. But, I have moved on to the last 1/2 of the book on the 2nd world war....and hope that the clouds will part as I get to the 3rd book, though I already know the outcome! So if you like my reviews and read with me, you will also see connections ...and the power of the periodic table, that is not just beautiful to scientists, as they probe and probe into its mysteries, but the awe of it to us the laymen, that enjoy knowing something about what is going on, and where we are headed in the future... |