What a lovely mix of history, biography, chemistry and general knowledge. The author's childhood obsession with the periodic table and his (inevitably incomplete) collection of elements spill out in this collection of anecdotes clustered around the individual elements like electrons around a nucleus. Although chemistry is at its core, with its stories of discovery, usage and associated myths, this shouldn't put off the general reader even if they did get a grade 'E' Chemistry O-Level.
(Clive Yelf - bwl 96 Spring 2020 ) |
