Science Magazine reporter Sam Kean reveals the periodic table as it.s never been seen before.
Not only is it one of man's crowning scientific achievements, it's also a treasure trove of
stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. 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.

We learn that Marie Curie used to provoke jealousy in colleagues' wives when she'd invite them
into closets to see her glow-in-the-dark experiments. And that Lewis and Clark swallowed mercury
capsules across the country; their campsites are still detectable by the poison in the ground.
Why did Gandhi hate iodine? Why did the Japanese kill Godzilla with missiles made of cadmium?
And why did tellurium lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history? From the Big Bang to the
end of time, it's all in The Disappearing Spoon..

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