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Winners and more: The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean

14 Aug

The Disappearing Spoon is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year (see my review), and I think it will have a very wide appeal.  I’m very excited to be able to pick 2 people to win a copy, thanks to Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Books.  I strongly encourage everyone else to obtain a copy from their book provider of choice, and support the production of fantastic books like this one.

Sam Kean will be interviewed next week on Blog Talk Radio next week, and I’m including the announcement at the end of this post.

The lucky winners are:

  • Bailey
  • Barbara

Thank you to everyone that answered the bonus question– I enjoyed reading the responses, particularly the punny ones (“My favorite element is Iron because when you put a lot of Fe in a circle you have a ferrous wheel.”) .  All together, 16 different elements were mentioned, with gold getting the top spot (with 5 people including it), followed by iron.

Blog Talk Radio Announcement

(I’m including this announcement because I want to support the book.  I don’t know anything more about it that is listed here, I’m aware there is an issue with the date listed.  I think it’s Wednesday, not Thursday, but I’ve sent e-mail to clarify!)

Join us as we interview

Sam Kean, author of THE DISAPPEARING SPOON

On BlogTalkRadio

Thursday, Aug. 18, 2 PM ET

Publisher: Little, Brown

samkean.jpg cid:image002.png@01CB3AF8.CE1675F0

BlogTalkRadio/HBG Program:

Sam Kean talks about love, history, death, and discovery all from the periodic table of elements.

Sam Kean is a writer in Washington, D.C. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Mental Floss, Slate, The Believer, Air & Space, Science, and The New Scientist. He is currently working as a reporter at Science magazine and as a 2009 Middlebury Environmental Journalism fellow.

Call-in with your questions during show time to participate in the live interview @ (646) 378-0040

Listen-in or chat on the Little, Brown channel on BlogTalkRadio.

 
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Posted by on August 14, 2010 in books, giveaway

 

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Review: The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean

31 Jul

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the ElementsThe Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Everyone with an interest in science, whether that is a little curiosity or a strong devotion, should read this book.

From the Hachette Books website:

The Periodic Table is one of man’s crowning scientific achievements. But 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 and 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.

I admit, I thought this book would be more of a novelty, a sit down and leaf through it kind of book. Instead, I found it utterly engrossing in several ways.

I really enjoyed the stories– the stories of people and personalities, of discoveries that were searched for over many years and those that accidentally fell into place, of friendships and partnerships and rivalries.

I also enjoyed the science itself. I consider myself to be a scientifically inclined, so this isn’t a surprise. I’ve got a solid background in chemistry and physics, even if I haven’t thought about them in years, so the concepts weren’t new.

The first few chapters are much heavier on the science, lighter on the stories. If they get to be too much, flip further in and read a chapter. If that’s more to your taste, then just skim through the rest of the first section.

I do think this book is accessible to those with minimal scientific background– I think my daughter learned enough about atomic structure in 5th grade science to understand most of the stories. I don’t think she’d enjoy reading through the whole, but I may encourage her to read specific stories.

I also think there is enough there for those that have been dedicated to science their entire lives. In this case, the names will be familiar, but I think some of the stories will be new, and they will even more fully appreciate following the paths in the histories of the various elements.

I am hosting a giveaway for 2 copies of The Disappearing Spoon, ending August 12. Please check it out.

I received my copy of The Disappearing Spoon for review from Little, Brown and Company. I appreciate them providing me with this opportunity. I’m thinking of buying more copies of it for Christmas presents, and I’m strongly considering buying some copies for my daughter’s school.

 
9 Comments

Posted by on July 31, 2010 in books, reviews

 

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Giveaway: The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean

22 Jul

Edited to add this link to my review of The Disappearing Spoon.

I’m currently reading an absolutely amazing book.  The full title is The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements, and that title isn’t a bad summary of the book. Here’s a little more information, from the Hachette Book Group website:

The Periodic Table is one of man’s crowning scientific achievements. But 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 and 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.

I’m a science nerd, or at least I used to be, so this book called to me from the moment I heard about it. It hasn’t disappointed me from either a science or a storytelling perspective.

I’ll post a review when I finish reading, but for now:

Hachette Books is allowing me to host a giveaway for 2 copies of  The Disappearing Spoon.  Thank you!

Having an address (not a PO Box) in the US or Canada is a requirement. I’ll pick the winners on the evening of August 12.

So:

  1. Leave a comment to enter. I’ll get your e-mail address if you are on WordPress or you enter it where requested. Make sure it is valid! This is all you need to do.
  2. If you have additional entries (see below), you can leave them in the same comment.
  3. For an additional entry, let me know if you subscribe to my blog via RSS or e-mail, or if you follow me on Twitter. Thank you to my current subscribers, Welcome if you are new to my blog.
  4. One more entry if you let other people know about this giveaway! On your blog, on Twitter, another social site. Just leave a note.
  5. As a bonus (for an additional entry) tell me if you have a favorite element on the periodic table.

Good luck!

 
50 Comments

Posted by on July 22, 2010 in books, giveaway

 

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