Reviews

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

avenevs's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-paced

3.75

jo_d's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

Learned a lot reading this. Not as much about the elements as the stories that surrounded finding them, but enjoyed every chapter
Lighthearted and enjoyable

absurdlystranger's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.5

bennerbrianna28's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.75

leasummer's review against another edition

3.0

This was an interesting look at the periodic table of elements. I enjoyed the fascinating stories surrounding the elements and the discovery of elements. The author is a good story teller. The second half drew me in more, there was more storytelling. The beginning had a bit more of the particular science that was a little lost on me. It may also be that by the second half I had adjusted my thinking to be more science focused. I think the draw for this would be for those with more of a science background, but the stories surrounding the topics would be interesting to anyone.
Audiobook narration was great, engaging and easy to listen to and understand.

circularcubes's review against another edition

informative

2.0

Full of really fun facts about science and history and all that, but I still struggled with understanding some of the more complicated concepts covered by this book, tbh.

nestairov's review against another edition

4.0

as you'd expect from a book on the periodic table, a bit of a slog at times without a huge amount of background knowledge. definitely some cool tidbits though

vtleon715's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

3.5

aebrossbooks's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative medium-paced

4.5

This was a really fun read/listen. I will admit that there was a bit at the beginning that felt slow. I was worried I wouldn't be able to read it because it was dragging, but the author took little time in building steam and soon he was flying through the periodic table. The author made short work of sharing well-detailed and thought out tidbits of history and scandal with each element and it's discovery, as well as strange behaviors the elements and their isotopes exhibit all by themselves. There were all sorts of stories, some of injustice, some of triumph, some of defeat, and all of them adding so much color and life to the periodic table we've all come to know. I definitely recommend, especially for those of us who are fascinated by science and physics.

kshilvock's review against another edition

4.0

Omg I finally finished it! Such a lovely nerd fest, but very, very long. Definitely one you can just pick up and read little bits and pieces of fairly easily though.