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ipreferquiet's review against another edition
4.0
While looking for homeschool recommendations for history books, I read a blog by a mom who used Uncle Tungsten as her daughter's chemistry curriculum. I sure wish I had been taught chemistry with this book as guide! It certainly evokes a lot of curiosity and fascination for the realm of chemistry. I didn't know much about chemistry before I started, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment of this book. It doesn't explain all topics that are discussed, for it is not a textbook, but when an obscure topic sounded interesting, I found a quick visit to Wikipedia usually sufficient to understand the larger context and enjoy Sacks' description of it.
I especially liked reading about how the elements were discovered, how the field of chemistry developed throughout history, how there's always more to discover and how chemistry is in a way poetic. For most people, the chemistry encountered in daily life is magic, and sure enough, Sacks really had a magical childhood. I highly recommend this book to all curious people, with or without background in chemistry.
I especially liked reading about how the elements were discovered, how the field of chemistry developed throughout history, how there's always more to discover and how chemistry is in a way poetic. For most people, the chemistry encountered in daily life is magic, and sure enough, Sacks really had a magical childhood. I highly recommend this book to all curious people, with or without background in chemistry.
cazaam's review against another edition
5.0
Sacks is a brilliant writer and incredible scientist. It was interesting to learn about his past. I recommend anything he has published. I've read a few other of his books but don't want to back update anything else on goodreads.
aneesasona's review against another edition
3.0
Most of this book was a highly effective reminder of why I didn’t become a chemist. The last couple chapters were a pleasant reminder of why I did study physics.
Sacks was a great storyteller, no doubt, and his personality shines in his writing. But man, forget loving chemistry as much as he did as a boy—I couldn’t even temporarily care about the minutia of chemistry enough to enjoy about 2/3 of this book. The last third may have given me rose-tinted glasses, but take my rating with this grain of salt: if you like neither physics nor chemistry, skip this. Skip it and pick up another one of his books instead.
Sacks was a great storyteller, no doubt, and his personality shines in his writing. But man, forget loving chemistry as much as he did as a boy—I couldn’t even temporarily care about the minutia of chemistry enough to enjoy about 2/3 of this book. The last third may have given me rose-tinted glasses, but take my rating with this grain of salt: if you like neither physics nor chemistry, skip this. Skip it and pick up another one of his books instead.
shaikhitup's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
i wish someone had taught me the wonders of chemistry the way oliver sacks describes them here in this book, i’d have never given up on science if i had been taught like this
smemmott's review against another edition
4.0
This is a beautiful memoir of Oliver Sacks' extraordinary childhood. I'll be honest, I skimmed some sections because I didn't understand the details about chemistry. But I could understand why he was so fascinated by chemistry and the process of scientific discovery.
bernfarr's review against another edition
4.0
While this book has a lot of information on the history of chemistry and the elements, it's full of details about Sacks' life as a young boy and how his strong interest in chemicals developed and was encouraged by his Uncle Dave (aka Uncle Tungsten) who owned a factory making lightbulbs with tungsten filaments. At times the chemistry was too much for me, but Sacks' writing is always entertaining and informative so I didn't stop reading. If you like a good memoir and you don't mind science then you'll enjoy the book.