The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean

Last March I was given a directive to update our science holdings when I created the book order for this year.  This book was recommended by our vendor, Follett's Titlewave for chemistry.  I really wasn't interested until it came in and I saw it in person.

Yes, I know, don't judge a book by its cover.

But, this one's cover made me want to at least thumb through it.

I really enjoyed reading it!

So much so, I talked to Mr. Hill and Mrs. Poffenberger about using it in their Honors and AP Chem classes.  

This is a tour through the Periodic Table of the Elements and how they were "discovered", most of which were by accident or theory alone until proven.  There's lots of interesting factual tidbits relating to alchemy, philosophy, and more.  It's as much a history book as a science one. 

It's certainly been a while since I took Honors Chem myself, and there was a fair bit of science that went over my head, but not enough to impact understanding.  

Find this on display come Nonfiction November!

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