Think back to your high school chemistry class. Chances are, the artwork adorning the classroom probably contained a poster with the periodic table of the elements. For some reason, all through 7 chemistry classes, my favorite was tungsten.
Pop quiz - what is the chemical symbol for tungsten? Why, "W" of course! Why not T or Tu or Tg?? The "W"is for wolfram, the German name for tungsten. Without it, those handy incandescent lightbulbs would not operate if it weren't for those tungsten filaments.
I've always had a soft spot for science trivia, and the periodic table of the elements is full of interesting stories. If you have the same soft spot, I'd recommend "The Disappearing Spoon" by Sam Keane. The title references a property of the element gallium. Gallium turns from a solid to a liquid at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. According to the author, a favorite prank of grad students is to fashion spoons made of gallium and to hand them out with tea or coffee. The spoon looks like the metal of other silverware, but when used in tea or coffee, melts away - a disappearing spoon!
Another reason this is a great book is that it humanizes many of the famous scientists. In reading through textbooks, you never see into the personal lives or professional struggles of the discoveries and constants described in the text. Yet in The Disappearing Spoon, you see the races to get published (discovering and naming rights to elements), the discouragement at being passed up for a Nobel Prize yet again, and how wars and politics shape the or stunt technology.
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