Disappearing Spoon Chapter Summary

The book, The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean explores each of the elements on the periodic table. The Disappearing Spoon focusses on the history of the Periodic Table by telling stories that show how each element affected the scientists that discovered it. For each element, Kean supplies an extensive backstory for its foundation, the common (or uncommon) uses of the element and other useful factoids about the matter. The author begins the novel with a physical description of the Periodic Table as a whole; he discusses the names of the groups of elements and their corresponding properties, atoms and their three major sub-particles, the activity of electrons, and the organization of the Table. Sam Keane then goes on to talk about each element of the Periodic Table, and how that …show more content…
For example, to clarify the relationship between the nearly physically identical elements Silicon and Germanium, the author used the analogy, “near twins and the black sheep,” singeling out Germanium as the “black sheep” although the pair of elements are “near twins.” Germanium and Silicon are both metalloids used in the technology and machine industries, however Silicon proved to be cheaper and more abundant, so Germanium has decreased drastically in it’s importance. To ensure further understanding of the scientific material, Kean uses personification. The author turns each lesson about an element into a full story with an introduction, climax, conflict and a conclusion. When he taught the reader about the stability of nuclei in the Periodic table, Kean taught within the context of the life of scientist Maria Goeppert. Maria Goeppert, a chemist I had never heard of before reading The Disappearing Spoon, is most well known for her research on the differing stabilities of the nucleus and her discovery of “nuclear shells” or “magic