The Disappearing Spoon

Chapter 19: Above( and Beyond) the Periodic Table Summary: In the last chapter, Kean starts off by talking about francium. He explains how francium is really rare to find and how there has been only ten thousands atoms every collected. He then elaborates that astatine is way more rare than francium. If francium is beyond difficult to find, now imagine looking for astatine. The author mentions how even if you could find astatine, its radiation will kill you. Furthermore, Kean continues by telling is that uranium is, in fact, more stable and heavier than are astatine and francium. The author tells us that element 116 and 112 are calmer when element 114 is around. They call this the “island of stability”. He then moves on to talking about the periodic table in the future. It is believed by many people that the periodic table will stop at element 137 because according to Einstein anything beyond element 137 should be physically impossible. Reflection: I really enjoyed this

Chapter 18: Tools of Ridiculous Precision Summary: In chapter 18, Kean first starts by explaining how the NIST and the BIPM are really precise with all the measurements because measurements are significant. The author then transitions into talking about specifically the kilogram. The International Prototype Kilogram weighs exactly one kilogram and it is two- inch platinum cylinder. The scientists desired for it to remain this way, so they were really protective over it. However, keeping it this way is quite a challenge. Kean then continues by mentioning a metal rod that is found in Paris and measure one meter. Light is able to travel into a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. The official measurement of time, cesium atomic clocks, is also talked about. These atomic clocks benefitted us because it helped us stop using the constellation to tell time. Then the author continues by elaborating how the alpha was 1/136 and how the measurements then changed to 1/137.0359. Reflecti

Chapter 17:Spheres of Splendor: The Science of Bubbles Summary: In chapter 17, the author begins by elaborating on bubbles. Donald Glaser first thought of bubbles while looking at bubbles rising in a beer. Because Glaser was curious to find out more about bubbles and the way they function, he began creating a bubble chamber. He first began to examine the bubbles in beer. However, then he examined the bubbles in another liquid. Due to his bubble chamber, he was able to receive a Nobel Prize when he was in his early 30s. Furthermore, Kean then moves onto talking about Ernest Rutherford who was curious about how radioactive substances are able to innfect the air surrounding them with more of the radioactivity. Even though he knew about the studies that Marie Curie had done about radioactivity and radioactive elements, he chose an easier way. Instead of going Marie Curie’s way, he just took his time and kept examining the gases in radioactive elements slowly. With his patience, h

Chapter 16: Chemistry Way, Way Below Zero Summary: In chapter 16, the author begins by telling us about the journey of Robert Falcon Scott and other people to the South Pole. They thought they would be the first people to get to the South Pole, but to their surprise Roald Amundsen and his Norwegian team had arrived there first. Scott’s team was then stuck in the South Pole because of the snow shower. Things got worse when they found out that the tin cans ran out of fuel because the fuel had leaked. Not only that, but the tin cans also changed due to the really cold temperature; this they called the tin leprosy. Kean went off to explain the two solids of tin, which are beta and alpha. Unfortunately, Robert Falcon Scott and the rest companioning him died on the South Pole. Kean then continues by elaborating on the other elements who were put to endure temperatures because they wanted to find a solid sample, just how had happened with tin. First they put xenon and krypton in rea

Chapter 15: An Element as Madness Summary: Chapter 15 went into depth when talking about scientists who shared similar mad characteristics. Kean begins by introducing William Crookes. Crookes was a scientist who was very popular when he was in his 30s, all that changed afterwards. His brother had died at sea and it’s believed that that's when he apparently went crazy. He began to create theories about the spirituality and the existence of the dead when he mourned for his brother. Many thought of his work to be silly ideas, but eventually he was able to get away from that type of work and started to work with radioactivity and selenium. In addition, Kean then continues by mentioning a story of how scientists had found manganese covering shark teeth. Afterwards, the author moves on to discussing about the scientists Pons and Fleischman. They had discovered that palladium was able to take in large amounts of hydrogen when it was in water and electricity. After discovering th

Chapter 14: Artistic Elements Summary: Chapter 14 is mostly about how the people who had money were the ones who were making the discoveries in science. Kean discusses how science and wealth came hand in hand. Because science began to be expensive, only the rich people had the money to study science. Kean then elaborates on a claim that Johann Wolfgang von Goethe made about how double replacement reactions worked. What he claimed about the double replacement reactions was unbelievable, for he used an analogy of two marriages with laws of attraction. Kean also mentions Johann Dobereiner whose career benefitted from Goethe’s point. In addition, the author then switches his attention to Robert Lowell. Lowell had very interesting episodes of madness like, for example, he once stuttered that he was the Virgin Mary while at a friend's house. However, it didn't stop there because he had another episode where he tried to make cars stop by spreading his arms. Despite his episo