The Disappearing Spoon

Sam Kean and I have a lot in common.  We both studied physics in college but felt, despite loving science, that pure science was not quite the right fit.  He decided that his path lay along writing about science, I feel that mine lies in education.  The similarities between Kean and myself made the read like a stroll through the park with a good friend that I haven't seen for a while.  Although, I suppose, the good friend was really the periodic table and Kean personified it for me.
I enjoyed seeing how Kean broke down some of the difficult ideas in chemistry.  I love to take a difficult idea and see how many ways I can present it to help people understand.  It's always a creative journey for me to see how someone else does it, especially when it is not a traditional explanation.  For instance, he continually pointed out how important electrons are to chemistry and how the model of electron "orbits"* is useful, but only to a certain point and really is not what happens in an atom.  Most of the chemistry that we observe in the world can not be explained by this over simplified model of the atom.  It was a stepping stone in the history of chemistry, but is rarely treated as such when chemistry is taught.
Kean does a good job of picking a subject and writing around it.  Each chapter/section Kean picks an idea, such as money or poisons, and explores the science around the elements, the scientists lives, and the effects that the chemical has had on society.  It's refreshing to see someone pull scientific knowledge into not just the history of science, but the history of the world.  It's important to realize how much of what happens in science feeds choices made by everyone from the leaders of the strongest nation down to the poor farmer in Africa.
I'm more excited than ever to study chemistry with the kids next year.  Reading "The Disappearing Spoon" has given me some great ideas, refreshed my memory about the importance of some chemical concepts and given me inspiration to really show my kids how important that crazy-shaped stack of rectangles on that poster on our wall really is.

*This is the model that shows electrons in circular orbits around the nucleus.  Similar to the way the planets orbit the sun.