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The disappearing spoon [electronic resource] : And other true tales of madness, love, and the history of the world from the periodic table of the elements. Sam Kean.

Kean, Sam. (Author). Runnette, Sean. (Added Author).

Summary:

The periodic table is one of man's crowning scientific achievements. But it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. We learn that Marie Curie used to provoke jealousy in colleagues' wives when she'd invite them into closets to see her glow-in-the-dark experiments. And that Lewis and Clark swallowed mercury capsules across the country and their campsites are still detectable by the poison in the ground. Why did Gandhi hate iodine? Why did the Japanese kill Godzilla with missiles made of cadmium? And why did tellurium lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history? From the Big Bang to the end of time, it's all in The Disappearing Spoon.

Electronic resources

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781400199525
  • Physical Description: 1 online resource (13 audio files) : digital
  • Edition: Unabridged.
  • Publisher: Old Saybrook : Tantor Audio, 2010.

Content descriptions

General Note:
Unabridged.
Participant or Performer Note:
Narrator: Sean Runnette.
Target Audience Note:
Text Difficulty 10 - Text Difficulty 12
1300 Lexile.
System Details Note:
Requires the Libby app or a modern web browser.
Subject:
Chemistry.
History.
Science.
Nonfiction.

Accessibility Features

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1001 . ‡aKean, Sam. ‡0(CARDINAL)325615
24514. ‡aThe disappearing spoon ‡h[electronic resource] : ‡bAnd other true tales of madness, love, and the history of the world from the periodic table of the elements. ‡cSam Kean.
250 . ‡aUnabridged.
264 1. ‡aOld Saybrook : ‡bTantor Audio, ‡c2010.
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500 . ‡aUnabridged.
5110 . ‡aNarrator: Sean Runnette.
520 . ‡aThe periodic table is one of man's crowning scientific achievements. But it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. We learn that Marie Curie used to provoke jealousy in colleagues' wives when she'd invite them into closets to see her glow-in-the-dark experiments. And that Lewis and Clark swallowed mercury capsules across the country and their campsites are still detectable by the poison in the ground. Why did Gandhi hate iodine? Why did the Japanese kill Godzilla with missiles made of cadmium? And why did tellurium lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history? From the Big Bang to the end of time, it's all in The Disappearing Spoon.
5210 . ‡aText Difficulty 10 - Text Difficulty 12
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538 . ‡aRequires the Libby app or a modern web browser.
650 7. ‡aChemistry. ‡2OverDrive ‡0(CARDINAL)233257
650 7. ‡aHistory. ‡2OverDrive ‡0(CARDINAL)241282
650 7. ‡aScience. ‡2OverDrive ‡0(CARDINAL)252585
65017. ‡aNonfiction. ‡2OverDrive
7001 . ‡aRunnette, Sean. ‡0(CARDINAL)540632
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