The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table

Introduction-Part 1

Reading Check

1. The noble gases (Part 1, Chapter 1)

2. Integrated circuit (Part 1, Chapter 2)

3. Gallium (Part 1, Chapter 3)

Short Answer

1. Lewis and Clark took mercury pills, a popular medication for constipation at the time of their travels. Archeologists can track where Lewis and Clark camped by detecting mercury in the soil where the travelers dug a hole for a latrine. (Part 1, Introduction)

2. These atoms are lanthanides or rare earths. They are unique because they bury new electrons more deeply than transition metals and can hardly be distinguished from one another. (Part 1, Chapter 1)

3. Sam Kean believes it is unlikely that life is silicon-based, because when silicon combines with oxygen, the result is a solid that does not dissolve in water, and water is the chief solvent of life. Silicon, unlike carbon, is also unable to form the elaborate chemicals of living things. (Part 1, Chapter 2)

4. Mendeleev helped develop the periodic table, but he was also the first to discover that atoms are defined by their atomic weight. His discovery prompted him to leave blank spaces because he believed more elements would be discovered. (Part 1, Chapter 3)

Part 2

Reading Check

1. Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico (Part 2, Chapter 4)

2. Spartans (Part 2, Chapter 5)

3. Electron beam (Part 2, Chapter 6)

4. Glenn Seaborg (Part 2, Chapter 7)

Short Answer

1. Scientists believe elements came from a star. Heavier elements are forged inside stars that first burn hydrogen and then helium, creating the elements up to 26 on the periodic table. When the star runs out of material to burn, it explodes and disperses the remaining elements into the solar system, creating elements 27 through 92. (Part 2, Chapter 4)

2. Chemical warfare began when the Spartans used sulfur to smoke out their Athenian enemies, but the development of chemical warfare became more sophisticated during World War I when military forces used sulfur, bromine, ammonia, molybdenum, and chlorine to attack enemy troops. (Part 2, Chapter 5)                                                             

3. Uranium and plutonium can be split under certain conditions, causing fission. This releases excess neutrons that slam into nearby atoms, which also splinter. This process can be used in bombs. (Part 2, Chapter 6)

Part 3

Reading Check

1. Technetium (Part 3, Chapter 8)

2. “Poisoner’s corridor” (Part 3, Chapter 9)

3. Thallium (Part 3, Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. Pauling discovered how quantum mechanics governs chemical bonds between atoms, why snowflakes have six sides, and why sickle-cell anemia is so deadly. His grave error involved his theory of DNA as a triple helix structure, which was later revealed to be a double helix by James Watson and Francis Crick. (Part 3, Chapter 8)

2. Japanese miners searching for zinc to support war efforts found it nestled in cadmium deposits, which they discarded. The cadmium washed into a nearby river, and local farmers and their families consumed rice that had soaked it up from the water. The result was “ouch-ouch” disease, a painful illness that damaged kidneys and weakened bones. Scientists discovered that cadmium replaces zinc, sulfur, and calcium in the body, and the mining company was forced to pay restitution to the farmers. (Part 3, Chapter 9)

3. Kean identifies several elements that possess healing qualities: silver and copper have antiseptic properties; copper helps prevent bacterial illnesses; vanadium has been sold as a remedy for diabetes; heat-treated gold can kill cancer cells; gadolinium helps MRI machines to detect cancer tumors and stiffen body tissues; silver has antibiotic properties; and sulfur, when broken down in the body, can prevent bacteria from multiplying. (Part 3, Chapter 10)

4. Sneaky elements act like other elements, causing individuals to confuse their purpose. For example, in 1930, iodine was misunderstood by a political movement. In defiance of the British colonial tax on salt, individuals in India distilled free salt from seawater. The Indian government later attempted to mandate adding iodine to salt to prevent congenital defects, but it was viewed as an encroachment of Western science. (Part 3, Chapter 11)

Part 4

Reading Check

1. Tracers (Part 4, Chapter 12)

2. Rhodium (Part 4, Chapter 13)

3. Selenium (Part 4, Chapter 15)

4. Pathological science (Part 4, Chapter 15)

Short Answer

1. King Midas’s touch is believed to have turned anything into gold, but he more likely combined zinc with copper to produce brass. Iron pyrite is known as “fool’s gold” because it looks like gold; however, during the Australian gold rush, tellurium was combined with gold and discarded when mistaken for iron pyrite. King Polycrates of Samos also bought off his enemies in Sparta with lead slugs that were painted gold. (Part 4, Chapter 13)

2. Scientific discovery of the elements inspired authors and artists as well as the creation of new artistic tools. For example, Mark Twain’s enthusiasm for chemistry inspired his depiction of the Devil, whom he described as being made of radium and glowing hot green. Another example is the Parker 51 pen, which came in several colors and delivered ink that absorbed into the page. (Part 4, Chapter 14)

3. Crookes’s work with selenium and thallium could have driven him mad, but he had no outward indication of poisoning by either element and continued into old age with a sharp mind as he developed his theory of isotopes. Kean believes it is possible the death of Crookes’s brother gave him the desire to contact a loved one in the afterlife, rather than madness brought on by his work. (Part 4, Chapter 15)

Part 5

Reading Check

1. A diamond (Part 5, Chapter 16)

2. Kelvin (Part 5, Chapter 17)

3. Okolo, Africa (Part 5, Chapter 18)

4. Astatine (Part 5, Chapter 19)

Short Answer

1. At very cold temperatures, tin crumbles into dust. There are legends about church organs during winter months that exploded into ash when the organist blasted a chord. Another example of winter weather’s impact on tin comes from the expedition of English explorer Robert Scott, whose crew died of starvation, scurvy, dehydration, hypothermia, and gangrene when the tin canisters that stored their heating fuel turned into powder on his expedition to Antarctica. (Part 5, Chapter 16)

2. Kelvin estimated the Earth was likely 20 million years old based on heat loss. Rutherford reasoned that because radioactive decay gives off heat, the Earth is likely much older. He based his calculations on the decay of uranium and the bubbles formed from that decay to determine the Earth is at least 500 million years old. Rutherford’s theory has been refined, and the estimated age of the Earth is closer to 2 billion years today. (Part 5, Chapter 17)

3. The official Prototype Kilogram, kept in France, is the standard for measurement around the world and is kept in a temperature-controlled environment in three bell jars to maintain its accurate weight. Copies of the prototype were dispersed throughout the world and had to be consistently recalibrated for accuracy. These prototypes shrunk by a mass equal to a fingerprint each year. The impracticality of the calibration process caused scientists to search for a measurement in nature to define the kilogram for more accuracy around the world. (Part 5, Chapter 18)