This is the second book I've read this spring on the subject of chemistry, and although it isn't as easy to read as Sam Kean's accessible history of the periodic table, "Disappearing Spoon," Oliver Sack's endearing autobiographical stories make the whole book worth the effort.
Although like Kean's book, it also took me all of 6 weeks to read, I can say that now that I've finished reading it, "Uncle Tungsten" was brilliant and exhausting all at once! It was fascinating to hear the stories behind all the elements, and even more fascinating to hear the story of how the brilliant neurologist first discovered each element, and his subsequent experiments with them. Although these childhood stories make me feel like a bad parent, since he was already up to his neck in chemical experiments before he even became a teenager, the book does show how his passion for chemistry was fostered by his parents and various aunts and uncles, which is a great lesson for all parents on how to raise a brilliant child.
Besides being a story of a child enamored of science, the book also details the heartbreak Oliver Sacks felt when he was removed from his family home during the blitz in London, and his difficulties in returning to "normal" life and relationships after the war. Like Dickens, he details some of the horrors experienced by British schoolboys, and while this is only a subplot to the story of the elements, it provides the emotional punch to keep the reader interested in the life of this boy. What I find more fascinating, however, is Sacks ability to recall his experiences and experiments, while those of us with lesser minds have a hard enough time recalling where we've left our car keys.
In summary, a book that should be read by everyone interested in science, whatever age, by a brilliant author. I can't wait to read some of his other books.
Submitted by Gerti
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