Sam Kean and the periodic table

 Hello, my Amazing Readers! 

This week I'm excited to highlight science writer Sam Kean, who was nice enough to grant me an interview. Sam has written many popular books, including The Disappearing Spoon, The Violinist's Thumb, Caesar's Last Breath, The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists, and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb, and others. If you read enough of Sam's books, which I have, you start to realize that he's very interested in how humans interact with different elements on the periodic table. 

In this interview below, I focused specifically on one of Sam's first books, The Disappearing Spoon. This book gives an overview of the periodic table of elements in thematic clusters. It answers questions you may never have had such as: "why did Gandhi hate iodine?" Sam gives an in-depth analysis of how human history is built around the periodic table, and how humans have used these elements for the better...or worse. 

From bombs to mythology to medicine, Sam covers it all. I'd recommend for anyone interested in a different telling of recent human history, or someone interested in weird science. This book will hook you from page one and is great at giving random and cool facts. You can get a copy right here for your own perusal. 

Check out my interview with Sam below to find out why he is interested in chemistry, as well as prefers open-faced sandwiches.