A romp through the lesser-known facts of the periodic table. I think anyone with even a basic interest in science would find this book entertaining and at times fascinating. It has a broad spread that includes scientific facts, the processes of discovery, biography and human rivalry — often in the same paragraph.

I can’t say I like the author’s style, though: it’s too “bouncy”, too frantic to entertain, and the content is sufficiently absorbing not to need such a treatment. That’s purely a personal preference, of course, and another reader might find it exhilarating.

3/5. Finished Saturday 5 October, 2013.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)