40 Books ‘THE DISAPPEARING SPOON: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the oncology-times.com • World from the of the Elements,’ by Sam Kean

2010, Little Brown & Co., ISBN: 0316051640, available in hardcover, paperback, Kindle, and audio editions

June 10, 2014 must confess that I have given very son Castro by planting thallium in his Another example was :

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little thought to Mendeleev’s peri- socks. After winning two Noble Prizes, she was I odic table since high school chem- The book’s title comes from the curi- rejected for membership in the French istry and college physics. While the ous properties of gallium, which resem- Academy of Sciences. She later died periodic table is a scientific marvel, it bles aluminum and sits just below it on of aplastic anemia from her radiation tends to be cold, obscure, and more the periodic table. Gallium molds easily exposure. interesting as a tour-de-force than but has a melting point of 84 degrees. Kean includes some monumental sci- as a practical real-world utilitarian As a result, a Gallium spoon melts when entific mistakes made by great scientists, document. Sam Kean’s likely goal in exposed to hot tea or coffee or even to including with his triple The Disappearing Spoon is to squeeze the human hand. helix and Lord Kelvin with his underes-

Oncology Times some life out of the old masterpiece Kean does not shy away from some timate of the earth’s age. We encountered and rekindle some excitement about of the more distasteful examples of these episodes in Brilliant Blunders by the 118 elements currently known. ­sexism in science. Most of us are fa- Mario Livio, a book I earlier reviewed in Mr. Kean became a lifelong ad- miliar with the story of Rosalind Oncology Times (11/10/13 issue). mirer of mercury, that shiny In the Chapter entitled liquid metal, as a boy, and he “Elements in Times of War,” Kean went on to achieve honors in explores the remarkable story of REVIEWED BY physics and a Master’s degree , a German ROBERT C. YOUNG, MD in Library Science (don’t ask). who in 1900 was able to extract Chairman He now writes for Science, the nitrogen from the air and convert OT Editorial Board New York Times magazine, and it ultimately into fertilizer. Even Air and Space, and has been by World War I, millions had featured on National Public been saved from starvation with Radio. the use of industrial fertilizers. “This charming and In this, his first book, he Haber went on to utilize the pro- ­provides the reader with an cess for making explosives and well-crafted book engaging romp through the worked on chlorine-based gas periodic table, and along the warfare. In 1919 he was awarded weaves a rich and way showers us with accounts the Nobel Prize, and the follow- entertaining story of scientific treachery, poisons, ing year was indicted as an inter- explosives, money, petty poli- national war criminal because of into a collection of tics, world history, and sexism. his chemical warfare work. Before His is not a comprehensive and World War II, Haber had discov- fascinating facts methodical e­xploration of ev- ered Zyklon A, a potential insecti- and anecdotes ery element, but rather an en- cide. Nazi Germany exiled Haber tertaining effort to allow the for his Jewish roots, and he went about the elements, reader access to some of the on to develop Zyklon B, which more engaging stories hidden was used in the death camps. both well-known within the periodic table of In his chapter on the Cold War, and unfamiliar, elements. Kean introduces us to the quirky He notes that the universe is race between the Americans, turning a rather dull 90 percent hydrogen and about chiefly at Berkeley, and the 10 percent helium and that the Soviets at an isolated facility 80 and academic table other 116 elements make up miles from Moscow. They rushed into something that only about 0.04 percent of the to fill in the remaining gaps in the remainder. Young stars contain only Franklin and DNA, but Kean intro- periodic table, and the Cold War men- comes vividly alive.” hydrogen and helium, and as they duces us to Maria Goeppert, a German tality spilled over into seemingly child- cool, other elements appear and dis- woman who struggled even to enter ish arguments over the names for these appear. Many do not exist in nature, a PhD program in her own country. evanescent “elements on paper.” and some once existed and no longer After she moved to the United States Kean even tells us about a Nobel do so. It is to these latter 116 that Kean with her chemist husband, she was Prize given for a mistake: Enrico Fermi focuses the remainder of the book. unable to find an academic position. wrongly reported that he had discov- What unfolds is a remarkable col- After the war she finally got an un- ered Niobium and other transuranic el- lection of narratives about scientific paid Professorship at the University ements when he had actually witnessed More OT Book discovery, intrigue, chauvinism, and of Chicago. Her work led to our un- uranium fission and failed to recognize Reviews! murder. We learn that Mozart probably derstanding of the necessary balance the difference. While Fermi was an un- died of antimony poisoning; Enrico between protons and neutrons in the questioned genius, Edwin McMillan Fermi succumbed to pulmonary disease nucleus. Announcing her Noble Prize clarified the error and won the Nobel lick to connect to all of Bob from exposure to beryllium; Europium in 1963, the newspaper headlines Prize in 1951. The Nobel Prize commit- CYoung’s OT Book Reviews: is placed in the Euro to fluoresce under read “San Diego Mother Wins Nobel tee, reluctant to ever admit a mistake, bit.ly/OTCollections-Books laser light; and the CIA planned to poi- Prize.” continued on page 41 41 Evidence that U.S. Cervical Cancer Incidence Oncology Times and Older Women’s Risk Are Underestimated

he rates of cervical cancer in Anne Rositch, PhD, of the University of then levels off. But after correcting for women in the United States Maryland School of Medicine. hysterectomy, the incidence continued

may be higher than previously To do so, she and Rebecca G. Nowak, to increase with age, peaking at a higher •

thought, and the disease may PhD, MPH; and Patti E. Gravitt, PhD, rate (27.4 cases per 100,000 women) June 10, 2014 Tarise most often at an age when ad- MS, analyzed hysterectomy prevalence and at an older age (65 to 69). equately screened women are advised to and cervical cancer incidence from 2000 The effect was most pronounced stop getting screened. That is the con- to 2009. In this analysis, estimating among black women, given their higher clusion of a new study, available online ­cervical cancer rates only among women prevalence of hysterectomy than white in Cancer (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.28548). with a cervix, the rates of disease in women. The results should The authors note • be taken into con- that their findings “It will be important oncology-times.com sideration when the should be consid- to clarify in future national guidelines ered when setting for cervical cancer national guidelines studies whether the screening are re- for the appropriate viewed, the authors age to stop screening continued increase say. for cervical cancer: with age and the Removal of “Current guidelines the uterine cervix recommend exiting higher rates in black through a hyster- women with recent ectomy eliminates negative screen- women represent a woman’s risk of ing from routine a failure in our developing cervical screening at age 65 cancer, but previous years, and yet our screening programs estimates of cervi- corrected calcula- cal cancer rates in tions show that or a failure of the the United States women just past this women to be have included these age have the highest women in the calculations. older women and black women were rate of cervical cancer. screened.” “In order to make accurate estimates much higher than previously reported. It will be important to clarify in future of the true rates of cervical cancer by age Overall incidence rates were 11.7 cases studies whether the continued increase in in the United States and monitor trends in per 100,000 women before correcting cancer rates with age and the higher rates the occurrence of disease, it is important for hysterectomies, compared with 18.6 in black women represent a failure in our to calculate the occurrence of cervical can- per 100,000 after correction. screening programs or a failure of the cer only among women who are at risk,” In addition, previous reports showed women to be screened, so that appropriate explained the first author of the study, that the incidence peaks at age 40 to 44 interventions can be developed to reduce O (15.6 cases per 100,000 women) and the burden of cancer in these women.” T

‘THE DISAPPEARING the manner they do. For example, the re- tempts to weave a rich and entertain- SPOON’ activity of the elements has much to do ing story of the elements with “true Continued from page 40 with the state and stability of the electrons tales of madness, love, and the history and the bulkiness of the ­nucleus. Helium of the world from the periodic table of gave McMillan the prize for the chem- with two electrons, protons, and neutrons the elements.” istry of transuranic elements. is very stable and unreactive. In contrast, The book is a charming and well- In this reader’s view, Sam Kean ac- Astatine with an atomic number of 85 ex- crafted collection of fascinating facts complishes what he set out to do in The ists only transiently and has never been and anecdotes about elements both Disappearing Spoon. He has provided a con- viewed. That said, Kean does not overload well-known and unfamiliar. The book, stant stream of intriguing science, told in a the reader with chemical fine points. full of science, hubris, greed, and ge- conversational style that makes the reader This is not a text that tries to explain nius, turns a rather dull and academic eager for the next surprising adventure. all of the characteristics of the various table into something that comes alive Along the way, the book does delve elements and the chemistry behind for the reader. Demitri Mendeleef O into the way certain elements behave in their unique differences. Rather it at- would be pleased. T

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