THE DISAPPEARING SPOON

AND OTHER TRUE TALES OF

MADNESS, LOVE, AND THE

HISTORY OF THE WORLD FROM

THE PERIODIC TABLE OF THE

ELEMENTS

BY SAM KEAN

Contents

The Periodic Table of the Elements 3

Longest Word 5

Uncertainty Principle 5

v45

109

270 277

244

The Periodic Table of the Elements

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3

T h e P e r i o d i c T a b l e o f t h e E l e m e n t s ,con t inued

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4

Longest Word

acetylseryltyrosylserylisoleucylthreonylserylprolylseryl-glutaminylphenylalanylvalylphenylalanylleucylserylseryl-valyltryptophylalanylaspartylprolylisoleucylglutamyl-leucylleucylasparaginylvalylcysteinylthreonylserylseryl-leucylglycylasparaginylglutaminylphenylalanylglutami-nylthreonylglutaminylglutaminylalanylarginylthreo-nylthreonylglutaminylvalylglutaminylglutaminylpheny-lalanylserylglutaminylvalyltryptophyllysylprolylphenyla-lanylprolylglutaminylserylthreonylvalylarginylphenylala-nylprolylglycylaspartylvalyltyrosyllysylvalyltyrosylargin-yltyrosylasparaginylalanylvalylleucylaspartylprolylleucyli-soleucylthreonylalanylleucylleucylglycylthreonylphenyla-lanylaspartylthreonylarginylasparaginylarginylisoleucyli-soleucylglutamylvalylglutamylasparaginylglutaminylglu-taminylserylprolylthreonylthreonylalanylglutamylthreo-nylleucylaspartylalanylthreonylarginylarginylvalylaspar-tylaspartylalanylthreonylvalylalanylisoleucylarginylsery-lalanylasparaginylisoleucylasparaginylleucylvalylasparagi-nylglutamylleucylvalylarginylglycylthreonylglycylleucyl-tyrosylasparaginylglutaminylasparaginylthreonylphenyla-lanylglutamylserylmethionylserylglycylleucylvalyltrypto-phylthreonylserylalanylprolylalanylserine

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4�

Uncertainty Principle

5