No extra days off like in the other series. But that's the nature of this series − every other day until a team wins four. Much will be made about Davis playing 44 minutes in Game 1 and coming back two days later with not much energy. It's the predictability in which Davis has one that is going to be a pivotal storyline in this series. He was 11-for-19 with 18 points in the paint and eight foul shots in Game 1.Įvery player has a bad game. He was just 5-for-11 from the field with eight points in the paint, and had just one dunk and one foul shot in Game 2. Missing four of his first five shots kept him from finding an early rhythm. Why is this book called The Disappearing Spoon? It refers to the classic prank of giving someone a teaspoon made of gallium (melting point around 30☌) to stir their cup of hot tea.The Warriors kept Davis from dominating at the rim, shut down his pick-and-roll game and forced him to take jump shots. The sections which I enjoyed are too numerous to mention, but readers should look out for the tip of Parker 51 pens in relation to ruthenium, German first world war Bertha guns in relation to molybdenum and the story of David Haan in relation to radioactive elements, and Ytterby in Sweden where as many as seven elements were discovered. The book can be read through in order, or dipped into in spare moments: a useful notes and errata section gives further more detailed information which might have cluttered up the main text.

Sam Kean, a writer in Washington, DC, US, is a reporter at Science magazine his writing style is light and races along from element to element, with a scattering of interesting asides.

The Disappearing Spoon, in a series of anecdotes, interesting facts and stories, describes how each element relates to human history, finance, mythology, conflict, the arts, medicine and the lives of the scientists who discovered them. Not another book about the periodic table? Actually, I enjoyed this one very much, as it is not the usual history from Mendeleev’s first attempt to tabulate the elements to the variety of different physical forms of the table available today, nor is it a description of the physical and chemical properties, uses and applications etc of each element in turn.

The disappearing spoon