The Disappearing Spoon: Chapter 6 Summary and Reflections

In this chapter, the focus switches from small chemical warfare to world ending possibilities. The author talks about a man named Henry Moseley who, with the help of several other scientists,  laid the ground work for understanding the method to madness of the periodic table while also figuring out which elements should exist on the periodic table. After these discoveries, scientists across the world began element hunting for the missing pieces to the table. After this the history of nuclear ware far was discussed as well as the tie between these scientific events and the world events that were occurring at the same time. He discussed how the discovery of the neutron soon led to the studying of decay and radioactivity.  Plutonium and cobalt are then discussed in affiliation to the Manhattan Project. The hypothesis and effects of the real possibility of nuclear bombs are talked about, and it came the the conclusion that cobalt would yield the biggest catastrophe. I thought this chapter personally was a I little scary due to the fact that one compound could be the end of the earth. It was also crazy to think how many scientists know how to produce these devastating compounds. I like how science is the key to life and death of practically everything on earth and how much science plays a role in everything. Nuclear science is very scary but very cool and this chapter really showed me how big of a deal it is in science.

The Disappearing Spoon: Chapter 5 Summary and Reflection

In this chapter of Disappearing Spoon, the author starts of with a background story of World War 1 and 2 and discusses the basics of chemical warfare and it's role in the wars. The author talks about the first major elements played with in chemical warfare experimenting: Bromine and Chlorine. Elements were transformed into gas shells by Fritz Haber and were thrown between France and Germany. However, with experimentation came greater and much dangerous technology. Scientists began to experiment with nitrogen but their efforts were stopped short due to the appreciation of metal weaponry. Elements like molybdenum were talked about in being used to help strengthen metals of guns, such as Big Berthas. However, tungsten swiftly took over the strengthening factor in weaponry. The chapter concluded with a quick history and the use of metals in cell phones. This chapter was pretty sweet to me since I'm a military kid. I loved how it brought science into the development of military tactics and warfare. I never knew how important chemical warfare was and how much of a affect it had on the war. This was defiantly an awesome chapter for me.

The Disappearing Spoon: Chapter 4 Summary and Reflection

In this chapter named, We are all Stars and Stuff, the author starts of talking about how the elements originated. Before science became advanced, it was thought that the Big Bang Theory was responsible for the origination of elements. However, it was discarded completely when in 1939 scientists proved that the sun and other stars heated themsleves by nuclear fusion. This chapter discussed how the age of a star effected what type of elements were In it. As a young star, it usually contains the elements Hydrogen and Helium. As the star gets older, it fuses with different elements. Elements are created when a star experiences a supernova, and much of the heavier elements are produced. After a supernova, planets and galaxies are created. The chapter talks about the danger of lead and what it does to planets and stars. Also, in 1977, scientists studying limestone in Italy discovered a major advance in our knowlege of the history of the earth. When finding a red dust containing iridium, it suggested that it came from a meteorite, which dated to the time when a mass extinction was known to occur. This lead to the belief the sun had a companion star at this time, and it was also suggested a mass extinction occurs every 24 million years. I personally thought this was the coolest chapter so far mainly because of how extreme it's concepts were. I had no clue how the elements were created and I also had no clue that fusion in stars cores lead to supernovas which created planets and galaxies. I liked how the chapter related elements to the existence of our universe and without them we wouldn't have one. Lastly, I liked this chapter because it talked about the cool discoveries that were made that advanced humans knowledge of the universe and the understanding of the elements.