Monday Mini-Reviews: Letters from an Astrophysicist and Superheavy

I didn’t post this on a Monday. But oh well, because soon this series will become my Monday thing and I will not be sacrificing the alliterative name just because I thought of this idea on a Tuesday.

I used to post a lot of book reviews on my blog, but I haven’t posted one in a very long time. Why, I’m not sure. Maybe the excitement of writing book reviews wore off when I began branching off into other posts, maybe I am just lazy, but I want to start bringing reviews back to my blog by posting mini reviews on Mondays (except for today, obviously a Wednesday).

Today I’ll be reviewing two of my recent reads: Letters from an Astrophysicist by Neil deGrasse Tyson and Superheavy: Making and Breaking the Periodic Table by Kit Chapman.

Letters from an Astrophysicist by Neil deGrasse Tyson

About the Book

Title: Letters from an Astrophysicist

Author: Neil deGrasse Tyson

Published: 2019

Genre: science, memoir, essays

Rating: 4/5 stars

“Never forget that the only people who are any good at what they do in life are those who are passionate and persistent.

I was eager to read this book after loving Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, and I was not disappointed. Although this “sequel” doesn’t talk about astrophysics all that much, it was still a pretty interesting book. Tyson includes transcripts of correspondences he had with his followers, answering their questions about everything from aliens to the Gregorian calendar.

Although it was more of a personal memoir/philosophy/sort of book, I definitely enjoyed reading it, and my Kindle Notes & Highlights got a LOT of new additions.

Superheavy: Making and Breaking the Periodic Table by Kit Chapman

About the Book

Title: Superheavy: Making and Breaking the Periodic Table

Author: Kit Chapman

Published: 2019

Genre: chemistry, physics, science history

Rating: 4/5 stars

“Something, at the point where science meets the soul, drives people to explore the unknown. It’s how we find the answers to questions we haven’t thought of yet.”

I got some weird looks reading a book about the periodic table, but it is really interesting I promise. This book chronicles the discovery of elements heavier than uranium, which is the largest naturally occurring element. Starting with the Manhattan Project and finishing with modern science, Chapman does a great job explaining the science behind creating synthetic elements and why it is so difficult. They basically just shoot particles at other particles until they collide exactly the right way. When I took a chemistry class in sophomore year, I never really gave most of the periodic table much thought. This is slightly embarrassing, but I didn’t really think about the fact that 118 wasn’t the end-all be-all LAST element. Or even that it didn’t exist in nature at all. I kind of just thought all of them just… sat around somewhere.

But no– and apparently there are lots more elements that are just waiting to be discovered. There might be infinitely more, and they might do all sorts of weird things. I am very, very interested in this now.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and reading today’s fake Monday post! What did you read this week? Do you like reading science books?

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Classical music piece of the day: Chopin- Waltz No.1 in E Flat major, Grande Valse Brillante, Op. 18