Each chapter of this book takes its name from a chemical element and uses it to tell a story from Levi's life or imagination. He recalls his youth in Turin, his studies, the rise of Fascist racial laws, his work as a chemist and his time in Auschwitz, along with a few invented tales. Chemistry becomes a way of understanding matter, work and human character. The book is often called one of the finest science books ever written, and it shows Levi's gifts for memory, wit and exact observation.
Quotes
On the structure of alloxan, in "Nitrogen".