The Periodic Table

It has been named the best science book ever by the Royal Institution of Great Britain and is considered to be Levi's crowning achievement.. The Periodic Table by Primo Levi is an impassioned response to the Holocaust: Consisting of 21 short stories, each possessing the name of a chemical element, the collection tells of the author's experiences as a Jewish-Italian chemist before, during, and after Auschwitz in luminous, clear, and unfailingly beautiful prose

Bryan Byrd said Intriguing. Primo Levi, similar to Elie Wiesel, is so closely associated in my mind with The Holocaust, and Holocaust literature, that I was surprised to find that in THE PERIODIC TABLE, Levi rarely touches on it directly. And yet, as a memoir of his life as a chemist both before and after Auschwitz, the entire book is freighted with the knowledge of his time in the camps; similar, perhaps, to a biography of a man born with a serious birth defect, and how this background knowledge forces the reader to reevaluate the sim. Schuyler Wise said magnificent memoir. No, this book will not teach you what you missed in Chem 101. It is instead a stirring memoir of an Italian Jew ,a chemist, who survived the years of Italian Fascism and the subsequent Nazi occupation, by the the force of his creativity and sensitivity to the harrowing events that befell him. The memoir feels like a set of short stories. Each chapter is named for a chemical element.The use of this device was incredibly creative. In one case, Chapter "magnificent memoir" according to Schuyler Wise. No, this book will not teach you what you missed in Chem 101. It is instead a stirring memoir of an Italian Jew ,a chemist, who survived the years of Italian Fascism and the subsequent Nazi occupation, by the the force of his creativity and sensitivity to the harrowing events that befell him. The memoir feels like a set of short stories. Each chapter is named for a chemical element.The use of this device was incredibly creative. In one case, Chapter 2 Hydrogen, the author recounts his teenage adventure with . Hydrogen, the author recounts his teenage adventure with . tspia said Great writer with a unique perspective. Fascinating short stories about Levi's life before the concentration camps, weaving his way of thinking about life (as a chemist) like a bridge between pre-war and post-war Europe.