This is more like 4.5 stars for me. This is by far Sam Kean's best book since The Disappearing Spoon. This book deals with science that is more "settled" and well understood. There is more about history and less about what we still have to learn than in The Violinist's Thumb or Dueling Neurosurgeons.

The nominal unifying theme is "gases" which is sufficiently vague to allow just about any possible subject the author finds interesting. As such, there is not really a unifying theme, but this did not detract from the book. Each section is very interesting and stands on its own just fine.

I especially liked most of the "interludes" between chapters which were short accounts of interesting incidents or stories. The thing that kept me from going to 5 stars was the attempt to was poetic about the meaning and significance of gases (as hinted at by the title). He really tries to make the reader get "caught up" thinking about the interconnectedness of all things through the role of gases. This is very silly and unnecessary. Sam: I appreciated your book because it was interesting; just let that be enough without shamelessly begging me to care on some deeper emotional level.