The Periodic Table

In these haunting reflections, Primo Levi, a chemist by training, takes the elements of the periodic table as his inspiration. He ranges from young love to political savagery; from the inert gas argon - and "inert" relatives like the uncle who stayed in bed for twenty-two years - to life-giving carbon. "Iron" honours the mountain - climbing resistance hero who put iron in Levi's student soul, "Cerium" recalls the improvised cigarette lighters which saved his life in Auschwitz, while "Vanadium" describes an eerie post-war correspondence with the man who had been his "boss" there. All are written with characteristically understated eloquence and shot through with deep humanity.