# The Periodic Table

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![The Periodic Table](https://quivercdn.com/covers/penguin-classics/primo-levi/the-periodic-table_978-01-4118-514-9.jpg?v=2026-04-23%2012%3A11%3A01)

- Book: [The Periodic Table](https://www.bookquiver.com/primo-levi/the-periodic-table) ([The Periodic Table.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/primo-levi/the-periodic-table.md))
- Authors: [Primo Levi](https://www.bookquiver.com/primo-levi)
- Publisher: penguin_classics
- ISBN: 978-01-4118-514-9
- Pages: 224
- Published: 2000-09-07
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: Softcover

## Description

A chemist by training, Primo Levi became one of the supreme witnesses to twentieth-century atrocity. In these haunting reflections inspired by the elements of the periodic table, 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.