Periodic system (book)

The book includes 21 short stories of the Italian Jewish writer Primo Levy , a chemist by education, internationally known for his works “Is this a Man?” And “A Breathe” . Each of the stories is named after one of the elements of the periodic table , which in one way or another appears in the story. Most of the stories are autobiographical and cover the story of the author’s family, youth, the years of World War II and imprisonment in Auschwitz , the post-war fate - mainly stories related to the profession of a chemist, and meeting interesting people. Fictional stories are also included.

• Argon The story of many generations of Sephardic Jews who settled in Piedmont . Family traditions and many examples of the Jewish-Piedmont dialect are described.
• Hydrogen . Young Levy and his friend enter the chemical laboratory and successfully electrolyze water to produce hydrogen.
• Zinc Studying in the first year of chemistry at the university and the first laboratory classes. The author sets experience in producing zinc sulfate and gets to know a fellow student more closely.
• Iron The end of the thirties , a friendship with a peer named Sandro, the future anti-fascist partisan.
• Potassium 1941 : life against the backdrop of World War II and racial laws in Italy. The author is arranged as an assistant assistant at the University of Turin . The first work is benzene purification; the use of potassium instead of sodium leads to unexpected consequences.
• Nickel Work in an asbestos mine and attempts to obtain nickel .
• Lead . A fairy tale story written on behalf of the lead miner Rodmund, who left his country.
• Mercury . Another fabulous story on behalf of Corporal Abrahams, who lives with his wife on a distant island. The appearance of new residents forces the hero to invite several women "bought" for mercury mined after the eruption of the volcano.
• Phosphorus In 1942, the author moved to Milan to work for a Swiss diabetes medicine company. Close friendship with a woman engaged to another.
• Gold The German occupation in 1943 forces the author to join the partisan detachment, but he was captured by the Nazis . Acquaintance with another prisoner - a peasant who independently produces gold.
• Cerium . Imprisonment at the Buna Worker Camp at Auschwitz . Having access to chemicals, two prisoners make flints for lighters from ferrocerium, which are exchanged for bread.
• Chrome . The memory of the post-war work at the paint factory, where the author managed to "save" the damaged batches of one of the components - chromate - using ammonium chloride . The temporary supplement continues to be used at this plant years later.
• Sulfur . A story about a worker who miraculously avoided an accident in the production of rubber .
• Titanium . A story about a girl, a painter and titanium whitewash.
• Arsenic Levy and his partner keep a private laboratory. In the suspicious sugar brought by the shoemaker, arsenic is found, which its competitor planted.
• Nitrogen The author successfully fulfills the first order of the owner of a company producing lipstick. However, it was not possible to get alloxan from chicken droppings.
• Tin Tin chloride mining in a private laboratory.
• Uranus The author receives from the client a piece of metal issued as uranium left by the Nazis .
• Silver A friend's story about a defective x-ray film.
• Vanadium Negotiations with a German firm on poor-quality tar are driven by Primo Levy with Dr. Müller, who worked at the Auschwitz factory during the war. A correspondence is struck between them, in which Müller tries to calm his conscience.
• Carbon The story of one carbon atom , making a long journey across the Earth, and appearing in the brain of the author.

• Review of the book of Primo Levy "Periodic System".