Why was the Hindenburg airship filled with hydrogen and not helium, and why did this lead to tragedy? What did the potters do and why did the peasants not favor them? Why did the British Navy need acetone? Did tin buttons really play a fatal role in Napoleonic campaign of 1812? Lars Årström, a Swedish inorganic chemist, teacher and host of the popular science podcast Chemistry World, unravels detective stories from literature and life with the ease and excitement of a true scientist, telling fascinating stories about chemical elements and our interactions with them. “Chemistry can be mathematically complex, but it can also be as simple as a child's wooden construction set, relying on such basic things as size differences. From time to time we take our construction sets out of the drawer, but now we use the computer more and more often. And just like little children who are fascinated by the color, shape and texture of a collection of marbles, chemists feel the need to touch atoms and molecules with their fingers to find out what properties they have.” (Lars Ohrström).