Culturebox: Where Did Those Naked Ladies Come From?

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culturebox Where Did Those Naked Ladies Come From? How the Chinese edition of my book about the periodic table got such a risque cover. By Sam Kean Posted Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011, at 10:03 AM ET I've been lucky enough to have my book published in a few countries now, and despite the universal subject matter--the periodic table--each country has had a different take on it. Some publishers merely tweaked the book: The British, for instance, re-imagined the cover. More drastically, the Germans changed both the cover and the title, from The Disappearing Spoon-- a title derived from a classic nerdy science prank--to Die Ordnung der Dinge, which translates, I'm told, to the weightier, "the order of things." I'm also excited to see upcoming editions from Iceland and Korea--even if there is something strange about thumbing through pages of words I know I wrote and not having any idea what they say. Still, all this national variety didn't prepare me for a Chinese edition of Spoon from Taiwan. From an overstuffed envelope I pulled out a book with a sleek, silver-and-black cover. Quite striking. And appropriately, an X-rayed hand was grasping a metallic spoon near the top. But just below that, spilling down from the spoon, there appeared a scattering of incongruous icons. There was a spade labeled "oxygen"; a diamond labeled "europium"; a fried egg and frying pan labeled "sodium"; and a raincloud raining upside-down labeled "carbon." None of these motifs appear in my book, and these icons didn't seem to fit the elements they're paired with. To continue reading, click here. Sam Kean is the author of The Disappearing Spoon, a book about the periodic table. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Spitzer: If Obama Wants To Kick-Start the Economy, He Should Try These Two Bold Plans Hey, McNulty's Got a New Show. Is It as Good as The Wire? The Tea Party Undermines the Private Sector More Than It Reins In "Big Government"	Advertisement
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