JigHardy

This book is kinda cool if you think about it as world building for a fantasy world, but when I think about the fact that people really believe that this is how the world works, it's just disappointing. All of the terms and processes are explained in painfully vague detail. The approach the book has on magic makes it seem that even among witches there is no consistent set of beliefs nor practices. Even so, it was entertaining to read the first section, which covers magic in a broad sense.

This book is very entertaining, but I wish more emphasis was put on the “Experiments You Can Do At Home” rather than the “Probably Shouldn't” because I felt like I didn't get much out of this book. It doesn't go into enough detail to really learn anything about the reactions, and it's impractical or unreasonable to try nearly any of these experiments myself, so it felt more like tabloid science meant just to entertain. Even so, it's nice to tell my friends that I know how to melt steel with bacon. If you're looking for something more in-depth, I'd recommend his Elements series, which covers a lot of chemistry in moderate detail.