Here is an example from the middle of the chapter on aluminum that may help explain why I've been calling this book "scattered":
The story of how Charles Hall in Ohio, US, and Paul Héroult in Normandy, France, independently transformed the metal that was once used for the cutlery of the most important guests at the court of Napoléon III to the metal we use for soft-drink cans today is fascinating, at least for a chemist, but has been told many times.
We will, however, dwell a little on the method itself, as it demonstrates some important principles of chemistry, and it explains such disparate facts as why there are aluminium plants on Iceland but no bauxite mines, and why a B17 Flying Fortress ended up in a bog in western Sweden on 24 July 1943.
See?