With the best will in the world, I couldn't get into this. Asimov had a PhD in chemistry, as I recall, but chemistry has always been that branch of science that has left me absolutely cold, and even Asimov can't make it interesting - although things do improve once he starts relating it to biology.

As always, the most interesting parts of Asimov science books are the asides - the little pieces of strange history, the character sketches of scientists. I would have liked more, to leaven the deadly nature of the subject, but alas.

The included essays came from a popular science column Asimov did for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. This explains the bit of repetition, but as a science essayist/columnist, I think I'd still rather read Gould.