A recent trip into the chemistry lab surprised and delighted with the discovery that it held a formula for joy.
It produced the recipe (pictured left) for sheer undiluted pleasure, as well as moments of laugh-out-loud comic interludes.
Thankfully there was no need this time for the white coat and protective goggles demanded by Health & Safety on those previous visits of long ago schooldays.
Nor any need to engage with Bunsen burners, pipettes, petri dishes or all that other mysterious gear.
The only requirement was a receptive mind and sufficient time to devour close to 400 pages of one of the most refreshingly different books read in many a long while.
My enthusiasm will be no surprise to many; to millions, even.
Provoking these reactions was Lessons in Chemistry, a book published in 2022 that has since achieved phenomenal sales and plaudits for author Bonnie Garmus.
So I am very much a Johnny Come Lately to this particular fan club.
With so much already written on this topic, this post is therefore less a review but more of a reinforcer of all the praise that has gone before.
After all, there is always someone out there in Bookland who will welcome an enticing mention of a title that has so far passed them by.
Lessons revolves around the humourless, straight talking, no nonsense chemistry graduate Elizabeth Zott who takes everything at face value.
She questions decisions, demands explanations, ignores orders given by her superiors because she refuses to accept them as such.
The status quo is not for her.
She is the ultimate feminist. This being the 1960s, she rails against the obvious gender imbalances at university, in the research company that employs her and throughout society in general.
But no one listens or, if they do, they refuse to change this dire situation.
Why would they when all those with the power to provide a more equal society are MEN?
As a result, Elizabeth is condemned to the role of underling wherever she turns. She is ignored, ridiculed, made  the butt of unfunny jokes, abused and even raped.
Her outlandish views are not to be tolerated and her demonstrable high intelligence and scientific ability count for nothing.
All of which might seem to make for heavy going for readers.
Far from it. Garmus writes with the lightest of touches to make Elizabeth Zott one of the most likeable characters; a battler we will all be rooting for, cheering her on through her dogged drive for acceptance, not simply as a woman but as a fully-fledged person on a par with all  around her.
She finds a kindred spirit in a fellow scientist but rejects his marriage proposal when he refuses to change his name to hers because of his fame and it’s not the done thing.
A hilarious misunderstanding over the theft of her daughter’s school lunches spurs a TV producer to turn Elizabeth into a national cookery star.
Her wholesome meals are recipes based on chemical formulas. They are delivered deadpan, no smiles, no jokey asides. Forever the scientist. And the nation loves her.
The show becomes Elizabeth’s unwitting platform for changing deeply entrenched attitudes and thinking.
And the story of her onward march, forever questoning, is sheer joy, brilliantly humourous and endlessly thought-provoking.
Who knew chemistry could be so much fun? Not to be missed.