London, The Folio Society, 2011 Bound, decorated cloth with slipcase, iv+193pp., 18x23,5cm., illustr. in col. by Ian Thomson, in very good condition (slipcase and binding with light traces of use, name and date in pencil on first page). The Periodic Table (Italian: Il sistema periodico) is a 1975 short story collection by Primo Levi, named after the periodic table in chemistry. In 2006, the Royal Institution of Great Britain named it the best science book ever.