Molecules at an Exhibition: Portraits of intriguing materials in everyday life - Hardcover

Emsley, John

  • 3.97 out of 5 stars
    213 ratings by Goodreads
 
9780198502661: Molecules at an Exhibition: Portraits of intriguing materials in everyday life
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0198502664 ISBN 13: 9780198502661
Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1998

Synopsis

What ingredient in Coke can remove rust from chrome (it is also in all anti-rust paints)? What is the bitterest substance on earth? What is the worst smelling one?
In this entertaining and informative tour of chemistry, John Emsley answers these and many other curious questions as he illuminates the materials that make up our world. Here are dozens of lively articles that explore such well-known molecules as water, oxygen, glass, and iron, such highly versatile plastics as polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyurethane, even such "elements from hell" as Sarin (extremely lethal nerve gas) or thallium sulphate (a poison used by Iraqi security forces to eliminate the opposition). With no chemical formulas, equations, or molecular diagrams to baffle the non-expert, each piece blends history (who discovered it and how), science, and anecdote, with many intriguing facts added to the mix. Readers discover that an ingredient in chocolate--PEA, which is similar in size and shape to the illegal drug Ecstasy--may trigger the release of dopamine in the brain; that the worst smell in the world comes from methyl mercaptan; that a bee in the Amazon actually collects DDT (it uses it as a sex attractant!); and that the Apollo program did not lead to the discovery of Teflon (Teflon was discovered in 1938, and the non-stick frying pan was designed in the 1950s).
"The world of chemistry has never been made as entertaining," writes Nobel Prize-winning chemist Roald Hoffmann. Indeed, this book will fascinate everyone curious about the chemicals in the foods we eat, the clothes we wear, and the air we breathe.

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About the Author

John Emsley is Science Writer in Residence at the Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine. A regular broadcaster on scientific topics, Emsley wrote the "Molecule of the Month" column for The Independent from 1990 to 1996. He lives in London.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Oxford University Press
Publication date
1998
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0198502664
ISBN 13 
9780198502661
Binding
Hardcover
Edition number
1
Number of pages
264
Rating
  • 3.97 out of 5 stars
    213 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780192862068: Molecules at an Exhibition: Portraits of Intriguing Materials in Everyday Life

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0192862065 ISBN 13:  9780192862068
Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1999
Softcover