Curious Tales from Chemistry

Author: Lars Öhrström
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191637068
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 346

Book Description
This is a book about discovery and disaster, exploitation and invention, warfare and science - and the relationship between human beings and the chemical elements that make up our planet. Lars Ohrstrom introduces us to a variety of elements from S to Pb through tales of ordinary and extraordinary people from around the globe. We meet African dictators controlling vital supplies of uranium; eighteenth-century explorers searching out sources of precious metals; industrial spies stealing the secrets of steel-making. We find out why the Hindenburg airship was tragically filled with hydrogen, not helium; why nail-varnish remover played a key part in World War I; and the real story behind the legend of tin buttons and the downfall of Napoleon. In each chapter, we find out about the distinctive properties of each element and the concepts and principles that have enabled scientists to put it to practical use. These are the fascinating (and sometimes terrifying) stories of chemistry in action.

Curious Tales from Chemistry

Author: Lars Öhrström
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780191916885
Category : Chemical elements
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
This is a book about discovery and disaster, exploitation and invention, warfare and science - and the relationship between human beings and the chemical elements that make up our planet. Lars Öhrström introduces us to a variety of elements from S to Pb through tales of ordinary and extraordinary people from around the globe. We meet African dictators controlling vital supplies of uranium; 18th-century explorers searching out sources of precious metals; industrial spies stealing the secrets of steel-making. We find out why the Hindenburg airship was tragically filled with hydrogen, not helium; why nail-varnish remover played a key part in World War I; and the real story behind the legend of tin buttons and the downfall of Napoleon.

Curious Tales from Chemistry

Author: Lars Ohrstrom
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780198743927
Category : SCIENCE
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Periodic Tales

Author: Hugh Aldersey-Williams
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 006207881X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 581

Book Description
In the spirit of A Short History of Nearly Everything comes Periodic Tales. Award-winning science writer Hugh Andersey-Williams offers readers a captivating look at the elements—and the amazing, little-known stories behind their discoveries. Periodic Tales is an energetic and wide-ranging book of innovations and innovators, of superstition and science and the myriad ways the chemical elements are woven into our culture, history, and language. It will delight readers of Genome, Einstein’s Dreams, Longitude, and The Age of Wonder.

What's Chemistry All About?

Author: Alex Frith
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1409585328
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 99

Book Description
An approachable introduction to what chemistry is, how it works and why it is vital to everyday life. Topics include: the periodic table, atom structure, radiation and the scientific method, all illustrated with humorous illustrations and diagrams. Simple experiments are provided to aid learning and internet links to recommended websites are provided so readers can find out more. This is a highly illustrated ebook that can only be read on the Kindle Fire or other tablet.

A Tale of Seven Elements

Author: Eric Scerri
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0195391314
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
In A Tale of Seven Elements, Eric Scerri presents the fascinating history of those seven elements discovered to be mysteriously "missing" from the periodic table in 1913.

Strange Chemistry

Author: Steven Farmer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119265290
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
This book opens the audience’s eyes to the extraordinary scientific secrets hiding in everyday objects. Helping readers increase chemistry knowledge in a fun and entertaining way, the book is perfect as a supplementary textbook or gift to curious professionals and novices. • Appeals to a modern audience of science lovers by discussing multiple examples of chemistry in everyday life • Addresses compounds that affect everyone in one way or another: poisons, pharmaceuticals, foods, and illicit drugs; thereby evoking a powerful emotional response which increases interest in the topic at hand • Focuses on edgy types of stories that chemists generally tend to avoid so as not to paint chemistry in a bad light; however, these are the stories that people find interesting • Provides detailed and sophisticated stories that increase the reader’s fundamental scientific knowledge • Discusses complex topics in an engaging and accessible manner, providing the “how” and “why” that takes readers deeper into the stories

The Last Alchemist in Paris

Author: Lars Öhrström
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019966109X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
La 4eme de couv. indique : "This is a book about discovery and disaster, exploitation and invention, warfare and science, and the relationship between human beings and the chemical elements that make up our planet. It is an introduction to chemistry as you never thaught it at school."

Women in Chemistry

Author: Mary Wissinger
Publisher: Science Wide Open
ISBN: 9781938492310
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Book Description
Jump into the awesomeness of chemistry! Learn alongside inspirational women chemists whose innovations changed the world. Discover the power of curiosity and resilience through a conversation between a spunky young protagonist, asking questions about the world around her, and a scientifically astute narrator, whose answers are both accurate and understandable to young minds. Women in Chemistry is the perfect place for children to start their own journeys of discovery and wonder.

The Disappearing Spoon

Author: Sam Kean
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316089087
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 333

Book Description
From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, finance, mythology, the arts, medicine, and more, as told by the Periodic Table. Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why is gallium (Ga, 31) the go-to element for laboratory pranksters? The Periodic Table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it's also a treasure trove of adventure, betrayal, and obsession. These fascinating tales follow every element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, and in the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. The Disappearing Spoon masterfully fuses science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, and discovery -- from the Big Bang through the end of time. Though solid at room temperature, gallium is a moldable metal that melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. A classic science prank is to mold gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch guests recoil as their utensils disappear.