Breakfast with Einstein


Book Description

A Sunday Times Book of the Year From the author of the international bestseller How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog Your humble alarm clock, digital cameras, the smell of coffee, the glow of a grill, fibre broadband, smoke detectors… all hold secrets about quantum physics. Beginning at sunrise, Chad Orzel reveals the extraordinary science that underpins the simplest activities we all do every day, from making toast to shopping online. It’s all around us, the wonderful weirdness of quantum – you just have to know where to look.




Culinary Reactions


Book Description

When you're cooking, you're a chemist! Every time you follow or modify a recipe, you are experimenting with acids and bases, emulsions and suspensions, gels and foams. In your kitchen you denature proteins, crystallize compounds, react enzymes with substrates, and nurture desired microbial life while suppressing harmful bacteria and fungi. And unlike in a laboratory, you can eat your experiments to verify your hypotheses. In Culinary Reactions, author Simon Quellen Field turns measuring cups, stovetop burners, and mixing bowls into graduated cylinders, Bunsen burners, and beakers. How does altering the ratio of flour, sugar, yeast, salt, butter, and water affect how high bread rises? Why is whipped cream made with nitrous oxide rather than the more common carbon dioxide? And why does Hollandaise sauce call for “clarified” butter? This easy-to-follow primer even includes recipes to demonstrate the concepts being discussed, including: &· Whipped Creamsicle Topping—a foam &· Cherry Dream Cheese—a protein gel &· Lemonade with Chameleon Eggs—an acid indicator




The Philosophical Breakfast Club


Book Description

“[A] fascinating book...about the way four geniuses at Cambridge University revolutionized modern science.“ —Newsweek The Philosophical Breakfast Club recounts the life and work of four men who met as students at Cambridge University: Charles Babbage, John Herschel, William Whewell, and Richard Jones. Recognizing that they shared a love of science (as well as good food and drink) they began to meet on Sunday mornings to talk about the state of science in Britain and the world at large. Inspired by the great 17th century scientific reformer and political figure Francis Bacon—another former student of Cambridge—the Philosophical Breakfast Club plotted to bring about a new scientific revolution. And to a remarkable extent, they succeeded, even in ways they never intended. Historian of science and philosopher Laura J. Snyder exposes the political passions, religious impulses, friendships, rivalries, and love of knowledge—and power—that drove these extraordinary men. Whewell (who not only invented the word “scientist,” but also founded the fields of crystallography, mathematical economics, and the science of tides), Babbage (a mathematical genius who invented the modern computer), Herschel (who mapped the skies of the Southern Hemisphere and contributed to the invention of photography), and Jones (a curate who shaped the science of economics) were at the vanguard of the modernization of science. This absorbing narrative of people, science and ideas chronicles the intellectual revolution inaugurated by these men, one that continues to mold our understanding of the world around us and of our place within it. Drawing upon the voluminous correspondence between the four men over the fifty years of their work, Laura J. Snyder shows how friendship worked to spur the men on to greater accomplishments, and how it enabled them to transform science and help create the modern world. "The lives and works of these men come across as fit for Masterpiece Theatre.” —Wall Street Journal "Snyder succeeds famously in evoking the excitement, variety and wide-open sense of possibility of the scientific life in 19th-century Britain...splendidly evoked in this engaging book.” —American Scientist "This fine book is as wide-ranging and anecdotal, as excited and exciting, as those long-ago Sunday morning conversations at Cambridge. The Philosophical Breakfast Club forms a natural successor to Jenny Uglow’s The Lunar Men...and Richard Holmes’s The Age of Wonder.” —Washington Post




Compendium of Polymer Terminology and Nomenclature


Book Description

The IUPAC system of polymer nomenclature has aided the generation of unambiguous names that re ect the historical development of chemistry. However, the explosion in the circulation of information and the globalization of human activities mean that it is now necessary to have a common language for use in legal situations, patents, export-import regulations, and environmental health and safety information. Rather than recommending a ‘unique name’ for each structure, rules have been developed for assigning ‘preferred IUPAC names’, while continuing to allow alternatives in order to preserve the diversity and adaptability of nomenclature. Compendium of Polymer Terminology and Nomenclature is the only publication to collect the most important work on this subject into a single volume. It serves as a handy compendium for scientists and removes the need for time consuming literature searches. One of a series issued by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), it covers the terminology used in many and varied aspects of polymer science as well as the nomenclature of several di erent types of polymer including regular and irregular single-strand organic polymers, copolymers and regular double-strand (ladder and spiro) organic polymers.




Chemistry for Breakfast


Book Description

FINALIST for the Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books “This book shows that chemistry is not just relevant to life; it’s really, really interesting.”—Foreword Reviews, STARRED review A perfect book for readers of The Physics of Everyday Things and Storm in a Teacup Have you ever wondered why your alarm clock sends you spiraling? Or how toothpaste works on your teeth? Why do cakes and cookies sometimes turn out dry? (Hint: you may not be adding enough sugar.) In Chemistry for Breakfast, award-winning chemist and science communicator Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim reveals the amazing chemistry behind everyday things (like baking and toothpaste) and not-so-everyday things (like space travel). With a relatable, funny, and conversational style, she explains essential chemical processes everyone should know—and turns the ordinary into extraordinary. Over the course of a single day, Mai shows us that chemistry is everywhere: we just have to look for it. In the morning, her partner’s much-too-loud alarm prompts a deep dive into biological clocks, fight-or-flight responses, and melatonin’s role in making us sleepy. Before heading to the lab, she explains how the stress hormone cortisol helps wake us up, and brews her morning coffee with a side of heat conduction and states of matter. Mai continues her day with explainers of cell phone technology, food preservation, body odor, baking, the effects of alcohol, and the chemistry behind the expression “love drunk.” All the while, she shows us what it’s really like to be a working chemist, and fights against the stereotype of a nerd playing with test tubes in a lab coat. Filled with charming illustrations, laughter, and plenty of surprises, Chemistry for Breakfast is a perfect book for anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of chemistry without having prior knowledge of the science. With Mai as your guide, you’ll find something fascinating everywhere around you.







The Mad Scientist teaches: Chemistry


Book Description

Chemistry is the study of matter in the form of atoms, molecules, and the interactions that happen between them called chemical reactions. In its vast sense, chemistry is actually the science of all the available materials that make up the world around you. This includes all ‘matter’ that you can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch! Matter is everything that has mass and occupies space and all matter is composed out of the basic building blocks we call ‘atoms’. Understanding how to predict and explain how matter change when they react to form new substances, is what chemistry and chemists are all about! The 50 projects contained in this science experiment e-book cover a wide range of Chemistry topics; from Chemical reactions to Elements & Compounds… there are even experiments on chemical power and endothermic reactions all designed for young students from grade 1 to 8! With this book, you are sure to find a project that interests you. When you are interested in a certain science topic, you will have more fun, and learn more, too! With the help of this book, you will construct many weird, wonderful and wacky experiments that you can have hours of fun with! Amongst many others, you will use chromatography to predict the ‘fall’ colour of a green leaf tree, make your own stalactites to learn about evaporation, make glue, toothpaste and caramel to experiment with chemical reactions, and use various substances to test if a substance is an acid or base! Other fun experiments include: growing your own crystals on a piece of string, testing for the presence of iron in breakfast cereals, writing secret messages to your friends with your own invisible ink, using iodine to test for the presence of starch in foods, making a detector to predict the possibility of rain, making an exothermic reaction with vinegar & steel wool, using chemistry to make your dull coins shine, electro-plating a nail, making a ‘lava lamp’ with oil & water, making a fluid for copying newsprint to blank sheets of paper, making paper, snuffing out a candle by ‘pouring’ carbon dioxide gas over it, Testing how much Vitamin C is contained in various fruit juices and many, many more! When making these gadgets, you’ll discover that science is a part of every object in our daily lives, and who knows, maybe someday you will become a famous inventor too! Science can be real simple and is actually only about understanding the world you live in! Science certainly does not need to be complicated formulas, heavy text books and geeky guys in white lab coats with thick glasses. Science experiments are an awesome part of science that allows you to engage in cool and exciting hands on learning experiences that you are sure to enjoy and remember! By working through the science experiments in this book, you will learn about science in the best possible way – by doing things yourself. Designed with safety in mind, most of the items you will need for the experiments, such as jars, aluminium foil, scissors and sticky tape, you can find around your home. Others, such as magnets, lenses or a compass, you will be able to buy quite cheaply at a hobby shop or hardware store.




Classic Chemistry Experiments


Book Description

Chemistry is an experimental subject, and what can be more stimulating than carrying out a laboratory experiment where the results are memorable either by their visual nature or by their tying together of theory. This collection of 100 chemistry experiments has been developed with the help and support of teachers throughout the UK. Each student worksheet is accompanied by a teachers' notes sheet which gives details for teachers and technicians on apparatus and chemicals, timing, context, teaching tips, background theory and answers to any questions on the student worksheets. "Classic Chemistry Experiments" is designed as a teaching aid to help communicate the excitement and wonder of chemistry to students, and is ideal for both experienced chemistry teachers and to scientists from other disciplines who are teaching chemistry.




Journal of Chemical Education


Book Description

Includes Report of New England Association of Chemistry Teachers, and Proceedings of the Pacific Southwest Association of Chemistry Teachers.