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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
Autorentext
STEVEN FARMER, Ph.D., has worked as a chemistry instructor at California State University, Sacramento and at University of California, Davis. Currently, he holds the position of Professor of Chemistry at Sonoma State University (SSU). Dr. Farmer is a seasoned teacher with over a decade of experience teaching general chemistry, organic chemistry, and advanced organic synthesis courses. He has earned six teaching awards, including the Sarlo Excellence in Teaching Award, which is given to only one of the over 500 SSU faculty each year. He performs research involving chemical education and is actively involved in giving outreach lectures to the public.
Klappentext
Did you know that many components of foods come from quite unexpected sources, for instance, Gummi Bears® are actually made from cows, Junior Mints® are shiny because they are coated with bug secretions, and many packaged luncheon meats have viruses added to them? Strange Chemistry opens the audience's eyes to the extra-ordinary scientific secrets hiding in the everyday objects around them. The book covers broad subjects that touch on everyday life, including the chemistry of poisons, illicit drugs, explosives, foods, common household products, and radiation. Readers will find the information not only intriguing, but also absorbing and edgy. Unlike other science interest books, Strange Chemistry focuses on the darker, wilder side of chemistry, which, unfortunately, most authors and chemistry teachers tend to avoid. 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.
Inhalt
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
1 If You Do Not Know Any Chemistry, This Chapter Is For You 1
Representing Atoms and Molecules in Chemistry 1
Neurotransmitters 7
Intermolecular Forces 11
2 The Only True Aphrodisiac and Other Chemical Extremes 15
Death Is ItsWithdrawal Symptom! 15
What Is the Number One Cause of Liver Failure in the United States? 18
The Most Addictive Substance Known 21
40 Million Times DeadlierThan Cyanide 24
The Most Abused Drug in the United States 27
What Is the Only Known Aphrodisiac? 28
The Most Consumed Psychoactive Substance 30
40,000 Tons of Aspirin 33
How Bitter Is the Bitterest? 34
$62.5 Trillion per Gram 36
What Is the Most Abundant Source of Air Pollution? 39
Where DidThat Rash Come From? 41
ItWould Take an Elephant on a Pencil 43
The Largest Industrial Accident inWorld History 46
What Is the Most Important Chemical Reaction? 49
Further Reading 53
3 The Poisons in Everyday Things 63
Why Is Antifreeze Lethal? 63
Aqua Dots:What a Difference a Carbon Makes! 66
How Can Visine Kill You? 68
Death by BENGAY 70
It Is in 93% of People in the United States 72
The DreadedApricot Pits? 75
Honey Intoxication 79
The DMSO Patient 81
Deadly Helium Balloons 82
The 2007 Pet Food Recall 83
Mercury in Vaccines and Eye Drops? 87
TheWorld's Deadliest Frog 88
Leaded Candy 89
Why not Drink Real Root Beer? 90
The Killer Fog 92
Nail Polish or Nail Poison? 93
Game Board Danger 94
What Molecule Killed Weird Al Yankovic's Parents? 96
Deadly Popcorn 98
EvenWater Can Be Poisonous 99
Further Reading 101
4 Why Old Books Smell Good and Other Mysteries of Everyday Objects 113
The Smell of Old Books and the Hidden Vanilla Extract Underworld 113
That Smell Is You! 117
Electric Blue 118
TheWorld's Most Abundant Organic Compound 120
Chalk Used to Be Alive 122
Decaffeinated? Try Deflavored! 123
Bad Blood 125
The Problem with Dry Cleaning 128
The Smell of Dead Fish 131
How to Make a Spark 133
The New Car Smell 133
A Gecko Cannot Stick to It! 135
Why Are Day Glow Colors and Highlighter Pens So Bright? 137
Why Your White Clothes Are not Really White? 139
How Can a Spray-on Sunscreen Be Dangerous? 141
There Is Ink inThat Paper 141
Vomit and Sunless Tanners 143
Formaldehyde: Funerals, Flooring, and Outer Space 144
Further Reading 148
5 Bath Salts and Other Drugs of Abuse 157
What Are the Dangers of Bath Salts? 157
What to Do If YouWant Your Skin to Turn Blue 163
The Flesh-Rotting Street Drug 165
How Does a Breathalyzer Detect a Blood Alcohol Level? 167
How to Become a Brewery 168
HowWas a Painkiller Used to Free Hostages? 171
The Secret Ingredient in Coca-Cola 173
Why Is Crack Cocaine So Addicting? 174
Cocaine Smuggling versus MethamphetamineManufacture 177
What Basic Common Ingredient Is Needed toMake the Drugs Vicodin , Percocet , Oxycontin , and Percodan ? 177
Drug Money Is Right 181
What Percentage of Americans Use Prescription Drugs? 182
Are You Ready for Powdered Alcohol? 183
Ecstasy Is Ruining the Rain Forests 185
How Are Moldy Bread, Migraine Headaches, LSD, and the Salem Witch Trials All Related? 187
Further Reading 193
6 Why Oil Is Such a Big Part of Our Lives 201
What Substance Is Used to Make 80% of All Pharmaceuticals? 201
Why Do ScientistsThink Oil Comes From Fossilized Plants and Animals? 205 How Is Oil Made...