Gas! Gas! Quick, Boys! reveals for the first time the true extent of how chemistry rather than military strategy determined the shape, duration and outcome of the First World War. Chemistry was not only a destructive instrument of war but also protected troops, and healed the sick and wounded. From bombs to bullets, poison gas to anaesthetics, khaki to cordite, chemistry was truly the alchemy of the First World War. Michael Freemantle explores its dangers and its ...

Nature’s amazing chemistry has been producing all the raw materials essential for life on Earth for billions of years. The chemistry is, however, diverse and often complex and challenging. It has unfathomable depths that chemists and other scientists around the world are still attempting to probe and understand. Chapters in this book reflect Michael Freemantle’s fascination with nature’s chemistry not only of humans and other animals, but also of plants and minerals. You will discover:...

In the late 1990s, there was an explosion of research on ionic liquids and they are now a major topic of academic and industrial interest with numerous existing and potential applications. Since then, the number of scientific papers focusing on ionic liquids has risen exponentially, including a few edited multi-author books covering the latest advances in ionic liquids chemistry and several volumes of symposium proceedings. Much of the content in these books and volumes is written using te...

Within months of the start of the First World War, Germany began to run out of the raw materials it needed to make explosives. As Germany faced imminent defeat, chemists such as Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch came to the rescue with Nobel Prize winning discoveries that overcame the shortages and enabled the country to continue in the war. Similarly, Britain could not have sustained its war effort for four years had it not been for chemists like Chaim Weizmann who was later to become the first ...

“An entertaining potpourri about poison: anecdotes, history, lore, science and trivia . . . its many individual parts are great fun to read.” —Kirkus ReviewsPoisons permeate our world. They are in the environment, the workplace, the home. They are in food, our favorite whiskey, medicine, and well water. They have been used to cure diseases as well as incapacitate and kill. They smooth wrinkles, block pain, stimulate and enhance athletic ability. In this en...

National BestsellerFrom the #1 bestselling author – a cornucopia of mind-expanding insights into the science of the real world.Dr. Joe – as he is affectionately known to millions of readers, listeners, viewers, and students – brings his magic formula to Doubleday Canada with Brain Fuel.As with Dr. Joe’s previous best-selling books, Brain Fuel informs and entertains on a wild assortment of science-based topics. But t...

The history of Special Operations Executive (SOE) seems to spring a never-ending run of surprises, and here are some more. This book explores the mysterious world of the tools SOE used for their missions of subversion and sabotage. An often grim reality is confronted that is more akin with the world of James Bond and Q's workshop than previously believed. Written by two scientists, one of whom served in the SOE and one who was tasked with clearing up after it was disbanded...

Prepare to be amazed once again.Did you know what when you shake a ketchup bottle you're practicing thixotropy? That the ancient Greeks made themselves look less ancient by inventing moisturizer? That the mysterious drug obecalp* is as effective as homeopathy and many herbal cures? From the bestselling author of An Apple a Day, Brain Fuel, and Science, Sense and Nonsense comes a fresh batch of inquiries into the science of everyday...

The debut of a female Steve Jones – likeable, literate, lucid and laconic. A sprightly, lavishly illustrated book on the science of human survival.How do people survive extremes of heat, cold, depth, speed and altitude? This book explores the limits of human survival and the physiological adaptations which enable us to exist under extreme conditions. In man’s battle for survival in the harshest of environments, the knowledge imparted by physiology, the ‘logic of life’, is crucial. ...

More whacky, fun facts with everyone's favourite scientistDr Karl has taken on Santa Claus, atom bombs, 'friendly' dolphins and 'killer' whales, meteors, black holes, string theory and camel's humps. In his 27 mega-selling books, he demolishes myths, tells readers how to spot bogus science and advises readers to be wise, sceptical and to always challenge authority. In his 28th book he continues his crusade to keep the world a rational place by answering vital questions like 'Are whi...

This entertaining and informative book tells the dramatic tale of explosives from gunpowder to the H-bomb. Laying the emphasis on the lives of the people involved, on the diverse uses of explosives and on their social and historical impact, the author relates a story of remarkable international and human endeavour. Many of those involved - Roger Bacon, Guy Fawkes, Alfred Nobel, Robert Oppenheimer - are famed worldwide; others, such as C F Schonbein, William Bickford, Sir F...

Australia's favourite scientist's twenty-sixth book!'What are the facts? Again and again and again - what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking ... avoid opinion ... facts are your single clue. Get the facts!'- time Enough for Love, Robert Heinlein Does eating celery make you lighter? Do you have to be dying to have a near-death experience? Is a yawn a silent, natural scream for air; and if a little oxygen is good for you is more oxygen better? Can the humble spud kill? Did Galileo d...