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. A classic science prank is to mold gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch guests recoil as their utensils disappear. This habit led to my fascination with the periodic table the first time I was left alone with a thermometer under my tongue.
I came down with strep throat something like a dozen times in the second and third grades, and for days on end it would hurt to swallow. Being sick always gave me another chance to break an old-fashioned mercury thermometer, too. Lying there with the glass stick under my tongue, I would answer an imagined question out loud, and the thermometer would slip from my mouth and shatter on the hardwood floor, the liquid mercury in the bulb scattering like ball bearings. A minute later, my mother would drop to the floor despite her arthritic hip and begin corraling the balls.
Suddenly, with a final nudge, one sphere would gulp the other. A single, seamless ball would be left quivering where there had been two. Medieval alchemists, despite their lust for gold, considered mercury the most potent and poetic substance in the universe. Each novel application is presented in easy-to-understand details and do-it-yourself projects. Scientists have always kept secrets. But rarely in history have scientific secrets been as vital as they were during World War II.
In the midst of planning the Manhattan Project, the U. Office of Strategic Services created a secret offshoot - the Alsos Mission - meant to gather intelligence on and sabotage if necessary, scientific research by the Axis powers. What resulted was a plot worthy of the finest thriller, full of spies, sabotage, and murder.
At its heart was the 'Lightning A' team, a group of intrepid soldiers, scientists, and spies - and even a famed baseball player - who were given almost free rein to get themselves embedded within the German scientific community to stop the most terrifying threat of the war: Hitler acquiring an atomic bomb of his very own. While the Manhattan Project and other feats of scientific genius continue to inspire us today, few people know about the international intrigue and double-dealing that accompanied those breakthroughs.
Bastard Brigade recounts this forgotten history, fusing a non-fiction spy thriller with some of the most incredible scientific ventures of all time. From the author of the bestsellers The Disappearing Spoon and The Violinist's Thumb, fascinating tales of the brain and the history of neuroscience. Early studies of the functions of the human brain used a simple method: wait for misfortune to strike-strokes, seizures, infectious diseases, lobotomies, horrendous accidents-and see how the victim coped.
In many cases survival was miraculous, and observers could only marvel at the transformations that took place afterward, altering victims' personalities. An injury to one section can leave a person unable to recognize loved ones; some brain trauma can even make you a pathological gambler, pedophile, or liar.
But a few scientists realized that these injuries were an opportunity for studying brain function at its extremes. With lucid explanations and incisive wit, Sam Kean explains the brain's secret passageways while recounting forgotten stories of common people whose struggles, resiliency, and deep humanity made modern neuroscience possible. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister.
Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process.
Many of them, Kean reminds us, still affect us today. We can draw direct lines from the medical abuses of Tuskegee and Nazi Germany to current vaccine hesitancy, and connect icepick lobotomies from the s to the contemporary failings of mental-health care. Kean even takes us into the future, when advanced computers and genetic engineering could unleash whole new ways to do one another wrong.
Unflinching, and exhilarating to the last page, The Icepick Surgeon fuses the drama of scientific discovery with the illicit thrill of a true-crime tale. With his trademark wit and precision, Kean shows that, while science has done more good than harm in the world, rogue scientists do exist, and when we sacrifice morals for progress, we often end up with neither.
For centuries, scientists had only one way to study the brain: wait for misfortune to strike - strokes, seizures, infections, lobotomies, horrendous accidents, phantom limbs, Siamese twins - and see how the victims changed afterwards. The library card you previously added can't be used to complete this action.
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In Caesar's Last Breath, New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table, around the globe, and across time to tell the story of the air we breathe, which, it turns out, is also the story of earth. How to Use This Book This book is to be used along side the bestselling book, The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean for anyone who wants to learn about the periodic table in an engaging and unique way.
For students: The study questions are in order and follow Sam Kean's narrative. Answer the questions as you read the book. The answers are in the back section. For teachers: This is an easy and interesting resource to help your students learn. From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes the gripping, untold story of a renegade group of scientists and spies determined to keep Adolf Hitler from obtaining the ultimate prize: a nuclear bomb.
Scientists have always kept secrets. But rarely have the secrets been as vital as they were during World War II. In the middle of building an atomic bomb, the leaders of the Manhattan Project were alarmed to learn that Nazi Germany was far outpacing the Allies.
But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister.
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