|
|
Product Description
The Guardian's Best Science Book of 2017: the fascinating science and history of the air we breathe.It's invisible. It's ever-present. Without it, you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell.
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 and our existence on it. With every breath, you literally inhale the history of the world.
On the ides of March, 44 BC, Julius Caesar died of stab wounds on the Senate floor, but the story of his last breath is still unfolding; in fact, you're probably inhaling some of it now. Of the sextillions of molecules entering or leaving your lungs at this moment, some might well bear traces of Cleopatra's perfumes, German mustard gas, particles exhaled by dinosaurs or emitted by atomic bombs, even remnants of stardust from the universe's creation.
Tracing the origins and ingredients of our atmosphere, Kean reveals how the alchemy of air reshaped our continents, steered human progress, powered revolutions, and continues to influence everything we do. Along the way, we'll swim with radioactive pigs, witness the most important chemical reactions humans have discovered, and join the crowd at the Moulin Rouge for some of the crudest performance art of all time. Lively, witty, and filled with the astounding science of ordinary life, Caesar's Last Breath illuminates the science stories swirling around us every second.
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
- Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives
- The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
- Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World
- Periodic Tales: A Cultural History of the Elements, from Arsenic to Zinc
- The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Rivalry, Adventure, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements (Young Readers Edition)
- Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History
- The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb
- The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
- The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery
- The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code
*If this is not the "Caesar's Last Breath: And Other True Tales of History, Science, and the Sextillions of Molecules in " product you were looking for, you can check the other results by clicking this link
.
Details were last updated on Dec 26, 2024 01:57 +08.
