Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex: Science and Pseudoscience in Everyday Life
In this new collection of bite-size pop science essays, bestselling author, chemistry professor, and radio broadcaster Dr. Joe Schwarcz shows that you can find science virtually anywhere you look. And the closer you look, the more fascinating it becomes. In this volume, we look through our magnifying glass at maraschino cherries, frizzy hair, duct tape, pickle juice, yellow school buses, aphrodisiacs, dental implants, and bull testes. If those don’t tickle your fancy, how about aconite murders, shot towers, book smells, Swarovski crystals, French wines, bees, or head transplants? You can also learn about the scientific escapades of James Bond, California’s confusing Proposition 65, the problems with oxygen on Mars, Valentine’s Meat Juice, the benefits of pasteurization, the pros and cons of red light therapy, the controversy swirling around perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), why English cucumbers are wrapped in plastic, and how probiotics may have seeded Hitler’s downfall.

Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex answers all your burning questions about the science of everyday life, like:
  • why “superfood” is a marketing term, not a scientific one;
  • why plastic wrap is sometimes the environmental choice;
  • why supplements to reduce inflammation may just reduce your bank account;
  • how maraschino cherries went from a luxury good to a cheap sundae topper;
  • what’s behind “old book smell”;
  • how margarine became a hot item for bootleggers;
  • why duct tape is useful, but not on ducts; and
  • how onstage accidents led to fireproof fabrics.
1144049846
Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex: Science and Pseudoscience in Everyday Life
In this new collection of bite-size pop science essays, bestselling author, chemistry professor, and radio broadcaster Dr. Joe Schwarcz shows that you can find science virtually anywhere you look. And the closer you look, the more fascinating it becomes. In this volume, we look through our magnifying glass at maraschino cherries, frizzy hair, duct tape, pickle juice, yellow school buses, aphrodisiacs, dental implants, and bull testes. If those don’t tickle your fancy, how about aconite murders, shot towers, book smells, Swarovski crystals, French wines, bees, or head transplants? You can also learn about the scientific escapades of James Bond, California’s confusing Proposition 65, the problems with oxygen on Mars, Valentine’s Meat Juice, the benefits of pasteurization, the pros and cons of red light therapy, the controversy swirling around perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), why English cucumbers are wrapped in plastic, and how probiotics may have seeded Hitler’s downfall.

Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex answers all your burning questions about the science of everyday life, like:
  • why “superfood” is a marketing term, not a scientific one;
  • why plastic wrap is sometimes the environmental choice;
  • why supplements to reduce inflammation may just reduce your bank account;
  • how maraschino cherries went from a luxury good to a cheap sundae topper;
  • what’s behind “old book smell”;
  • how margarine became a hot item for bootleggers;
  • why duct tape is useful, but not on ducts; and
  • how onstage accidents led to fireproof fabrics.
19.95 In Stock
Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex: Science and Pseudoscience in Everyday Life

Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex: Science and Pseudoscience in Everyday Life

by Joe Schwarcz
Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex: Science and Pseudoscience in Everyday Life

Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex: Science and Pseudoscience in Everyday Life

by Joe Schwarcz

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Overview

In this new collection of bite-size pop science essays, bestselling author, chemistry professor, and radio broadcaster Dr. Joe Schwarcz shows that you can find science virtually anywhere you look. And the closer you look, the more fascinating it becomes. In this volume, we look through our magnifying glass at maraschino cherries, frizzy hair, duct tape, pickle juice, yellow school buses, aphrodisiacs, dental implants, and bull testes. If those don’t tickle your fancy, how about aconite murders, shot towers, book smells, Swarovski crystals, French wines, bees, or head transplants? You can also learn about the scientific escapades of James Bond, California’s confusing Proposition 65, the problems with oxygen on Mars, Valentine’s Meat Juice, the benefits of pasteurization, the pros and cons of red light therapy, the controversy swirling around perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), why English cucumbers are wrapped in plastic, and how probiotics may have seeded Hitler’s downfall.

Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex answers all your burning questions about the science of everyday life, like:
  • why “superfood” is a marketing term, not a scientific one;
  • why plastic wrap is sometimes the environmental choice;
  • why supplements to reduce inflammation may just reduce your bank account;
  • how maraschino cherries went from a luxury good to a cheap sundae topper;
  • what’s behind “old book smell”;
  • how margarine became a hot item for bootleggers;
  • why duct tape is useful, but not on ducts; and
  • how onstage accidents led to fireproof fabrics.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781770417526
Publisher: ECW Press
Publication date: 05/21/2024
Edition description: No Edition
Pages: 240
Sales rank: 246,618
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Dr. Joe Schwarcz is the director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, which has the mission of separating sense from nonsense. He hosts a radio show, appears on television, and writes a regular newspaper column. Dr. Joe is also an amateur magician and lives in Montreal, Quebec.
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