A round-the-globe journey through the periodic table explains how the air people breathe reflects the world's history, tracing the origins and ingredients of the atmosphere to explain air's role in reshaping continents, steering human progress, and powering revolutions.

One of the greatest experimental scientists of all time, Michael Faraday (1791–1867) developed the first electric motor, electric generator, and dynamo - essentially creating the science of electrochemistry. This book, the result of six lectures he delivered to young students at London's Royal Institution, concerns another form of energy - candlelight. Faraday titled the lectures "The Chemical History of a Candle," choosing the subject because,...

Different Kinds of Soil will help children understand the composition of soil, its layers, and what organic and inorganic matter is found in soil. Comparisons of soil particles help describe different types of soil, soils from different climates, how soil type effects plant and animal life, and the value of fertile soil.

"From the best-selling author of Why We Get Fat, a groundbreaking, eye-opening expose that makes the convincing case that sugar is the tobacco of the new millennium: backed by powerful lobbies, entrenched in our lives, and making us very sick. Among Americans, diabetes is more prevalent today than ever; obesity is at epidemic proportions; nearly 10% of children are thought to have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. And sugar is at the root of these,...

"The Heat Will Kill You First is about the extreme ways in which our planet is already changing. It is about why spring is coming a few weeks earlier and fall is coming a few weeks later and the impact that will have on everything from our food supply to disease outbreaks. It is about what will happen to our lives and our communities when typical summer days in Chicago or Boston go from 90°F to 110°F. A heatwave, Goodell explains, is a predatory...

In this probing look at how plastic built the modern world-- and the price the world has paid for plastic-- journalist Freinkel points out that we're nearing a crisis point and gives readers the tools needed through lively anecdotes and analysis. Trekking through history, science, and the global economy, Freinkel assesses the impact of plastic on our lives through eight familiar plastic objects: comb, chair, Frisbee, IV bag, disposable lighter, grocery...

From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean come incredible stories of science, history, finance, mythology, the arts, medicine, and more, as told by the Periodic Table.