Picks

ChemEd X contributors and staff members are continually coming across items of interest that they feel others may wish to know about. Picks include, but need not be limited to, books, magazines, journals, articles, apps—most anything that has a link to it can qualify.

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Enantiomeric Excesses in Meteoritic Amino Acids
// Saturday, February 1, 1997 • Hal Harris
The origin of the molecular "handedness" that pervades earth's biology has been an evolutionary puzzle. Given that right and left-handed amino acids have equal energies, why do only the left-handed ones participate in biosynthesis? One hypothesis is that life started from templates that arose from extraterrestrial sources, such as meteors.
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
// Wednesday, January 1, 1997 • Hal Harris
Science lost one of its most eloquent and persuasive spokesmen with the death last month of Carl Sagan. While he was best known as an astronomer and planetary scientist, The Demon-Haunted World should remind us that his interests were far broader than that.
Atmospheric Dust and Acid Rain
// Monday, December 2, 1996 • Hal Harris
The problem of acid rain has become almost a cliche in the teaching of environmental chemistry topics.
Plastic: The Making of a Synthetic Century
// Sunday, December 1, 1996 • Hal Harris
The dustcover for this book promises it to be an anti-chemistry diatribe, but I found the book itself, with the exception of a chapter near the end ("The Seat of the Plague") to be relatively even-handed in its treatment of the subject. It is full of interesting anecdotes about the history of polymers and their overwhelming impact on mankind.
What If You Could Unscramble an Egg?
// Friday, November 1, 1996 • Hal Harris
Robert Ehrlich teaches physics at George Mason University. This is the third book by him that I have read recently.
The Flight From Science and Reason
// Wednesday, October 2, 1996 • Hal Harris
"The Flight from Science and Reason" is the proceedings of a conference by that name that was held in New York on May 31-June 2, 1995. I wish I could have been there!
Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics and Creative Lives
// Tuesday, October 1, 1996 • Hal Harris
"Born to Rebel" provides quantitative data in support of a novel interpretation of the importance of birth order to personality development, evolution, and history. Many are comparing its insights to those of the author's hero, Charles Darwin.
A Moment on Earth: The Coming Age of Environmental Optimism
// Sunday, September 1, 1996 • Hal Harris
The state of the environment is widely assessed to be very poor and worsening, despite the contribution of chemists and other scientists to the understanding and the amelioration of mankind's influences.