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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pick
Off the Planet: Surviving Five Perilous Months Aboard the Space Station Mir
// Wednesday, May 2, 2001 • Hal Harris
The word "Surviving" should probably be underlined in the title of this first-hand account by an American astro/cosmonaut of his experiences aboard Mir. There is precious little science in this book, but a great deal about living at the mercy of technology and Russian bureaucracy.
The Shaken-Soda Syndrome
// Tuesday, May 1, 2001 • Hal Harris
Try this! Take two identical cans of soda (or some other beverage). Roll then down a slight incline to confirm that they roll at about the same speed. What do you think will happen if you shake up one can and roll them again? Make a prediction. Then try it. Have your students do it. Develop hypotheses and test them.
Hidden Evidence: Forty true crimes and how forensic science helped solve them
// Friday, February 2, 2001 • Hal Harris
Even readers who already know something about forensic science are likely to learn from "Hidden Evidence" about historic cases that have been solved by science. Unfortunately, there are so few details provided in the book that the most interesting questions often remain unanswered.
The Lying Stones of Marrakech: Penultimte Reflections on Natural History
// Tuesday, January 2, 2001 • Hal Harris
I find it surprising that this is the first book by Stephen Jay Gould to have been selected as a "Hal's Pick", since I own and have enjoyed reading many of them. I have had the pleasure of meeting and hearing Professor Gould speak several times and I wish I could write as well as he speaks extemporaneously.
Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good
// Monday, January 1, 2001 • Hal Harris
Most students of chemistry are unaware of opportunities and challenges in the flavors and fragrances industry. In fact, few of us realize how much the processed food we eat is "enhanced" by additives.
The Physics of Gridlock
// Friday, December 1, 2000 • Hal Harris
How is automobile traffic like a gas? No, it's not because the collisions are inelastic. Researchers in chaos theory, especially Dirk Helbing and Boris Kerner, both theoretical physicists, have been working on traffic flow, using models similar to those of particle dynamics.
A Friend of the Earth
// Thursday, November 2, 2000 • Hal Harris
"A Friend of the Earth" is a novel that alternates in time between the near-present and about twenty-five years in the future, when the worst nightmares of the environmental movement have come to pass. Global warming has turned Southern California into a terrible place to live; violent storms alternate with 130 degree days.