Dr. Joe & What You Didn't Know: 177 Fascinating Questions About the Chemistry of Everyday Life [Paperback]

Dr. Joe Schwarcz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2003

From Beethoven's connection to plumbing to why rotten eggs smell like sulfur, the technical explanations included in this scientific primer tackle 99 chemistry-related questions and provide answers designed to inform and entertain. What jewelry metal is prohibited in some European countries? What does Miss Piggy have to do with the World Cup? How can a cockroach be removed from a human ear? The quirky information offered incorporates scientific savvy, practical advice, and amusing anecdotes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A book with an incredibly high 'Did you know that...?' quotient...Completely captivating..." -- Daphne Dykeman, New Brunswick Reader

About the Author

Dr. Joe Schwarcz directs the Office of Science and Society at McGill University. He is the author of That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles; Radar, Hula Hoops and Playful Pigs; and The Genie in the Bottle. He has appeared on the Discovery Channel and is the winner of the American Chemical Society's Stack-Grady Award for interpreting science to the public. He lives in Montreal, Quebec.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: ECW Press (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550225774
• ISBN-13: 978-1550225778
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #911,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Joe has the answers!, June 27, 2005

By 

Craig MACKINNON (Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dr. Joe & What You Didn't Know: 177 Fascinating Questions About the Chemistry of Everyday Life (Paperback)

The "Dr. Joe" books are all very readable, interesting, informative, and bring some much-needed scientific rigour to the realm of "popular science." As a chemistry professor at McGill University, one of Canada's most prestigeous schools, Schwarcz brings a couple decades worth of authority to his books. That's not to say that they are dry and simply factual - they are extremely user friendly and require no science background to understand. That is the genius of Dr. Joe's books - they are easy to read but never scientifically wrong.

This particular book contains a number of short (usually ~1 page long) questions and answers on everything from the origin of the green colour in potato chips to the use of dirt in treating tuberculosis. With 177 short essays, there is something to interest everyone. Unfortunately, they are numbered 1-177 and proceed with no other subdivisions. While this makes it easy to read in short bursts (it's ideal for city bus rides, for example), the book lacks cohesion. There are some interrelated questions that are separated in the book, when links between them would help the explanation of each observation. What he loses in coherence, however, he makes back up in variety.

In short, this is a fun book for anyone interested in how the physical world works. It also contains a number of ideas for science fair projects, for example, and so could become a valuable reference in addition to an interesting read.

4.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Joe is fun and informative, January 16, 2011

By 

chemteach21 (Southeatern US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dr. Joe & What You Didn't Know: 177 Fascinating Questions About the Chemistry of Everyday Life (Paperback)

I love Dr. Joe's books. They are fun to read and still full of quality Chemistry content. My students like to pick it up and read a question here or there.