What do most students think of when they hear the word “chemistry?” “Boring and difficult.” Dr. Joe Schwarcz’s The Genie in the Bottle shows a different side to chemistry. He entertains the reader with surprising facts of everyday chemistry, allowing students to enjoy science. He uses his knowledge of chemistry blended with the realities of the world to engage the reader throughout the entire book. In 67 essays, he shares quirky stories about everyday chemistry with interesting tales from the history of science. His book is hard to put down once the reader starts, as he offers an entertaining side to modern science.
In his essay entitled The Dark Side of the Sun, Schwarcz explains how the sun’s rays affect our bodies. At first sunlight was thought of as beneficial, having Icelander Neils Finsen win the Nobel Prize in 1903 proving that sunbathing could cure tuberculosis, Hodgin’s disease, and even help festering wounds. By the 1960’s the views of having a perfect tan changed, as Dr. Albert Klingman became the first to voice his unfortunate evidence about sun tanning. Ultraviolet light, also known as “black” light, is an invisible radiation made up of wavelengths that cause damage to our skin. He said that the ultraviolet light causes wrinkles because the light can break some of the bonds that hold together the atoms in molecule, forcing our skin to stretch causing wrinkles to form. The greatest danger posed by the sun is skin cancer, when the ultraviolet light disrupts DNA or creates free radicals, which attack DNA. Although most people know the harm the sun can do to our skin and bodies, people still want to have the “perfect tan.”
Nothing to Rave About shares stories about date rape drugs. A young athlete fainted at a rave after taking gamma hydroxybrutyrate (GHB) without even knowing. While GHB used to be a legal natural deity product helping to induce sleep and build muscle, it was quickly made illegal after reports of nausea and shaking. Although this product is said to be illegal, it is very easy to make in the eyes of a chemist having to only mix sodium hydroxide and gamma butyrolactone (GBL), two substances that are easy to buy. Another young woman was brought to the hospital in the Houston, Texas area, where she died soon after. She had bought GHB at a gym in her town, where a doctor was making this product and selling it to young teens telling them it helps build muscle and relieve anxiety. Teenagers need to be aware of the dangers that certain products can do to their body, so that other accidents are prevented.
The Silly Side of Flubber shares the history behind this “useless object.” During World War II Japan stopped supplying rubber for the United States resulting in a huge crisis. Rubber was important to the war and was needed to make equipment for the soldiers. Scientists turned to Fredrick Stanley Kippling for help, as he was interested in silicones and fascination about how carbons atoms combine with each other to create important biomolecules. He produced something he thought was useless, but James Wright used Kippling’s new invention of silicones to produce a synthetic rubber. He thought by adding boron atoms to the framework, he could create polymer chains producing a fascinating, but ineffective, new material called Flubber. Owners of a toy store, Paul Hodgson and Ruth Fallgatter bought this substance and created silly putty, earning a total of six-million dollars. Today, therapists believe playing with Silly Putty relieves stress and has a calming effect. Also, Disney was so mesmerized by Silly Putty; they turned it into a movie, Flubber, adding a little magic to this “worthless substance.”
Schwarcz shares his love of chocolate in his essay, Chocolate Lovers Rejoice, stating that chocolate is good for the heart. It is said that chocolate is an addictive candy because of its flavor, not its taste, as chocolate melts into a smooth, luxurious liquid in the mouth. In 1996, Andrew Waterhouse proved that chocolate is linked to health benefits, acting as antioxidants that neutralize free radical in our bodies. He also showed that cocoa extracts could prevent oxidation of LDL cholesterol (the bad kind). The headline writers wrote “Eat Chocolate and Live Longer.” Warehouses’ idea of chocolate being a healthy snack was soon proved wrong by Harvard researchers in 1998. They proved that those who ate 1-3 chocolate bars a month lived an average or a year longer, but did not affect those who ate 1-3 bars a week. The thought of chocolate helping people live longer is a fluke, but who doesn’t enjoy a chocolate bar once in a while?
Playing with Fire shows the importance of chemistry equipment, especially the Bunsen burner, devised by Robert Bunsen. He studied arsenic compounds, smelly and poisonous gases at Heidelberg University in Germany. Even after blinding himself in one eye, he continued to experiment and began to play with fire. He found out that he secret to a clean flame was mixing combustible gas with air in perfect proportions. He drilled holes in a metal tube which air could enter and mi with gas flowing through the tube. Robert Bunsen made it possible for fireworks, emergency roadside flares, and the yellow glow of a highway light. His intelligence has benefited our society today, making it safe and clean.
Dr. Schwarcz has the ability to keep the reader engaged with his experiences and studies of applying chemistry to everyday life. His essays share ideas about the world we live in that some people never have heard about. Chemistry is usually seen as boring to learn about, but this book allows the student to become fascinated with science. If more books were written in the style of Dr. Schwarcz, would students enjoy reading and learn more?
