Chemistry for Breakfast: The Amazing Science of Everyday Life

By Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim and claire Lenkova

FINALIST for the Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books

“This book shows that chemistry is not just relevant to life; it’s really, really interesting.”—Foreword Reviews, STARRED review

A perfect book for readers of The Physics of Everyday Things and Storm in a Teacup

Have you ever wondered why your alarm clock sends you spiraling? Or how toothpaste works on your teeth? Why do cakes and cookies sometimes turn out dry? (Hint: you may not be adding enough sugar.) In Chemistry for Breakfast, award-winning chemist and science communicator Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim reveals the amazing chemistry behind everyday things (like baking and toothpaste) and not-so-everyday things (like space travel). With a relatable, funny, and conversational style, she explains essential chemical processes everyone should know—and turns the ordinary into extraordinary.

Over the course of a single day, Mai shows us that chemistry is everywhere: we just have to look for it. In the morning, her partner’s much-too-loud alarm prompts a deep dive into biological clocks, fight-or-flight responses, and melatonin’s role in making us sleepy. Before heading to the lab, she explains how the stress hormone cortisol helps wake us up, and brews her morning coffee with a side of heat conduction and states of matter.

Mai continues her day with explainers of cell phone technology, food preservation, body odor, baking, the effects of alcohol, and the chemistry behind the expression “love drunk.” All the while, she shows us what it’s really like to be a working chemist, and fights against the stereotype of a nerd playing with test tubes in a lab coat.

Filled with charming illustrations, laughter, and plenty of surprises, Chemistry for Breakfast is a perfect book for anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of chemistry without having prior knowledge of the science. With Mai as your guide, you’ll find something fascinating everywhere around you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Greystone Books
• Release date: Apr 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781771647496

Book preview

Cover of Chemistry for Breakfast. A Bohr model of an atom, but electrons are fried eggs and the nucleus is a pan frying an egg. Around the image is written: “‘A charming romp through the essence of chemistry.’ Larry Gonick, author of The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry. Dr. Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim. Chemistry for Breakfast. The Amazing Science of Everyday Life.”Title page upon which is written: “Dr. Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim. Chemistry for Breakfast. The Amazing Science of Everyday Life. Translated by Sarah Pybus. Illustrations by claire Lenkova. The publisher’s logo is represented by a raven in flight over the words “Greystone Books. Vancouver/Berkeley.” A cartoon fried egg decorates the bottom of the page.

For my mom

My mom and dad are the most loving parents in the world. Such superlatives are rare for me, but I can use them with a clear conscience when it comes to my parents. They are a true team; they have fought together and have always put their own interests aside; they made a new home in what was then a foreign country so that my brother and I could lead the privileged lives we enjoy to this day.

Often I talk only about my dad; not only is he a wonderful father, husband, and chemist, he also inspired me and my brother to take up chemistry ourselves. But here, now, I would like to dedicate this book to my mom. She has been my greatest influence. She is the one who decided to stay home and commit herself to loving and caring for me and my brother. She is the one who has hugged me, supported me, and motivated me every single day. Her boundless devotion has made me the person I am today. This book would never have happened without my mom—so if you like it, she’s the one you should thank.

Contents

Foreword

1. Obsessed with Chemistry

2. Death by Toothpaste

3. Down with Chemism!

4. Sitting Is the New Smoking

5. Chaotic by Nature

6. What’s in It for Me?

7. Baby Dinosaurs and Monster Burgers

8. Covalently Compatible

9. Chemistry Stinks

10. There’s Something in the Water

11. Culinary Therapy

12. The Right Chemistry

13. A Passion for Facts

Bibliography

Index

Foreword

I WAS A pretty ugly baby. I was born with jaundice and refused to eat or drink. Seriously concerned, my parents did everything they could to feed me as much as possible—and continued to do so long after my health improved. As a result, I became a real butterball. When my hair began to grow, I developed the asymmetrical receding hairline of an elderly man. Naturally, my parents thought I was the most beautiful baby in the world.

As a chemist, I sometimes feel like the mother of an ugly child whose beauty only I can see. Most people see chemistry as evil, poisonous, artificial. Or they remember how much they hated it at school and couldn’t wait to drop the class. Convincing these people that my baby is beautiful is a science in itself.

At best, people have no idea what chemistry entails. They look at me, wide-eyed and clueless, and ask, And what can you do with chemistry?

Sometimes I’d like to shake them by the shoulders and yell EVERYTHING!!! Chemistry is EVERYTHING!!! For example, delicious food is one of my earliest associations with chemistry—my father is both a chemist and an excellent cook. He told me that all chemists are good cooks. If you can’t cook, then you’re not a good chemist. When I started to develop an interest in cosmetics at the age of thirteen, my father was able to explain everything involved there too—the chemical structure of color pigments, how volumizing hair spray works, and the pH value of face cream. For me, chemistry has always been part of everyday life.

Since studying chemistry, I have been beyond help. Whether I’m drinking coffee, brushing my teeth, or exercising, I think about adenosine receptors, fluorides, and metabolic enzymes. If I go for a walk in the sunshine, I think about melanin and vitamin D; if I cook noodles, my mind turns to boiling-point elevation and starch polymers. And I’ve become a pretty good cook too—I wouldn’t be a good chemist otherwise.

Many people have very specific ideas not only about chemistry itself, but also about the people who work in the field. I’m often told that I don’t look like a chemist. The success of The Big Bang Theory may have made it socially acceptable to be a nerd, but it also showcased many clichés—for example, that it’s categorically impossible to be an expert and have social skills. This is just one of the many clichés we scientists have to fight. Scientists are unfamiliar creatures who spend their lives in laboratories or surrounded by bookshelves. Nobody knows what we look like, whether we have hobbies, or whether we even have friends. Are scientists humans too? There’s just no way of knowing.

During my doctorate, I decided to start a YouTube channel called The Secret Life of Scientists. I wanted my videos to give a face to science. I didn’t just want to show how cool science is, but also how cool scientists are. This mission is like a complex research project, and I’m still working on it today. I now also produce the maiLab YouTube channel for the German content network funk and present the German TV series Quarks.

So why write a book as well? Because I want to really let off some steam. This book invites you into my chemist’s brain and provides a brief insight into my everyday life as a science journalist and YouTuber. Above all, however, I want you to read this book, look deep into the eyes of chemistry, and succumb to its irresistible charm. And if I’m right to believe that humans are curious creatures, then reading this book will show you not only that chemistry really is everything, but maybe even how beautiful this science can be.

1

Obsessed with Chemistry

BRRING-BRRING-BRRING!!!

I almost fall out of bed in fright. My heart is racing.

Furious, I want to scream Matthiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaas, but my linguistic faculties don’t quite seem to be working yet. My body’s in a strange sort of limbo, halfway between dozing and hand-to-hand combat. I throw myself at Matthias/his cell phone and flail around until I manage to turn off his awful alarm. It’s six in the morning, dammit!

Matthias has a terrible habit of getting up in the middle of the night to go running, at least twice a week—well, I consider 6 a.m. to be the middle of the night. Unfortunately, this always means that I need to wake up slightly before him so that my day doesn’t start with an influx of stress hormones.

I prefer to be woken by a barely audible tinkling, as if by a fairy—otherwise I start my day with palpitations—but Matthias needs at least 100 decibels and this awful BRRING-BRRING-BRRING to wake up at all. So I usually set my alarm for one minute before his to mentally prepare myself for the stress. Last night when I set my alarm, however, I didn’t know he was planning to exercise so early this morning.

I open the drapes to reduce Matthias’s melatonin level.

Matthias, I eventually manage to say.

Hmm, he mumbles, still half asleep. Unbelievable.

THE MOLECULE MELATONIN is also popularly known as the sleep hormone. It’s produced in the pineal gland, a small gland in the middle of the brain. There’s a very good reason for its nickname; melatonin plays an important role in our circadian rhythm (from the Latin circa dies, around the day), our internal sleep-wake cycle. The higher our melatonin level, the more tired we feel. Conveniently, light helps to reduce melatonin concentration, and it finally seems to be having an effect on Matthias.

I feel compelled to see the world in molecules, but it’s a nice feeling. Basically, I’m obsessed with chemistry. It makes me sad to think about all the nonchemists going about their lives, not thinking about molecules at all. They don’t even know what they’re missing. Ultimately, anything that interests you as an individual can somehow be explained through chemistry. And you, dear reader, are in fact nothing more than a mound of molecules reading about molecules. And chemists are mounds of molecules thinking about molecules. It’s almost spiritual.

So what does my morning look like in molecules?

How well we wake up in the morning is largely determined by two molecules. We need less of one—melatonin—and more of the other, the stress hormone cortisol, which is automatically released in the morning. Stress hormone might not sound great, but a moderate amount of cortisol simply helps us to get going. Normally, this wonderful service provided by our body doesn’t even need an alarm clock. The BRRING-BRRING-BRRING may have been a bit too much and has triggered an actual fight-or-flight response in my body, an ingenious emergency system tried and tested since primeval times to save us from mortal danger.

Like pain, stress is generally a welcome bodily response. Pain tells us that something isn’t right, and stress helps to save our lives. Imagine that you’re walking around in the Stone Age and a saber-tooth tiger crosses your path (saber-tooth cat would be more accurate, but tiger is more dramatic so let’s stick with that). If your body didn’t immediately release a flood of stress hormones, you’d stand there looking stupid rather than reacting quickly—grabbing your spear (fight) or climbing the nearest tree (flight)!

We must assume that the saber-tooth tiger also experiences a fight-or-flight response. It has never been established whether humans really were a meal of choice for saber-tooth tigers. After all, humans were predators too, and an encounter like this may have been a meeting of two hunters who respected one another. In any case, the fight-or-flight response is older than the human race, an alarm system installed in many creatures. And how does this alarm system work? Through molecules, of course.

The molecules lying dormant in our bodies first need to be roused by some sort of trigger. In the Stone Age, this might have been a saber-tooth tiger; today, it’s Matthias’s monster alarm clock. The clock’s acoustic signal sends a nerve impulse from the brain to the adrenal glands via the spinal cord. Along with the pineal gland, the adrenal glands are among our bodies’ most important hormone factories. This nerve impulse causes the adrenal glands to release what is probably the best-known stress hormone—adrenaline, which is promptly pumped into the bloodstream and makes its way to various organs. A hormone is nothing more than a messenger substance, a molecule that carries important information. And in this case, the message is PANIC!!

While adrenaline is rushing through the bloodstream—and disappearing just as quickly—another hormone is gearing up for the stress war. ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) is produced in the pituitary gland and travels through the bloodstream to the adrenal glands, the base camp for the fight-or-flight battle.

As soon as it arrives, ACTH unleashes a whole chain of chemical reactions. I like to picture it like an epic movie battle scene. Adrenaline is the forerunner who raises the alarm, while ACTH is the army commander who raises their fist and lets out the first battle cry, mobilizing the army and setting the carnage in motion. Finally, cortisol enters the bloodstream and makes its way to various organs as well.

Hormones can trigger a variety of physical reactions. Symptoms of a fight-or-flight response include an accelerated pulse, greater blood circulation in the muscles (RUN!!!), reduced blood circulation in the digestive system (drop everything, we have more important things to do!), deeper breathing, dilated pupils, sweating, goose bumps, and heightened awareness.

All these physical reactions to the release of my stress hormones mean that I am now, of course, wide awake, but the feeling of mortal danger isn’t exactly pleasant. I can’t blame this on molecules. Our bodily chemistry is designed for survival. The poor stress molecules don’t know that Matthias’s alarm isn’t threatening my life. They just want to help.

The problem is that our modern world is full of stress—at school, at work, in our relationships. But very few situations are actually life-threatening, at least not acutely. Chronic stress definitely has an effect on our health. Luckily, to ensure that we and our molecules don’t crack up completely, our stress system has a negative feedback loop that makes sure the body doesn’t totally escalate and work itself into a panic. Among other factors, this is down to cortisol, the stress hormone with self-discipline. While adrenaline charges through the bloodstream once and then quickly disappears, cortisol stays in our system a little longer, ultimately inhibiting the release of ACTH and thus the production of cortisol itself.

FOR CONTRAST, LET’S look at a chemically perfect morning. While I snooze, the sun’s first rays shine through my eyelids onto my retina, which is connected to the brain via the optic nerve. In the brain, the production of the sleep hormone melatonin is now inhibited in the pineal gland. The pineal gland is indirectly connected to the optic nerve and is sometimes referred to as the third eye. This might sound esoteric, but there’s something to it. In amphibians, the pineal gland is directly sensitive to light and really does act like a third eye.

While my melatonin level slowly decreases, a pleasant amount of cortisol is released. Ideally, I will wake up of my own accord.

When it comes to sleep, Matthias is unbelievably sensitive to light, so he always wears a mask. Because he blocks out the daylight completely, his melatonin level doesn’t drop as quickly in the morning. Artificial darkness is just as confusing for our circadian rhythm as artificial light. Our modern world has plenty of both, which upsets our body clock. My hypothesis is that Matthias wouldn’t need such a horrible alarm clock if he simply stopped wearing his sleep mask. Matthias thinks that his melatonin system is simply too sensitive and that he wouldn’t get enough sleep without this quilted thing across his face.

What hampers both our arguments is that melatonin may not actually be a sleep hormone. For example, nocturnal animals also experience an increase in their melatonin levels at night—which would make it more of a wake-up hormone. Laboratory mice often produce little melatonin at all due to a genetic mutation, and yet their sleep is perfectly normal. Plot twist! So does that mean melatonin doesn’t make us tired? Well, on the other hand, many studies have shown that melatonin helps to treat insomnia and chronically delayed sleep. Hmm. So what now? Sleep researchers are yet to agree on the exact link between melatonin and sleep. As long as it remains unclear whether melatonin really makes us tired, Matthias and I can carry on debating the usefulness of his sleep mask.

Now, before you read the rest of this book, there’s something I really need you to know: if you want to understand science, you need to lose the habit of looking for simple answers. This might sound arduous at first, but I promise that scientific thinking doesn’t make the world drier; in fact, it makes it more colorful and literally full of wonder. So let’s start by agreeing that melatonin isn’t a sleep hormone, but more of a night hormone that translates what the eyes can see (encroaching darkness) into the body.

A long-term experiment could shed some light on our personal melatonin dispute (and on Matthias’s retina). Unfortunately, experiments with two participants are not statistically viable, so debate remains our only option.

I GO INTO the kitchen to make myself a coffee. When you get up, you should ideally wait an hour before drinking your first coffee—your morning boost of cortisol is your body’s own way of waking up. Caffeine also encourages the body to produce cortisol. Great, you might think, I’ll simply up my morning cortisol level with a coffee! Unfortunately (or luckily) our bodies don’t work like that; they like balance. Bear in mind that, as time goes on, your body will acclimate to that coffee boost by reducing its own morning stress service. So it’s better to wait until your body’s own cortisol boost has leveled out again—which takes about an hour—before adding coffee into the mix.

Right now, I feel like all my morning cortisol has been wiped out in the space of a minute. I reach for the coffee to fight the tiredness I can already feel creeping up on me.

So, provided you’re not feeling too hot already, grab yourself a coffee, tea, or hot beverage of your choice to drink as you read. There’s nothing better than a hot drink to help you see the world in molecules. If I put my steaming cup of coffee on the table in front of me, before long the part of the table under the cup will warm up too. And if I wait even longer, the coffee will eventually go cold. Have you ever asked yourself where the heat actually goes?

This puts us right in the middle of one of my favorite topics, the particle model. It might not sound particularly exciting at first, but I guarantee you’ll be fascinated. According to the particle model, every substance in the universe is made up of particles. They might be atoms, they might be molecules—conveniently, the particle model

Reviews for Chemistry for Breakfast

[rashidluyen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As a chemical engineer who has been over 15 years in the labor force, somewhere along the way I lost the wonder of chemistry, this book and the author's fresh style renewed it, I've been watching videos and have now a couple of books in my reading list waiting to be studied with curiousness and excitement!!

[steve02476 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Some interesting stuff here, to be sure. Didn’t love the chatty style but her explanation of everyday chemical phenomena was pretty easy to understand I thought. I kinda warmed up to it a bit as it went on. The book is translated (from German) so maybe the very folksy style just doesn’t translate so well. I guess the author is very popular on German YouTube as a science popularizer. Worth checking out if you’d like an intro to Chemistry (with no formulas!) from a YouTube star who is also a chemistry PhD.

[abealy_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I never used to think chemistry was sexy. Actually, I still don’t. I also never considered too deeply what was happening around me, subatomically (if I may invent a word). Chemistry for Breakfast has changed my mind. Much of what Dr. Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim writes about I have to take on faith. I still haven’t a clue as to how what goes on in the invisible world actually happens. I just believe it’s pretty amazing that it does! From the moment we wake there is a carnival of strange invisible events keeping everything together (and apart!). Her attempt to inspire the layperson with the truth about chemistry is a quick, fascinating read, well worth the effort.

[nmarun-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy books that illustrate the science behind the everyday things we do:* What wakes us up* How soaps work* Charging/discharging of a mobile phone* What puffs up a cake* Alcohol's effect on our brainThese are some of the things the author elicits adding humor at a quite a few places to keep the book from becoming a typical 'textbook'. "If you want to understand science, you need to lose the habit of looking for simple answers." and "only beginners draw boundaries between sciences" - are some of the thought provoking statements in the book that'll keep you hooked on till the end.Yes, the book has the potential to infect a mind with the scientific spirit, hope there are more books like this one.

[artheart-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is packed with interesting and fun facts! The author's humor has an enjoyable spin in presenting everyday science facts.I highly recommend this book!

[glennis.leblanc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This three-issue graphic novel is an interesting take on the birth of Harley Quinn. It also covers the emerging Two Face and how both Dr Quinzell and Harvey Dent went from law abiding citizens to criminals in Gotham. The art is great and the story gives Dr. Harleen Quinzel a detailed background and small fractures in her personality that the Joker was about to manipulate and bring about her downfall.

[reenum_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderfully written book. It makes it easy to understand basic scientific concepts. On top of that, the humor is very refreshing in a science book. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in science.

[yukon92 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received a free copy of this book from the LTER in exchange for my honest opinion.This book was an interesting read even for somebody who absolutely got lost in Chemistry class in School.I learnt a lot of things that were explained in simple explanations.

[bostonian71 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wavered between 3.5 and 4 stars for this book. I think like other reviewers, I expected more chemistry and fewer tangents into subjects like the simplification of studies into clickbaity headlines, or the stresses of scientific academia. But as a science communicator, Dr. Nguyen-Kimg does a good job engaging the reader and clearly (and often humorously) explaining basic concepts. Besides, I always take the side of anyone who seeks to instill a basic "passion for facts" -- an attitude that's needed more than ever these days.

[tarheel-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lots of sciencey fun facts about (spoiler alert) stuff in everyday life. The author’s enthusiasm is infectious and it’s an interested read but it aimed at a very general audience.

[ladycato · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.I'm not familiar with Dr. Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim's popular science-exploring YouTube videos, but I'd totally check out them based on this book. She approaches the subject of chemistry with a personable, chipper tone, her enthusiasm for the structure of the world evident on every page. The book is formatted around her day--going from the panic of an alarm clock, to what makes things hot and cold, to coffee, water, cooking, bad odors, and more. She addresses otherwise intimidating deep subjects with a a smile and a gentle leading hand. There are a few quirky illustrations scattered throughout that contribute to the casual tone, too.This is a book that I found enjoyable and approachable, and I will pass it along to my science-loving teenage son, too.

[knightlight777 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Every chemical you ever wanted for breakfast, and more. The title was catchy but it was actually much more. That is because Dr. Nguyen-Kim. Adds so much more. I had never heard of her but she seems popular on the You-Tube circuit breaking down mind numbing chemical principles into understandable practicality for us mere science mortals.As with many others, chemistry was a difficult subject for me both in high school and college. This surprised me because I had thought it would be cool mixing things in the lab and seeing what happened. Some of that was, but the classroom intervened and understanding and balancing the equations was not quite as exhilarating. In this book those equations and diagrams lurk in the background but the Dr. makes them much more palatable with real life examples of chemistry and how it influences our lives in so many ways and are just frankly inescapable. She also delves into her chosen career a bit and explains how the doctorate students and researchers pursue a pretty grinding choice in this career. Many hours logged in the research around the clock. But not to lament the financial rewards are out there in private industry should they so choose an alternative path.But back to the nuts and bolts of chemical reactions. She delves into many examples in the how and why of chemistry and the role it plays in everyday things. Much to learn. She seems to have set me straight on a few confusing issues most of us confront each day. Like the proper charging of those batteries that run our lives, oh I meant phones. There was also a very enlightening segment spent on the organic side, as in alcohol versus humans or how they mix or don't. That was an eye opener and one I may pay a bit more attention to in quaffing that second or third round.In total a worthwhile and enlightening book that will make us all a bit wiser and respectful. Especially of our nerdy chemically oriented friends who devote their lives to tweaking the hidden to hopefully improve and enhance life for us all.

[bragan_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book isn't quite what I expected. I figured it was one of those popular science books that takes you through a typical day, explaining the science behind the various things that might happen to an ordinary person on such a day. Which it kinda-sorta is: it starts out with breakfast-cooking and tooth-brushing and ends with the author having a nice evening with friends drinking wine, all of which get scientific exploration. But it's a lot more rambling, chatty, and personal than I was expecting.The author -- a chemist currently living and working in Germany, who also has a YouTube channel I might check out -- does cover a lot of scientific ground in any case, including straying over the extremely fuzzy boundaries between disciplines into physics, biology, and psychology. I do think some of her explanations are a little over-simplified; she shies away from getting into quantum mechanics when explaining atoms, which is sort of understandable but makes things feel rather incomplete. Still, I think she does a good job, overall, in conveying things in ways that should be understandable even to those with very little science knowledge, including coming up with some really nice analogies for some complicated things. And I very much appreciate the way that she doesn't just throw facts at the readers, but also explains and encourages scientific thinking, including some practical advice for things like how to approach scientific reporting in the media. Even her seemingly digressive depictions of her own life serve to illustrate what it's like to be a real working scientist (a job that's often grueling and not particularly glamorous, but full of fascination, anyway) and to demonstrate to readers that scientists are very much real people.Rating: I'm a little torn on this one, because I'd say my own experience of reading it was maybe a 3.5/5, mostly just because I already knew so much of what she was covering that my mind sometimes wandered a bit, but I do really like her attitude and her approach, and I'm pretty sure I'd recommend this for interested scientific beginners. So I'm gonna bump it up to 4/5.

[waltzmn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What is the meaning of life?No, that's not what this book is about. But it has that same sort of broad "what-is-it-all-about?" sense.There is a lot to like about this book. For a book about science, it is quite easy to read. For a book about science translated from German, it's unbelievably easy to read. I've never seen a translation this smooth and idiomatic. I caught one or two small errors, but mine was an advance copy; they might get cleaned up in the final version. In any case, they were minor.But I never really figured out who this book is for, or what it's really about. Yes, it's supposed to be about chemistry -- but the first part is really more about physics (thermodynamics is physics, folks!), and then there is a little about lab life, and some talk about organic chemistry, plus a section on cooking with chocolate, ending up talking about neurobiology! It's all science (well, except for all the time she spends talking with her friend Christine -- and there is a lot of that), but it's not really all chemistry.And it assuredly won't teach you chemistry -- e.g. there are a lot of structure diagrams, including all twenty amino acids used in protein-building, but it doesn't teach you how to read a structure diagram. There is a bit about chemical bonds -- ionic, covalent, metallic, hydrogen -- but nothing about valence, and nothing that really teaches you how to use the periodic table to predict what can bond with what. It's true that you can learn all that in basic college chemistry -- indeed, probably in high school chemistry -- but if you don't know it, then the diagrams are over your head, and if you do know it, then this is awfully elementary.And if the idea is to induce people to become chemists, it doesn't talk much about the life of a chemist, or lab work, except for describing the horrors of trying to move up the academic ladder. I doubt anyone will go into chemistry for the sake of facing constant threats of having your funding cut!There is a lot that is interesting in here -- e.g. the discussion of how caffeine reduces fatigue by blocking receptors in the brain, and how theobromine is almost like caffeine in its activity, was quite intriguing to me. But for the life of me I can't figure out who the target market for this book is. General readers, I guess. For someone like me, already trained in science but relatively weak in chemistry (and eager to know more), it was disappointing despite many fun sections. And if I wanted to give something to my extremely hypothetical daughter to get her interested in chemistry, I'd be more inclined to try a biography (say, Marie Curie or Rosalind Franklin) instead. Your educational background may vary.

[jothebookgirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Who was Harleen Quinzel and what led her to become Harley Quinn? If you’ve been wondering about the origins of this unique DC character, then Harleen is an excellent three issue graphic novel to pick up.The story is first voice told by a Harley/Harleen who has been through it all – the years of normal life, the infatuation with The Joker and her emancipation. The narrator’s voice feels more Harleen than Harley, with such a clear connection to the what and why of her life rather than the disconnected, rapid fire looseness that feels more in line with Harley Quinn. She looks back on herself with concern but resignation. She couldn’t have known what she was allowing herself to become because she was sure it wouldn’t happen to her, it was too improbable and she felt she was in control.This genre is not for me so I have a hard time giving it a good rating. I so recognize good storytelling.

[dcoward_6 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

DNF. I started this after reading positive reviews. I ended up skimming to the end to see where there was any justification for Dr. Quinzel falling for the Joker and there was nothing of substance. I actually found it gross.

[villemezbrown · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Harley Quinn story that is sexy, seductive, and so, so good. It's a pretty straightforward recounting of her origin story, telling it in greater detail but seeming to stay pretty true to the roots (though it has been a long time since I read Mad Love and I've pretty much skipped all her DCU appearances since).I like Stjepan Šejić's art a lot, and recommend Sunstone to anyone who wants to see him go even further into erotica than this Black Label title allows.

[mattries37315 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

She has become one of the most popular comic characters in the past few decades though her character began on the greatest superhero animated series of all-time. Harleen is a character origin story written and drawn by Stjepan Sejic about Dr. Harleen Quinzel’s turn into Joker’s right-hand woman Harley Quinn.Professionally struggling psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel doesn’t know what to do with her career as her theory on the suppression of empathy for too long as part of the flight or fight response results in losing it and being mentally unbalanced. After a failed grant presentation and a late night of drinking her disappointment away, Harleen is walking home when she suddenly finds herself at gunpoint across from The Joker only for Batman to save her. The next day she is surprised when Lucius Fox gives her a grant from the Wayne Foundation to pursue research on her theory at Arkham Asylum. Harleen interviews the inmates, a who’s who of Batman’s rogue’s gallery, except Joker until she breaks down and does so. All throughout this time, she can’t sleep which is affecting her perception and thinking. The Joker quickly realizes she’s his ticket out and through his contacts gets her research to manipulate her in the future. But Harleen’s theory doesn’t sit well with Harvey Dent who wants her to quit, which she refuses and days later he is attacked with acid to the face. But the mob boss who attacked him is kidnapped by rogue police officers who execute him and release the video though it shows Batman and Robin coming in at the end. The arrival of “the Executioners” seems to make the Joker’s interviews stand out and she focuses on him for her research, though he has nothing to do with the rogue officers. Dent recovers though the acid also caused brain damage, ironically taking away his empathy, and he publicly derides the failures of the system which makes the Executioners come to him looking for instructions. Dent’s plan is to release the inmates of either Arkham or Blackgate Prison to cause havoc in Gotham City to make the general pubic allow for literally executing offenders. The coin toss lands in favor of Arkham and they stage a raid on the Asylum to release the inmates, but once free Joker tells his fellow inmates that the Executioners are there to kill them which sets them off on a rampage on their rescuers. Harleen rushing into the Asylum to find Joker, not only her patient but now lover, kills a security guard to save Joker’s life then has a mental breakdown as a result and becomes Harley.Sejic did a wonderful job in building upon the foundations that Paul Dini and Bruce Timm laid in Batman: The Animated Series of Harley Quinn/Harleen Quinzel’s origin as Joker’s doctor to his henchwoman-lover. Taking advantage of the DC Black Label’s adult focus imprint, Sejic shows how Harleen’s slow mental spiral between reality and a living dream/nightmare develops throughout the book including a stunning final page that brings things into clear focus. Sejic includes references to previous incarnations of Joker in various Batman media adaptations now and again as nods to the past, which do not distract from the main story adds to the enjoyment of fans of the franchise. As a longtime fan of Sejic’s art, the book showcases it magnificently and frankly I wanted to go back through ignoring the text and study every panel again.Harleen is the story of an earnest, dedicated psychiatrist slowly through her own actions and skillful manipulation of her patient joins those she wanted to help. Stjepan Sejic’s wonderfully written and amazing drawn story is a must get for anyone that is a fan of the character or a fan of a well-constructed origin story.

[lea.pearl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The absolute best graphic novel I've read! Fantastic artwork and a fantastic story of Harleen Quinzel. What more can I say? It was perfect, I'd give 10 stars if I could.Highly recommend!

[n0ty0urcuppatea · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love makes you do crazy thingsI haven't read a lot of recent DC comics, but after seeing teaser images released by Stjepan Šejić via social media I had to read it. The art is superb . The story is great. These are versions of Harley Quinn and The Joker that I'd love to see more of. Harley's origin feels right and the bevy of Gotham's Finest (including The Batman) who make appearances fit right into the story.Bravo to all concerned for making this happen. Very highly recommended.