Chemistry

FromChemistry World Book Club

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Chemistry

FromChemistry World Book Club

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Length:

21 minutes

Released:

Dec 1, 2017

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

This month we discuss Chemistry, in which First-time novelist Weike Wang takes us inside the mind of a Chinese American PhD student in Boston

Released:

Dec 1, 2017

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (77)

Meet the authors of the latest popular science books, and join Chemistry World for a review and discussion of the topics the book raises. Join in on twitter by using #bookclubCW

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A is for Arsenic: Welcome to our new monthly podcast, theChemistry World Book Club. Each month we’ll be sharing our thoughts on one of the latest popular science releases and interview the authors to find out what inspired them to write about science. Join us for a... by Chemistry World Book Club
21 min listen
Thing explainer: This month we discuss Thing explainer by Randall Munroe. In this book the creator attempts to explain things as diverse as the International Space Station and the human body, using only the most common ten hundred words in the English... by Chemistry World Book Club
24 min listen
We have no idea: Everything you need to know about everything we don’t yet know. This month’s book is We have no idea by the creators of PHD Comics, Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson. It discusses the great unsolved problems of physics in a way which is... by Chemistry World Book Club
21 min listen
Big data: does size matter?: This month, we discuss the benefits of big data and whether these are offset by their threat to privacy by Chemistry World Book Club
24 min listen
Furry logic: Evolution has created ingenious solutions to life’s problems. Some animals use physics in a way that stumps even the physicists. Turtles, for instance, venture thousands of miles across the ocean, yet return with precision to the exact beach from... by Chemistry World Book Club
21 min listen
The Elements of Power: This month we discuss by David Abraham. New technologies like smart phones and wind turbines are increasing the diversity of elements that humanitiy is ustilising. Amongst them are the rare metals, which may not acutually be rare, but they often... by Chemistry World Book Club
23 min listen
Why does asparagus make your wee smell?: This month we answer the profound qustion This is the title of Andy Brunning's new book, which addresses a smorgasbord of questions about food and drink in a scientific manner. You can read here, and . We want to include... by Chemistry World Book Club
27 min listen
Scientific Paper Writing – a Survival Guide: This month we discuss by Bodil Holst. Every budding researcher must eventually write a scientific paper, and yet how to do this is not something that is usually taught. Some supervisors provide excellent guidance and others – let's be diplomatic... by Chemistry World Book Club
29 min listen
Scientific Babel: This month we examine the history of scientific language, with Michael Gordin's book . We ask whether the mixture of science and language can be distilled, or if our reactions to words are too strongly bonded to their meaning. We'll discover how... by Chemistry World Book Club
27 min listen
Sorting the beef from the bull: This month we discuss by Richard Evershed and Nicola Temple. The horsemeat scandal opened our eyes to the fact that the food we eat is not always what it claims to be. Just how widespread is the problem, how do we detect it and what changes need... by Chemistry World Book Club
23 min listen
Science and the city: the mechanics behind the metropolis: In this month’s book club we discuss the technologies that help modern cities function by Chemistry World Book Club
21 min listen
The master algorithm: If there’s one thing we can learn from histroy it’s everything that there is to know. Or at least that’s the promise of machine learning. by Pedro Domingos tells us how machines that learn are starting to transform the world, bringing us... by Chemistry World Book Club
24 min listen
Grunt: the curious science of humans at war: This month we discuss by Mary Roach. The military is a huge investor in scientific and technological development. Mary Roach gained access to those who carry out research into those technologies of warfare that aren’t to do with weapons. Her... by Chemistry World Book Club
22 min listen
I contain multitudes: the microbes within us and a grander view of life: Some cleaning agents claim to kill 99.9% of all bacteria, but if preventing disease is the main aim, then maybe total annihilation isn’t the best course to take. We discuss this and other lessons we have learnt by studying the microbiome: the... by Chemistry World Book Club
20 min listen
Herding Hemingway's Cats: This month we discuss by Kat Arney. In Ernest Hemingway's house in Florida there is a family six-toed cats. Their appearance is caused by a mutation in the molecular switch that controls the Sonic hedgehog gene. These cats provided Kat Arney... by Chemistry World Book Club
1 min listen
Adventures in the Anthropocene: A journey to the heart of the planet we made by Chemistry World Book Club
22 min listen
The telomere effect: We would all love the gift of eternal youth. That remains a dream, but there are things we can actively do to resist the effects of ageing. One proven approach is to protect our telomeres, the short chains of DNA that cap our chromosones. The telomere... by Chemistry World Book Club
22 min listen
Bring back the king: Almost a decade after its extinction, the Pyrenean ibex became newly un-extinct thanks to cloning. But what are the limits of this technology? Could we one day visit a real-life Jurassic Park? Bring back the king by Helen Pilcher recounts the... by Chemistry World Book Club
24 min listen
The death of expertise: The mass disparagement of knowledge is a recent phenomenon. Apparently we’ve all had enough of experts, and facts aren’t important, as there are always alternatives. In , Tom Nichols considers how facts fell out of favour, and what it means for... by Chemistry World Book Club
21 min listen
Frankenstein: annotated for scientists and engineers: Next year will see the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelly's classic, Frankenstein; or, the modern Prometheus. To celebrate this, a new edition has been release with annotations aimed at scientists and engineers. This edition of... by Chemistry World Book Club
25 min listen
Why science is sexist: This month we discuss by Nicola Gaston. That science is sexist – it is. Rather, she wants to know why a field that prides itself in being rational should behave so illogically.We discuss the research she presents on unconscious bias, in... by Chemistry World Book Club
23 min listen
Homo deus and the best books of 2016: Yuval Noah Harari likes the big topics. His last book, Sapiens attempted to explain everything that has happened in the history of humanity. In his latest book he examines everything that will happen in humanity’s future. In part 1 of the podcast,... by Chemistry World Book Club
38 min listen
More molecules of murder: This month we discuss More molecules of murder, in which John Emsley meets your morbid fascination with stories of true crime and the poisons involved by Chemistry World Book Club
20 min listen
A course in deception: Things go from bad to worse for Mackenzie Smith when her data disappears, her lab rats are killed, and she is accused of fraud. But slowly she stars to discover who might be behind her misfortune following a series of clues her late colleague left... by Chemistry World Book Club
21 min listen
The angry chef: Dodgy dietary advice is everywhere, from bite-size morsels on social media to an all-you-can-eat buffet of books on how to eat ‘well’. ‘Lifestyle gurus’ dish up directions such as ‘cut out gluten’ or ‘consume like a caveman’, but much... by Chemistry World Book Club
25 min listen
The secret life of fat: Fat might not be fashionable, but it is essential. It is a living organ that communicates with the brain, controlling our behaviour and even influencing our reproductive cycles. These facts and more form the the subject of The secret life of fat:... by Chemistry World Book Club
22 min listen
Liquid: This month’s podcast features material scientist Mark Miodownik’s latest book Liquid: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives. Fascinated by what defines a liquid and the mechanisms behind their working, the... by Chemistry World Book Club
19 min listen
The Element in the Room: For this month’s podcast, we peruse Steve Mould and Helen Arney’s new book: The Element in the Room. Inspired by the popular science stand-up show, Festival of the Spoken Nerd, the book takes us on an energetic journey of discovery... by Chemistry World Book Club
22 min listen
Inventing Ourselves: This month's podcast features Inventing Ourselves by cognitive neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. The book explores the complex changes that take place in the human brain during adolescence and typical teenage behaviours such... by Chemistry World Book Club
21 min listen
Chemistry World at the Hay Festival: Join Emma Stoye at the Hay Festival of Literature & Arts in Hay-on-Wye, Wales. She speaks to New Scientist's Rowan Hooper about his book Superhuman, finds out from Philip Ball why quantum physics is Beyond Weird, and discusses the genesis of... by Chemistry World Book Club
30 min listen

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Book club – Fresh Banana Leaves by Jessica Hernandez: Indigenous communities are among the most affected by climate change, yet their work and knowledge has long been dismissed as unscientific. In her first book Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science, Maya... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Book Club - Racing Green: This episode examines the science behind auto racing by digging into Racing Green: How Motorsports Became Smarter, Safer, Cleaner and Faster, by science journalist and science historian Kit Chapman. In this his second book, following... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Book club – Sticky by Laurie Winkless: Why is duct tape the answer to fixing everything? How do geckos cling to walls? And what, exactly, keeps our car tyres rolling down the road? In Sticky: The Secret Science of Surfaces, physicist and science writer Laurie... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Her Hidden Genius: In this episode, we discuss Her Hidden Genius. It’s the new book by Marie Benedict, a lawyer and best-selling author who unearths the historical stories of women who have left important legacies. In this her third book about a female scientist,... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Book club – Murder isn’t Easy: In this episode, we’re delving deep into the science of one of the best-selling fiction writers of all times: . We look for evidence of her pioneering forensic writing with Murder Isn’t Easy: The Forensics of Agatha Christie, the second... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Life as We Made It: This episode is for anybody interested in how human beings have altered the world around us since we came on the scene tens of thousands of years ago. University of California Santa Cruz evolutionary biologist Beth Shapiro weaves fascinating and... by Chemistry World Book Club
16 min listen
Book club – The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean: This month, we’re reading The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science. It’s the new book by Sam Kean, who many might know as the author of the periodic table book The... by Chemistry World Book Club
18 min listen
Book club – Deep Sniff by Adam Zmith: In this episode, we’ll tackle Deep Sniff: A History of Poppers and Queer Futures by Adam Zmith. In his first book, Zmith blends historical research with wry observation to tell the story of how amyl nitrites wafted out of the lab and into gay... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Book club – Lessons from Plants by Beronda Montgomery: This episode is for all those people who have turned to gardening or amassed houseplants during the Covid lockdowns as we’ll be talking about Lessons from Plants. In it, the biochemist Beronda Montgomery explores the vigorous and creative life of... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Book club – Science in Black and White by Alondra Oubré: In this month’s episode we’ll talk about Science in Black and White: How Biology and Environment Shape Our Racial Divide by medical anthropologist Alondra Oubré. She delves into the science behind the nature versus nurture debate... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Book club – Vampirology by Kathryn Harkup: Get your garlic and crucifix ready as we tackle Kathryn Harkup’s latest book Vampirology: The Science of Horror’s Most Famous Fiend. Harkup is a chemist and science communicator, and an expert at casting a scientific eye on cultural phenomena,... by Chemistry World Book Club
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Chemistry

Chemistry

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Titles in the series (77)

More Episodes from Chemistry World Book Club