Chemistry World Book Club

May 24 2022 80 ep. 20 mins 1.9k

Chemistry World Book Club Podcast artwork

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 Taste for Poison

May 24 2022 18 mins

If you really want to develop an appreciation for those early pathologists who went so far as to taste-tested truly horrible samples from corpses to establish a system for detecting poisons, read a new book by US-based physiology and biophysics professor Neil Bradbury. We discuss Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers who used them: A Taste for Poison in our final episode of the C

Book club – Fresh Banana Leaves by Jessica Hernandez

Apr 13 2022 18 mins

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 Ch’orti’ and Zapotec environmental scientist Jessica Hernandez recounts case studies, personal stories and family histories that focus on

Book Club - Racing Green

Mar 07 2022 19 mins

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 Superheavy in 2019, the former Chemistry World comment editor chronicles how motorsport science is advancing and becoming more environmentally friendl

Book club – Sticky by Laurie Winkless

Feb 09 2022 18 mins

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 Winkless paints a vivid picture of the vast array of surfaces we interact with every day – and explores the mysteries we’re still unravelling about how those i

Her Hidden Genius

Jan 18 2022 19 mins

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, Benedict chronicles the life of Rosalind Franklin, an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer who laboured for years to uncover the st

Book club – Murder isn’t Easy

Dec 14 2021 19 mins

In this episode, we’re delving deep into the science of one of the best-selling fiction writers of all times: Agatha Christie. We look for evidence of her pioneering forensic writing with Murder Isn’t Easy: The Forensics of Agatha Christie, the second book by pathology technician and medical historian Carla Valentine. At a time when there was no internet and the word ‘forensi

Life as We Made It

Nov 09 2021 16 mins

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 fun personal anecdotes from her own life and research on ancient DNA to tell the story of the evolution of Earth and the life-forms it hos

Book club – The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean

Oct 12 2021 18 mins

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 Disappearing Spoon. In what is now his sixth book, Kean tells true stories of what happens when ambition pushes otherwise rational people to c

Book club – Deep Sniff by Adam Zmith

Sep 16 2021 14 mins

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 bars, corner shops and bedrooms. Zmith leads readers through the 19th century discovery of nitrites as an angina medication and its 20th ce

Book club – Lessons from Plants by Beronda Montgomery

Aug 10 2021 13 mins

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 organisms often treated as static and predictable. Writing about plants’ fascinating ability to perceive, adapt, communicate, decis