Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2015 - REFERENCE — Social & Behavioral Sciences — Urban Studies

Lying at the cusp of the trajectories of science journalism and journalistic science,100 Chemical Myths, written by a quartet of "magical" Hungarian chemists from the Universities of Szeged and Debrecen, entertainingly explains in spirited stories the misconceptions and misunderstandings embalmed within the discipline of chemistry, which have so often made it little more than alchemy.  Beginning with "Misconceptions in General" (12 myths), progressing to "Food" (25 myths) and "Medicine (34 myths), and ending with "Catastrophes, Poisons, Chemicals" (29 myths), the authors have hit their mark.  Their subjects, as seemingly incongruent as absinthe and ascorbic acid, cisplatin and thalidomide, DDT and MSG, Albert Szent-Györgi and Erin Brockovich, saccharin and sarin, and water and willow fever, all emerge harmoniously and ring true.  Fortunately, the authors have thoughtfully compiled a 30-page annotated bibliography to accompany their 100 myths, giving voice and validity to their stories.  Readers should especially take note of the foreword by syndicated journalist of theMontreal Gazette and McGill University professor Joe Schwarcz, the fifth Hungarian chemist and "magician."  What more could anyone ask for by way of authentication and citation?  Read on, everyone; then read again.  Here is chemistry, magically decoded.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.

Oxfords "Very Short Introductions" series began in 1995, with 300-plus volumes on numerous topics now available.  Here, Atkins (Lincoln College, Univ. of Oxford, UK), a prolific authore.g.,What Is Chemistry?(CH, May'14, 51-5027),Reactions (CH, Apr'12, 49-4464)writes a thoughtful introduction to physical chemistry.  He could easily have used text from his previous works for a book like this, but instead he created some new ways of looking at the disciplinefocusing on its contributions to modern science.  Physical chemistry relies heavily on mathematics, but Atkins works hard to avoid equations.  The closing sections of the chapters ("The Current Challenge") are enjoyable.  The author focuses on emerging fields, which he regards as the research interests of a hypothetical perfect research laboratory in modern physical chemistry, where collaboration with intellectually neighbouring disciplines should be the core strategy." Though the physical format of the book is small, the concepts remain large, so readers need a chemistry background to follow the text.  This would be a good book to require in a physical chemistry undergraduate course so students can appreciate what has been covered and anticipate the future in the field.  Atkins was the perfect choice for writing this book, and he did an outstanding job.Summing Up: Essential. Academic library collections.

Discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, radium was first heralded as a wonder element, a miraculous key for unlocking the secrets of life, and a research tool that could greatly advance medicine.  Radium not only caused mutations of genes (and thereby alteration of species) but also became a symbol for transmutation, disintegration, and decay in general.  Its effects could be disfiguring and deadly as well as lifesaving.  In four revealing case studies, Campos (history of science, Univ. of New Mexico) explores radium as a vitalizer (as associated with life-producing radiobes), a stimulant (e.g., in botany, as inducing and directing evolution), as a mutagen (in studies of fruit flies and plants), and as an analytical tool (as used to mutate genes).  He argues that radium cast the history of genetics in an entirely new light and even engendered a shift in the meaning of mutation itself.  Though fashionable for a time in the popular imagination as a miracle ingredient in everything from toothpaste to clock dials, radium was toxic and costly (because of its scarcity) and was supplanted by X-rays and safer radioactive elements.  This is a fascinating, informative look at how the discovery of a single element led to the transformation in understanding matter and life itself.Summing Up: Essential. All readers.