National Bestseller From the #1 bestselling author a cornucopia of mind-expanding insights into the science of the real world. Dr. Joe as he is affectionately known to millions of readers, listeners, viewers, and students brings his magic formula to Doubleday Canada withBrain Fuel. As with Dr. Joe's previous best-selling books,Brain Fuelinforms and entertains on a wild assortment of science-based topics. But this is not "science trivia." If you are looking for serious scientific discussions, you'll find them here. If you are looking for practical consumer information, that's here too. If you are searching for ways to stimulate interest in science, look no further, Mom. And if you are simply wondering why the birth of Prince Leopold was so different from Queen Victoria's previous seven; or why an iron rod that went through a man's head is now on display in a museum in Boston; or why white chocolate has such a short shelf life; or why eggs terrified Alfred Hitchcock and what all of this means for the rest of us, and why then bingo. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Dr. Joe Schwarcz, a professor of chemistry, is director of the Office for Science and Society, dedicated to demystifying science for the public, at McGill University. He writes a weekly column in The Gazette, hosts the Dr. Joe Show on Montreal’s CJAD and Toronto’s CFRB, and has made hundreds of television appearances on the Discovery Channel, CBC, and CTV. He is the author of the bestselling An Apple a Day.

Introduction

We humans are a hungry lot. Like all other animals, we of course hunger for food. Unlike our fellow creatures, though, we hunger for something else as well. We hunger for knowledge. Some of this is for practical reasons. We want to know what to eat, what medications to take, what toxic substances to avoid and what to do about climate change. But we also hunger for knowledge just for its own sake. We are innately curious about our history, about the possibility of extraterrestrial life, about why a rose smells like a rose and about why we are curious about so many things. Our brains, like our bodies, constantly need fuel. This book aims to help satisfy that hunger.

This book aims to challenge, too. But, most assuredly, it is not a book of “science trivia.” Far from it. Each entry serves a purpose. Some offer serious scientific discussions relevant to daily life; others are designed to provoke a “Gee, I didn’t know that!” reaction. If you are looking for practical consumer information, it’s here as well. If you are searching for curious anecdotes to spice up a conversation, you’ll find plenty. And if all you want is some personal edification, just keep the book by your bedside, thumb through a few questions every night, and you’ll be smarter in the morning!Brain Fuelis nutrition for the brain. Digest the whole book and you’ll have a pretty good feel for what the pursuit of science is all about.

I also admit to another motive. To me, the pursuit of science is wondrous and satisfying. I of course realize that not everyone shares my passion, and nor does everyone need to, but I do feel that too many are missing out on the benefits that the fulfillment of scientific curiosity can bring to life, and I would like to remedy that. Curiosity, it has been said, is to science what a spark is to a flame. My hope is that at least for some of you, I can kindle that spark into a roaring flame. You will enjoy the internal warmth it provides. I certainly do.

So let’s get going. And the best way to get going is to take a look at where we have been. Let’s start by going back . . .



Potions from the past


What substance became known as “anaesthesia à la reine” after it was introduced in the nineteenth century?

Chloroform. The “reine” involved was Queen Victoria, the first monarch to give birth to a child under anaesthesia. Prince Leopold, the Queen’s eighth child, was born in 1853, after her physician, Dr. John Snow, had administered chloroform by holding a handkerchief saturated with the chemical over her majesty’s mouth. The results were so satisfactory that the Queen asked for chloroform for her next delivery as well, after which the chemical came to be known in Britain as “anaesthesia à la reine.”

Chloroform was first made by the French chemist Jean-Baptiste Dumas, who reacted acetic acid with chlorine, but its use as an anaesthetic was pioneered by James Simpson, a Scottish physician. On the fourth of November, 1847, Simpson and his friends, aware of the euphoria-inducing effects of substances such as laughing gas (nitrous oxide) and ether, sought a little entertainment by inhaling chloroform. After some initial hilarity, they all passed out. Simpson’s reaction, on waking, was that “this is far stronger and better than ether.” (Ether had been introduced the previous year by William Morton in Boston.) Four days later, Simpson successfully delivered a baby after chloroforming the mother. Within a month he had used chloroform on more than fifty patients, one of whom was so delighted with its effectiveness that she named her newborn daughter Anaesthesia.

The procedure was not without risk, and in 1848 the first death attributed to chloroform was recorded. The death of young Hannah Green

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Excerpted from Brain Fuel: 199 Mind-Expanding Inquiries into the Science of Everyday Life by Joe Schwarcz
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