Joe Schwarcz

Un recorrido ameno por los misterios de la vida cotidiana que nos demuestra que la ciencia, bien explicada, siempre resulta más fascinante que cualquier doctrina esotérica al uso. ¿Por qué no debe usarse margarina light para freir? ¿Donde creian los griegos que estaba situada la puerta del infierno? ¿Existe alguna diferencia entre las vitaminas naturales y las sinteticas?.

¿Por qué no debe usarse margarina «light» para freír? ¿Dónde creían los griegos que estaba situada la puerta del infierno? ¿Existe alguna diferencia entre las vitaminas naturales y las sintéticas? Au

¡Olvídese de sus amargos días de instituto: la ciencia puedeser más divertida de lo que se piensa! ¿Qué sucede si se mezclan varios productos de limpieza? ¿Es dañino el selenio que contienen las nueces? ¿Realmente existen zombis en Haiti? ¿Hay alguna razon por la que algunas personas son calvas y otras no? ¿Por que la homeopatia y las medicinas alternativas tienen tan buena prensa?Por muy extrañas o disparatadas que puedan parecerle estas preguntas, existe una respuesta cientifica para cada una de ellas. A lo largo de estas paginas, Joe Schwarcz pasa revista a estas y otras muchas cuestiones con una ironia y un fino sentido del humor muy poco habitual, sobre todo si se tiene en cuenta que, ademas de ser un gran divulgador, es un excelente profesor de quimica. Fiel al estilo del que hizo gala en su anterior ¿Por que los gallos cantan al amanecer? Schwarcz vuelve a demostrar que la ciencia no esta reñida con la amenidad ni tampoco con la independencia. Basta con leer al azar alguno de los capitulos de este libro para, ademas de pasar un buen rato, descubrir que la vida es mucho mas compleja e interesante de lo que se pensaba y, sobre todo, de lo importante que es para nuestro futuro afrontar la realidad con una buena dosis de racionalismo.

Por muy extrañas o disparatadas que puedan parecerle estas preguntas, existe una respuesta científica para cada una de ellas. A lo largo de estas páginas, Joe Schwarcz pasa revista a éstas y otras muchas cuestiones con una ironia y un fino sentido del humor muy poco habitual, sobre todo si se tiene en cuenta que, ademas de ser un gran divulgador, es un excelente profesor de quimica.

National BestsellerFrom 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 with Brain Fuel.As with Dr. Joes previous best-selling books, Brain Fuel informs and entertains on a wild assortment of science-based topics. But this is not "science trivia." If you are looking for serious scientific discussions, youll find them here. If you are looking for practical consumer information, thats 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 Victorias previous seven; or why an iron rod that went through a mans 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.

The bestselling author of Brain Fuel and An Apple a Day reveals the science of being well, eating well, and staying well clear of "alternative therapy" charlatans.Health Labs theme is the most popular of Dr Joes specialities. There are riveting and sometimes hair-raising vignettes from the history of medicine and food production. There are reports aimed at equipping readers to recognize and beware muddled thinking, misunderstandings and deceptions in media stories about health and nutrition and in the claims made by the peddlars of "alternative" therapies. There is a wealth of information on the science of inner well-being and outer beauty. The secret to good health lies in understanding the chemistry involved. Ask Dr. Joe.

Prepare to be amazed once again.Did you know what when you shake a ketchup bottle youre practicing thixotropy? That the ancient Greeks made themselves look less ancient by inventing moisturizer? That the mysterious drug obecalp* is as effective as homeopathy and many herbal cures? From the bestselling author of An Apple a Day, Brain Fuel, and Science, Sense and Nonsense comes a fresh batch of inquiries into the science of everyday life. Dr. Joe, as he is affectionately known to millions of readers, listeners, viewers, and students, presents his third book in the Doubleday Canada series he launched with Brain Fuel.Using a Q&A format, it explains the world through science, and science through our common experience. There are sections on diet and nutrition, new drugs, and the dubious claims made for alternative remedies and beauty potions. There is a profusion of inspiring, enlightening, sometime just downright bizarre information drawn from the laboratory, from history, from our medicine cabinets and the bottles under our sinks. Science is everywhere, and Dr. Joe is keeping track - and doing it in a marvelously warm, eminently readable style. Let the brain sparks fly!*Try reading this word backwards.

When did "chemical" become a dirty word?Forty or so years ago, chemistry -- which had been recognized as a miracle-making boon to humanity - somehow became associated with warfare, sinister food additives, "toxins" and pollution.Its a situation that Dr. Joe Schwarcz aims to put into perspective. Yes, theres a downside to chemistry, he says, but this is dwarfed by its enormous benefits.Dr. Joes new collection of commentaries will inspire an appreciation for the science of everyday life, and equip you to spot the muddled thinking, misunderstandings and deceptions in media stories and advertising claims. Does organic food really always equal better food? Are vaccines dangerous? Will the latest health fad make you ill? Do expensive wrinkle creams do the job? What are the best ways to avoid cancer? The answers to such questions often lie in anunderstanding of the chemistry involved. Ask Dr. Joe.Science, Sense and Nonsense celebrates chemistrys great achievements, lambastes its charlatans, and explores its essential connections to our wellbeing. And does so in authoritative, highly readable, good humoured style.

A big part of Dr. Joes job as director of McGill Universitys Office of Science and Society is persuading people that the pursuit of science knowledge is a potential source of wonder, enlightenment and well-being for everyone. And as a chemist, hes particularly keen to rescue chemistry from the bad rep its developed over recent decades. There is more to chemistry than toxins, pollution, and "Dont drink that soda--its full of chemicals." The evangelic zeal Dr. Joe brings to his day job is of course also the driving force behind his work as an author. Once again, here he is to tell that everything is full of chemicals, and that chemistry means health, nutrition, beauty products, cleaning products, DNA, and the means by which Lady Gagas meat dress was held together. In the style established with the bestselling Brain Fuel, each section here is themed and contains a mixture of short, pithy items and slightly longer mini-essays. And as before--but never with such energy and relish--Dr. Joe goes on the attack against charlatans in the alternative health trade, naming and shaming them in a particularly entertaining and edifying section of the book called "Claptrap."You will learn whether to put broccoli on a pizza before or after baking, whether beauty pills are worth taking, and whether the baby shampoo youre using is poisonous. You will discover but not use, please, the recipe for a Molotov cocktail. You will be enabled to enthrall fellow dinner guests with the derivation of the name Persil, and the definition of a kangarian (its someone who only eats kangaroo meat).As ever, this torrent of entertainment is delivered in Dr. Joes unmistakably warm, lively and authorative voice.

La alimentación, las terapias alternativas, los peligros de los alimentos transgénicos o de los plásticos en nuestro día a día son solo algunos de los muchos temas que se tratan en Monos, mitos y moleculas.¿Por que conviene comerse las manzanas con piel? ¿Quien y cuando invento el retrete? ¿Contienen los helados petroleo? ¿Que metodo de vigorizacion testicular se hizo aplicar Sigmund Freud? ¿Quien invento el Napalm? ¿Sirve de algo la homeopatia?Joe Schwarcz nos da respuestas cientificas y rigurosas a todas estas preguntas y muchas mas.Nunca habrias imaginado que la quimica fuera tan vital y apasionante.

Verdade ou mito: uma maçã por dia mantém o médico afastado? Chá verde emagrece? Produtos orgânicos são mais saudáveis que os tradicionais? Em pouco tempo, esse livro tornou-se o best-seller número 1