Picks

ChemEd X contributors and staff members are continually coming across items of interest that they feel others may wish to know about. Picks include, but need not be limited to, books, magazines, journals, articles, apps—most anything that has a link to it can qualify.

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pick
That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles: 62 All-New Commentaries on the Fascinating Chemistry of EverydayLife
// Saturday, November 1, 2003 • Hal Harris
Joe Schwarcz's books are irresistible for "Hal's Picks" because they constitute just the kind of morsels that I look for - the connections between what we teach in chemistry courses and the world in which our students (and we) live. My only surprise in this book was that Prof. Schwarcz was able to come up with so many additional high-quality essays.
Uncle Tungsten: Memoirs of a Chemical Boyhood
// Wednesday, October 1, 2003 • Hal Harris
I was finally impelled to read "Uncle Tungsten", which had been recommended by innumerable chemist friends, because of the opportunity to meet the author at the ACS meeting in New York last month.
The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint
// Monday, September 1, 2003 • Hal Harris
It's about time that somebody should write this book, and there is no better "somebody" for the job than Edward Tufte, author of thoughtful and beautiful books about the presentation of scientific data (see Hal's Picks for August, 1998 and
The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works
// Friday, August 1, 2003 • Hal Harris
Who doesn't like Harry Potter? I suppose there must be some such person, but it is hard to criticize a book series that has youngsters eager to gobble up 700 pages, even if they were not as creative and entertaining as they are. If you have read some or all of the books, I'm sure that you noticed all the science they contain. No? Me neither.
Bottled Twaddle: Is Bottled Water Tapped Out?
// Tuesday, July 1, 2003 • Hal Harris
Why would someone spend more for a quart of water than a gallon of gasoline? Perhaps you would pay even more if you were dying of thirst and the only available water was in the hands of an evil extortionist. But why do so, if there is abundant, safe, tasty, and cheap water provided by a public utility?