“Wait, I know that laugh…” – Han Solo, Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
Perhaps I’ve mentioned it before, perhaps not, but my brother-in-law, Uncle Owen, is a wicked, smart chemist. Uncle Owen, Ph.D, if you’re impressed by a lotta book learnin’ and credentials. He’s bonafide. He’s also useful to have around for those moments when people get themselves worked up into a lather about some chemical ingredient in our food, clothing, soap, or toys labels that will, obviously, launch us all onto the brink of the abyss. Sodium lauryl sulfate will poison us all…. *
Get it? Lather. Sodium lauryl sulfate. Get it? Get it? Never mind.
I find chemistry fascinating, sometimes perfectly incomprehensible but fascinating nonetheless. As such, I’m a total sucker for books, TV shows, and radio broadcasts that explain why things happen or don’t happen – such as MythBusters, Alton Brown’s Good Eats, NPR’s Science Friday, and Joe Schwarcz. What? Joe Schwarcz isn’t a celebrity around your place? But he’s fascinating. He writes about the chemistry of everyday life. I would love to be a student in one of his classes at McGill University, but sadly Montreal, Quebec is a bit of a commute for me.
I’m reading The Fly in the Ointment and Padawan Learner is starting That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles. He is a bit too mocking sometimes of people who worry about the long-term safety of food additives, non-degrading plastics in the environment and such, you can almost hear him laughing derisively from some of the pages, but mostly he’s a breath of fresh air in a world that increasingly seeks out the attention-grabbing headline and ignores the real story beneath the fold.
*Snopes, if you’re still worried.
I have to admit, I simply despise chemistry. It’s too hard for my simple mind.
I do like to watch Mythbusters and have a secret crush on the one who doesn’t have the red-mustache because extra book learnin’ is a real temperature riser in my book . . . but Alton Brown talks a bit too much for me. I just want him to get on with the cookin’! LOL!
I often wonder what living here is doing to our lungs. They burn EVERYTHING. Good for the trash bad for the air.
Mom #1: I feel the same way about philosophy. I despise it.
SabrinaT: It’s probably best not to think too much about it, since there isn’t a thing you can do about it.
I love science, I did the whole maths-science thing here for the last 2 years of school, and science at university (not that it did me any good – that’s what happens when you graduate in the middle of a recession
) But that was eons ago. now.
You might be interested in Dr Karl – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Kruszelnicki – he has a whole series of books on a variety of topics.
Emma: Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve got two of his books on hold now at the library.