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It's a Gas

The Magnificent and Elusive Elements that Expand Our World

By: Mark Miodownik

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eBook | 11 July 2024

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The secret life of gases - the strange, elusive and fascinating substances that shape our world, from the author of the best-selling, prize-winning Stuff Matters

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Why are most gases invisible, odourless and tasteless? Why do some poison us and others make us laugh? And why do some power our engines while others make drinks fizzy?

Gases illuminate the gap between the known and unknown worlds. It is their vivid intangibility, and yet their powerful role in our lives, which make them so fascinating.

Taking us back to that exhilarating -- and often dangerous -- moment when scientists tried to work out exactly what it was they'd discovered, we see gases as the formative substances of our modern world. From how nitrous oxide and chloroform get into our bloodstream and affect our neural pathways to the gases that make plants grow and flowers smell through to the carbon-fuelled climate crisis, Mark Miodownik masterfully reveals this invisible world through his unique brand of scientific storytelling.

With Miodownik as our guide, it transpires that each of these weird and wonderful substances has its own personality, giving a human angle to this fact-filled delight of a book.

'A witty, smart writer who has a great talent' Bill Gates