Everyday Amazing: Fascinating Facts about the Science That Surrounds Us
256
Everyday Amazing: Fascinating Facts about the Science That Surrounds Us
256Paperback
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Overview
Beatrice the Biologist is an easily amused former high school biology teacher with a soft spot for the mind-blowing science we encounter daily that we often take for granted. In Everyday Amazing, she shines the spotlight on ten different types of amazing everyday scientific facts in short chapters full of fun and fascinating tidbits bound to both entertain you and expand your horizons!
Learn the basics of atomic science, sound waves, bioscience, microbiology, and more in accessible chapters offering a fresh perspective on concepts you may have learned about, but aren’t totally clear on. Quirky illustrations throughout add to the fun!
Fall in love with science with Beatrice the Biologist in Everyday Amazing!
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781721400287 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Adams Media |
| Publication date: | 05/07/2019 |
| Pages: | 256 |
| Sales rank: | 1,034,866 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Introduction 15
Chapter 1 Teeny Tiny Building Blocks: Atoms and the Super Weird Stuff They Do 17
What We're Really Made Of: The Scoop on Atoms 18
So, Hey, Where'd You Get Your Atoms?: Why We Really Need to Eat 20
Getting Salty: Meet the Everyday Crystal, Sodium Chloride 24
Hot and Cold: The Fabulous Physics in a Cup of Coffee 28
The War That's Waged When We Wash Our Hands: How Soap Actually Works 31
Atoms in the Oven: The Chemistry of Toasting Bread 34
Most Mysterious: The Deal with Dark Matter 36
Chapter 2 The Waves All Around Us: A Tour of the Electromagnetic Spectrum 39
Welcome to the Universal: You're Surrounded by Waves 40
You Hear the Voices, Too, Right?: Radio Waves 43
Not Just for Popcorn: Microwaves 46
Smokin' Hot: Infrared Waves 48
See for Yourself: The Visible Spectrum 50
Feel the Burn: Ultraviolet Waves 52
Seeing Inside: X-Rays 54
Not Light, but Still Wavy: Sound 56
Chapter 3 This Lovely Space Rock: Earth's Atmosphere, Magnetic Field, and Surface 61
Take a Deep Breath: All about Air 63
Blue Skies and Sunsets: The Physics Behind the Colors above Us 66
Windy Weather: Why the Air Refuses to Sit Still 68
Shields Up!: How Our Magnetic Field Protects Us 71
Not-So-Solid Ground; The Science Beneath Your Feet 74
Fossil Fuels: How Ancient Dead Creatures Power Our Cars (but Really Shouldn't Because of Climate Change) 76
Our Little Space Stalker: The Moon! 78
Chapter 4 The Rocks on This Space Rock: Geology, Earth History, and the Elements We Encounter 85
Rocky Picture Show: The Stories of Sedimentary Rocks 86
Marble Countertops, Granite Floors: The Metamorphic and Igneous Rocks of Fancy Kitchens 89
Totally Metal: The Source of Our Favorite Shiny Things 93
Just Passing Through: Why Can We See Through Glass, Anyway? 97
Ooh, Shiny: Diamonds and Other Crystals 100
The Stuff of Cities: Cement and Asphalt 103
Chapter 5 Just a Blade of Grass: Photosynthesis Is Pretty Bonders 107
How Do Plants Do What They Do?: What Photosynthesis Really Is 108
Plants Make Do with So Little: Water, Sunlight, and a Breath of Fresh Air 113
Oh, and Plants Defy Gravity: How Water Travels from Root to Leaf 116
Growing Like Weeds: Why Weeds Are So Low Maintenance (and Sometimes Annoying) 117
The Food You Eat: How Every Bite Ultimately Comes from the Sun 120
Photosynthesis in the Sea: The Algae That Give Us Oxygen to Breathe 125
What We Do with Light: It's Time to Make Some Vitamin D 128
Chapter 6 Water, Water Everywhere: The Properties of Water That Make Life Possible 131
Water Has High Self-Esteem: How This Molecule Is Attracted to Itself, Seriously 132
Solid, Liquid, Gas: How We Experience Water 136
Thanks, Water!: How Water Lives Up to the Hype 140
Water, Water, Seriously Everywhere: The Everyday Water Cycle 144
What's in Your Water?: There's More Than Just Water in There 146
Quench Your Thirst: Why We Need to Stay Hydrated 148
Chapter 7 Small but Mighty: The Many Lives of Cells, from Stand-Alone Creatures to Multicellular Wonders Like Us 153
Your Start As One Cell: We All Have This Humble Beginning 154
Your Cells Now: The Types of Cells in Your Body 157
Ouch!: How Your Body Repairs Damage 159
Your Microbiome: The Cells in Your Body That Aren't Quite You 161
Bacterial Murderers: The Ins and Outs of Antibiotics 165
Cells Everywhere: We Live in a Microbial World 168
Tiny Deaths: When Our Cells Die but We Don't 171
Chapter 8 Our Squishy Brain Blob: Mind-Blowing Neuroscience 175
Look!: How Our Brains Attempt to Make Sense of Our Surroundings 177
Misremembering: We Forget That Our Memory Isn't So Accurate 182
Personalities and Clashes: If Only Everyone Was Just Like You 187
Stressed Out: How Our Brains Are Just Trying to Protect Us 190
Caring for Our Blobs: A Moment to Ponder Mental Health 194
Chapter 9 A Big Family Tree: Genetics and Evolution, and How All Living Things Are Related 199
Your Very Own DNA: Your Unique Sequence 201
Neanderthals Among Us: The Evolution of Our Species 207
Our Cousin, the Banana: How All Living Things Are Related 211
What We Did to Dogs: All about Artificial Selection 215
Cellular Stowaways: Viral DNA and Mitochondria Are Evolutionary Souvenirs 218
Chapter 10 Poop Is Relative: Nothing Really Goes to Waste, Including You When You Die 223
The Scoop on Poop: The Breakdown of an Average Poop 224
You and Urine: Why We Need to Pee 231
Feces As Food: Not All Living Things Think Poop Is Gross 234
When We Are Waste: Someday You'll Die, but That's Okay 237
Element Recycling: What Happens to Your Atoms in the End 242
References and Further Reading 247
Index 248