The mythbuster and bestselling popular science author of A Grain of Salt tackles questions that show the scientific underpinnings of our culture

“A book with an incredibly high ‘Did you know that. . . “’ quotient . . . Completely captivating.” — New Brunswick Reader

Dr. Joe & What You Didn’t Know acts as both the source and satiation of scientific curiosity through a series of 177 chemistry-related questions and answers designed to both inform and entertain. From the esoteric to the everyday, the topics Dr. Joe Schwarcz tackles range from Beethoven’s connection to plumbing to why rotten eggs smell like rotten eggs.

How did a sheep, a duck, and a rooster usher in the age of air travel? What does Miss Piggy have to do with the World Cup? And is there really any danger in eating green potatoes? The answers to these whimsical questions and more are revealed in this collection in an accessible scientific fashion.

“Only Dr. Joe can turn the world’s most fascinating questions into a compelling journey through the great scientific mysteries of everyday life.” — Paul Lewis, former president and general manager, Discovery Channel

Joe Schwarcz is Director of the McGill Office for Science and Society. He is well known for his informative and entertaining public lectures on topics ranging from the chemistry of love to the science of aging. Dr. Joe has received numerous awards for teaching chemistry and for interpreting science for the public and is the only non-American ever to win the American Chemical Society’s prestigious Grady-Stack Award for demystifying chemistry. He hosts "The Dr. Joe Show" on Montreal's CJAD and has appeared hundreds of times on The Discovery Channel, CTV, CBC, TV Ontario and Global Television. He is also an amateur conjurer and often spices up his presentations with a little magic. Dr. Joe also writes a newspaper column entitled “The Right Chemistry” and has authored a number of books including best-sellers, Radar, Hula Hoops and Playful Pigs, The Genie in the Bottle, The Right Chemistry, An Apple a Day, Is That a Fact?, and Monkeys, Myths, and Molecules.  Dr. Joe was awarded the 2010 Montreal Medal, the Canadian Chemical Institute’s premier prize recognizing lifetime contributions to chemistry in Canada. In 2015 he was named winner of the Balles Prize for critical thinking by the US based Committee for Skeptical Inquiry in recognition of his 2014 book, Is That A Fact?

Joe Schwarcz's profile page

“A book with an incredibly high ‘Did you know that … “’ quotient … Completely captivating.” — New Brunswick Reader

“Only Dr. Joe can turn the world’s most fascinating questions into a compelling journey through the great scientific mysteries of everyday life.” — Paul Lewis, former president and general manager, Discovery Channel