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Science General

Let Them Eat Flax!

70 All-New Commentaries on the Science of Everyday Food & Life

by (author) Joe Schwarcz

Publisher
ECW Press
Initial publish date
Nov 2005
Category
General, General, Healthy Living, Questions & Answers
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781550226980
    Publish Date
    Nov 2005
    List Price
    $18.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781554902583
    Publish Date
    Nov 2005
    List Price
    $9.95

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Description

 

Award-winning author Joe Schwarcz continues his crusade against purveyors of poppycock as he investigates the surprising and sometimes sinister science of everyday food and life

Do you know if your waiter sings in the bathroom?

Or if the lady who whipped up the icing on your cake wore false fingernails?

When was the last time you microwaved your dishcloth?

Is your orange juice pasteurized?

The bestselling popular science author of A Grain of Salt serves up “interesting factoids about the way that science has helped shape our everyday lives” (Joe Culotti, PhD, professor of molecular and medical genetics, University of Toronto).

What difference does an atom make? It could mean life or death! Get the lowdown on oxygenated water, the healing powers of prayer, and the health benefits of chocolate. Could there be a link between McGill University and Jack the Ripper? Find out how cinnamon helps to counter high cholesterol, and learn just how sweet sugar alternatives can be.

In the tradition of Schwarcz’s five previous bestsellers, Let Them Eat Flax fries scientific baloney with humor, wit, and information. From food poisoning to the secret of the Stradivarius violin, fertilizers to spontaneous human combustion, Schwarcz investigates explosive subjects and delivers the unbiased, scientific facts readers need to make informed decisions in their everyday lives.

 

About the author

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 PigsThe Genie in the BottleThe Right ChemistryAn 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

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