Caesar's Last Breath
By
Sam Kean
Read by
Sam Kean,
Ben Sullivan
Release:
07/18/2017
Release:
07/18/2017
Runtime:
10h 34m
Runtime:
10h 34m
Quantity:
“Narrator Ben Sullivan makes the stories of scientists like James Watt, Joseph Priestley, and Alfred Nobel entertaining, reading with humor, humanity, and drama. Whether it’s the twisted story of laughing gas, with its permutations as a hallucinogen and an anesthetic, or the horrible use of chlorine gas in WWI, there’s always a human angle linked to gases. Even listeners who get nothing from the mathematics of molecules will be fascinated by the history recounted and the people who lived it. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
AudioFile
AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
An AudioFile Best Audiobook of the Year for 2017
The Guardian's Best Science Book of 2017: the fascinating science and history of the air we breathe.
It's invisible. It's ever-present. Without it, you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell.
In Caesar's Last Breath, New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table, around the globe, and across time to tell the story of the air we breathe, which, it turns out, is also the story of earth and our existence on it. With every breath, you literally inhale the history of the world.
On the ides of March, 44 BC, Julius Caesar died of stab wounds on the Senate floor, but the story of his last breath is still unfolding; in fact, you're probably inhaling some of it now. Of the sextillions of molecules entering or leaving your lungs at this moment, some might well bear traces of Cleopatra's perfumes, German mustard gas, particles exhaled by dinosaurs or emitted by atomic bombs, even remnants of stardust from the universe's creation.
Tracing the origins and ingredients of our atmosphere, Kean reveals how the alchemy of air reshaped our continents, steered human progress, powered revolutions, and continues to influence everything we do. Along the way, we'll swim with radioactive pigs, witness the most important chemical reactions humans have discovered, and join the crowd at the Moulin Rouge for some of the crudest performance art of all time. Lively, witty, and filled with the astounding science of ordinary life, Caesar's Last Breath illuminates the science stories swirling around us every second.
It's invisible. It's ever-present. Without it, you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell.
In Caesar's Last Breath, New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table, around the globe, and across time to tell the story of the air we breathe, which, it turns out, is also the story of earth and our existence on it. With every breath, you literally inhale the history of the world.
On the ides of March, 44 BC, Julius Caesar died of stab wounds on the Senate floor, but the story of his last breath is still unfolding; in fact, you're probably inhaling some of it now. Of the sextillions of molecules entering or leaving your lungs at this moment, some might well bear traces of Cleopatra's perfumes, German mustard gas, particles exhaled by dinosaurs or emitted by atomic bombs, even remnants of stardust from the universe's creation.
Tracing the origins and ingredients of our atmosphere, Kean reveals how the alchemy of air reshaped our continents, steered human progress, powered revolutions, and continues to influence everything we do. Along the way, we'll swim with radioactive pigs, witness the most important chemical reactions humans have discovered, and join the crowd at the Moulin Rouge for some of the crudest performance art of all time. Lively, witty, and filled with the astounding science of ordinary life, Caesar's Last Breath illuminates the science stories swirling around us every second.
Release:
2017-07-18
2017-07-18
Runtime:
Runtime:
10h 34m
10h 34m
Format:
audio
audio
Weight:
0.0 lb
0.95 lb
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781478986058
9781478950523
Praise