It's a Gas - The Magnificent and Elusive Elements that Expand Our World

<''A delight'' Dara O Briain

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

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? In It''s a Gas, Mark Miodownik masterfully reveals an invisible world through his unique brand of scientific storytelling.

Taking us back to that exhilarating - and often dangerous - moment when scientists tried to work out exactly what they had discovered, Miodownik shows that gases are the formative substances of our modern world, each with its own weird and wonderful personality.
We see how seventeenth-century laughing gas parties led to the first use of anaesthetics in surgery, how the invention of the air valve in musical instruments gave us bicycles, cars and trainers, and how gases made us masters of the sea (by huge steamships) and skies (via extremely flammable balloons). This delight of a book reveals the immense importance of gases to modern civilisation.<>

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A delight Dara O Briain

Product details

• Authors: Mark Miodownik
• Publisher: Penguin Books Uk
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 27.02.2025
• EAN: 9780241985595
• ISBN: 978-0-241-98559-5
• No. of pages: 288
• Dimensions: 129 mm x 198 mm x 15 mm
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general); SCIENCE / Global Warming & Climate Change, SCIENCE / Chemistry / General, SCIENCE / Applied Sciences, Philosophy of Science, chemistry, History of Science, Impact of science & technology on society, Impact of science and technology on society, Energy technology and engineering, TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Materials Science / General, SCIENCE / Chemistry / Environmental, Physics of gases