Philip Ball: H2O: A Biography of Water

H2O: A Biography of Water


Description

The brilliantly told and gripping story of the most familiar - yet, amazingly, still poorly understood - substance in the universe: Water. The extent to which water remains a scientific mystery is extraordinary, despite its prevalence and central importance on Earth. Whether one considers its role in biology, its place in the physical world (where it refuses to obey the usual rules of liquids) or its deceptively simple structure, there is still no complete answer to the question: what is water? Philip Ball's book explains what, exactly, we do and do not know about the strange character of this most essential and ubiquitous of substances. H20 begins by transporting its readers back to the Big Bang and the formation of galaxies to witness the birth of water's constituent elements: hydrogen and oxygen. It then explains how the primeval oceans were formed four billion years ago; where water is to be found on other planets; why ice floats when most solids sink; why, despite being highly corrosive, water is good for us; why there are at least fifteen kinds of ice and perhaps two kinds of liquid water; how scientists have consistently misunderstood water for centuries; and why wars have been waged over it. Philip Ball's gloriously offbeat and intelligent book conducts us on a journey through the history of science, folklore, the wilder scientific fringes, cutting-edge physics, biology and ecology, to give a fascinating new perspective on life and the substance that sustains it. After reading this book, drinking a glass of water will never be the same again.

The Pulitzer prize-winning novel from the author of the Booker longlisted My Name is Lucy Barton Olive Kitteridge: indomitable, compassionate and often unpredictable. A retired schoolteacher in H2O: A Biography of Water pdf a small coastal town in Maine, as she grows older she struggles to make sense of the changes in her life. She is a woman who sees into the hearts of those around her, their triumphs and tragedies. We meet her stoic husband, bound to her in a marriage both broken and strong, and a young man who aches for the mother he lost - and whom Olive comforts by her mere presence, while her own son feels overwhelmed by her complex sensitivities. A penetrating, vibrant exploration of the human soul, the story of Olive Kitteridge will make you laugh, nod in recognition, wince in pain, and shed a tear or two. Over 1000 questions to help students check they fully understand the physics of their A-level course. The highly successful Practice in Physics groups questions into familiar topics. Summary sections of key equations and concepts to be covered are included at the start of each chapter. These are followed by a variety of progressive questions designed to lead the students from the most basic application of each new idea through to a full understanding of the concepts involved.


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Author: Philip Ball
Number of Pages: 400 pages
Published Date: 05 Oct 2000
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
Publication Country: London, United Kingdom
Language: English
ISBN: 9780753810927
Download Link: Click Here
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