Thursday, August 18, 2022

More than a little chemistry

New full-color graphic novel for teens and adults presents all one needs to know about the history of chemistry, why it is important, and how it is central to everyday life

Book Announcement

WORLD SCIENTIFIC

O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be 

IMAGE: COVER OF "O MG! HOW CHEMISTRY CAME TO BE" view more 

CREDIT: WORLD SCIENTIFIC

The history of chemistry is often missing from many modern science libraries for the layman and learner. O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be

Author Stephen M. Cohen, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry and has done comic strips and editorial cartoons in the past, discusses major chemical ideas and important scientists from around the world—from the conservation of matter to the existence of atoms and molecules, to Antoine Lavoisier and Marie Curie, and from environmental chemistry to polymers.

The “emcee” of the book’s historical tour is the molecular-shaped Ben Zene, with an eccentric sidekick in the form of ancient Greek philosopher Democritus, who first postulated atoms. The chemists presented in O Mg! often speak a phrase in their local language; contextual art, literature, music, history, politics, and even occasional dad-jokes and weird chemical facts also make an appearance in the panels.

Also in the work are occasional sidebars on chemical-related history and the arts, and factoids such as how US President A Herbert Hoover and Isreali President Chaim Weizmann influenced chemistry; how personal politics may have denied Gilbert Lewis the Nobel Prize; a Japanese tale of intrigue mingling with chemistry; and which chemist was the first living person to have an element named after him.

O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be retails for US$39.95 / £30 (paperback) and US$78 / £60 (hardcover) and is also available in electronic formats. To order or know more about the book, visit http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670.

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About the Author

Stephen Cohen has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Rice University, has traveled around the USA, Europe, and Middle East, and spent one year as a chemistry researcher in the UK. A free-lance writer and technical writer, he has published articles in both general-interest and peer-reviewed journals dealing with chemistry, chemical history, chemical literature in Yiddish, and genealogy. His other books include What’s in a Name?: A Young Person’s Jewish Genealogy WorkbookIntroductory Electrochemistry, and America’s Scientific Treasures: A Travel Companion, 2nd ed. Dr. Cohen also is a member of the Board of the Royal Society of Chemistry—US Section. As an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, he drew a daily comic strip, “Buffer’s Solutions,” for the Daily Pennsylvanian, and was Art Editor for Punch Bowl, the student humor magazine. One of his editorial cartoons appeared in a Union of Concerned Scientists calendar, and his articles appeared in the Journal of Irreproducible Results.

About World Scientific Publishing Co.

World Scientific Publishing is a leading international independent publisher of books and journals for the scholarly, research and professional communities. World Scientific collaborates with prestigious organisations like the Nobel Foundation and US National Academies Press to bring high quality academic and professional content to researchers and academics worldwide. The company publishes about 600 books and over 140 journals in various fields annually. To find out more about World Scientific, please visit www.worldscientific.com.

For more information, contact WSPC Communications at communications@wspc.com.

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