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As I begin to write this book review, I look to the side of my desk to notice an article that was co-written by Joe Schwarcz about the classic “blue bottle” experiment (1). You see, Schwarcz tied this experiment to a medical mystery involving the Melungeons, a people almost exclusive to Southwest Virginia and my native Southeastern Kentucky. Melungeons, not particularly well accepted in our society in past generations, have skin that appears blue due to a gene that causes the production of methemoglobin in the blood stream. I had always heard of neighbors called “Blue Bill” or whoever—and that’s why. Schwarcz and his cohorts at McGill University’s Office of Science and Society have spent their entire professional careers highlighting both good and bad science in everyday living. They have their own radio show on stations in both Montreal and Toronto, and part of their work appears in The
Fly in the Ointment.
One of the guidelines that the book review editor passes along to reviewers is that a review should not be a simple regurgitation of chapter titles. However, the 70 stories that make up this book have clever titles such as Waxing Lyrical About Fruit Wax, I’m a Bread and Proprionates Man, and The Swedish Blondes Who Turned Green. Going Through a Phase relates the story of a cook who was to be hanged by King Charles IX of France for stealing silverware. The cook would be given a reprieve if he survived a sort of primitive clinical trial of swallowing a bezoar stone followed by (at the suggestion of the royal physician) “bichloride of mercury”. Needless to say, the cook died anyway. Why should we care? The rest of that chapter discusses the steps taken to study the effects of a drug before its release to the general public. In Calm Down, a discussion about the use of lithium carbonate for treating manic depression, one learns that Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda was introduced in 1929 with the slogan “Takes the ‘ouch’ out of ‘grouch’” and listed lithium as an ingredient. This soft drink still exists today—as 7-Up.
Schwarcz spends much of the book debunking myths such as the benefits of coral calcium or that bologna causes paint corrosion on cars. It is a well-written book that can be read by anyone with a modicum of scientific training. My only complaint is that he uses the terminology “chromium-3” and “chromium-6” to describe these two ions, but that is no big deal for a book that is aimed toward the nonscientist. The best use of the book is by scientists who make public presentations of everyday science; these folks can enhance their explanations or add a demonstration after reading this text. The book is well worth its price and should be on everyone’s bookshelf.
Literature Cited
- Fenster, A. E.; Harpp, D. N.; Schwarcz, J. A. J. Chem. Educ. 1988, 65, 621.
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