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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility The Science behind the Products You Love to Buy
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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility The Science behind the Products You Love to Buy Paperback - 2006

by Emsley, John.

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Emsley offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of 30 chemicals that we use everyday to make ourselves more beautiful, to improve our diet and sexual pleasure, to kill germs, and to ward off depression and other mental illnesses.

Reader reviews for Vanity, Vitality, and Virility The Science behind the Products You Love to Buy

From the publisher

What is the secret of shower cleaners? How does the dangerous explosive nitroglycerin ward off heart attacks? And what medicines, usually prescribed for other purposes, are said to produce the ultimate orgasm?
In Vanity, Vitality, and Virility, award-winning science writer John Emsley offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of 30 chemicals that we use everyday to make ourselves more beautiful, to improve our diet and sexual pleasure, to kill germs, and to ward off depression and other mental illnesses. Emsley looks at common compounds such as alpha-hydroxy acids, vitamin C, chlorine bleach, and Prozac, telling us if they work, how they work, and how they were discovered. Indeed, the book is packed with useful information and easy-to-digest science, and Emsley relates it all with a light touch that delights in the odd fact or amusing anecdote. Thus we learn of the "vitamin C tights" sold in Japan to make your legs more beautiful (they don't work) and of Cleopatra clever idea to bath in milk, which is filled with alpha-hydroxy acids. And we read about the unforgettable British researcher who demonstrated a powerful new drug for male erections at a Las Vegas convention--injecting himself with the compound and then "displaying the results" to a stunned lecture hall.
As with the much-loved Nature's Building Blocks, in John Emsley's hands, chemistry comes alive. Anyone curious about the ingredients in the products we use, and everyone fascinated with science, will be enthralled by this book.

First line

FEW OF US have the kind of perfect body that we see in advertisements, magazines, and films, and although we know that such perfection is more the work of a graphics department or make-up artist than a gift of Nature, we still seek to emulate it.

Details

  • Title Vanity, Vitality, and Virility The Science behind the Products You Love to Buy
  • Author Emsley, John.
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition First Edition
  • Publisher Oxford University Press, USA
  • Publication date October 13, 2006
  • Features Bibliography, Index, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780192806734

About the author

John Emsley is Science Writer in Residence in the Chemistry Department at the University of Cambridge. He wrote a "Molecule of the Month" column for the Independent for many years, received a Glaxo award for science writing and the Chemical Industries Association's President's Award for science communication. His books include Molecules in an Exhibition and Nature's Building Blocks.

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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science Behind the Products You Love to Buy
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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science Behind the Products You Love to Buy

by Emsley, John

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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science Behind the Products You Love to Buy

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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science Behind the Products You Love to Buy

Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science Behind the Products You Love to Buy

by Emsley, John

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Oxford University Press, USA, 2006. Paperback. Very Good. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility : The Science Behind the Products You Love to Buy

Vanity, Vitality, and Virility : The Science Behind the Products You Love to Buy

by John Emsley

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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science behind the Products You Love to Buy
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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science behind the Products You Love to Buy

by Emsley, John

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780192806734 / 0192806734
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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science behind the Products You Love to Buy
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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science behind the Products You Love to Buy

by Emsley, John

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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science behind the Products You Love to Buy
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Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science behind the Products You Love to Buy

by Emsley, John

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by Emsley, John

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