Strange Chemistry - by Steven Farmer (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This book opens the audience's eyes to the extraordinary scientific secrets hiding in everyday objects. Helping readers increase chemistry knowledge in a fun and entertaining way, the book is perfect as a supplementary textbook or gift to curious professionals and novices.

- Appeals to a modern audience of science lovers by discussing multiple examples of chemistry in everyday life
- Addresses compounds that affect everyone in one way or another: poisons, pharmaceuticals, foods, and illicit drugs; thereby evoking a powerful emotional response which increases interest in the topic at hand
- Focuses on edgy types of stories that chemists generally tend to avoid so as not to paint chemistry in a bad light; however, these are the stories that people find interesting
- Provides detailed and sophisticated stories that increase the reader's fundamental scientific knowledge
- Discusses complex topics in an engaging and accessible manner, providing the "how" and "why" that takes readers deeper into the stories

From the Back Cover

Did you know that many components of foods come from quite unexpected sources, for instance, Gummi Bears^(R) are actually made from cows, Junior Mints^(R) are shiny because they are coated with bug secretions, and many packaged luncheon meats have viruses added to them?

Strange Chemistry opens the audience's eyes to the extra-ordinary scientific secrets hiding in the everyday objects around them. The book covers broad subjects that touch on everyday life, including the chemistry of poisons, illicit drugs, explosives, foods, common household products, and radiation.

Readers will find the information not only intriguing, but also absorbing and edgy. Unlike other science interest books, Strange Chemistry focuses on the darker, wilder side of chemistry, which, unfortunately, most authors and chemistry teachers tend to avoid.

Helping readers increase chemistry knowledge in a fun and entertaining way, the book is perfect as a supplementary textbook or gift to curious professionals and novices.

Review Quotes

"Behind every chemist is a teacher who, by their enthusiasm, has made the subject interesting to his or her pupils. Dr. Farmer is such a teacher who has gone to great pains to make his subject relevant to his audience ... The author has composed over a hundred articles on various topics across the whole spectrum of chemistry ranging from the initial chapter on the nature of the chemical bond to the composition of road asphalt ... [this book] should be possessed by every chemistry teacher and I cannot recommend it too highly." Chromatographia, December 2017

"A chemistry professor teaches "the stories your chemistry teachers wouldn't tell you" through short, accessible lessons on drugs, deadly household items, mysteries of ordinary objects, and more ... Each lesson is no more than a few pages long and successfully shows how relevant chemistry is in everyday life ...The short sections and accessible language will keep readers' attention, and the frequent addition of molecular structures could be a useful addition to chemistry courses. An engaging chemistry lesson that also serves as an encyclopedia to understanding the world around us." Kirkus, January 2018


"The book is definitely recommended for chemists at all levels and to their students." Dansk Kemi, October 2018

About the Author

STEVEN FARMER, Ph.D., has worked as a chemistry instructor at California State University, Sacramento and at University of California, Davis. Currently, he holds the position of Professor of Chemistry at Sonoma State University (SSU). Dr. Farmer is a seasoned teacher with over a decade of experience teaching general chemistry, organic chemistry, and advanced organic synthesis courses. He has earned six teaching awards, including the Sarlo Excellence in Teaching Award, which is given to only one of the over 500 SSU faculty each year. He performs research involving chemical education and is actively involved in giving outreach lectures to the public.