Welcome to Litsy!

Everything on Earth is made from the same handful of substances with properties that vary dramatically based on the proportions and structure of their combinations. Tiny changes have had enormous effects on human history, and we often don't know whether those changes are positive, negative, or both until well after the fact. At times overly simplistic, overall this book provides an intriguing perspective on how chemistry shapes our world.

My son and I finished this book about molecules that changed the world (review to follow), and in the last chapter found this bit about chloroquine. I was a little more excited about the link to current events than my ten-year-old was. Actually, I'm more excited about the book overall than he is. He's more into Captain Underpants right now.

"Theophylline, found in tea, and theobromine, in cocoa, differ from caffeine only in the number of CH3 groups attached to the rings of the structure...this very small change of molecular structure accounts for the different physiological effect of these molecules."

Also, theobromine, found in cacao, comes from the Greek for "food of the gods." (Theophylline appears to derive from "leaf of the gods," but the book doesn't say this.)

An excerpt from our chemistry reading for the day. It's always a silly thrill to find places I know in books I'm reading. I had no idea that the town where our previous orthodontist was located was so significant in the history of oral contraceptives. Not pictured here are the researchers' interesting workarounds for Massachusetts's draconian laws at the time.

"It has been estimated that one ounce of botulinum toxin A could kill 100 million people."

I'm not sure it changes my thinking on preservatives, but it does give me something else to be paranoid about. Yay, reading!

Yeah!!! I finally came home from such a long day to be able to open my #nonfictionbookexchange2018 package!! Thank you SO much for the book love @REPollock I‘m so excited to read these guys! @inwhichHeikereadsharder for setting this up! I hope everyone‘s #2018NFBE was as good as mine! ❤️