Phosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal substances on earth: firebombs, rat poison, nerve gas. But it's also the key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer, which has sustained life for billions of people. In this major work of explanatory science and environmental journalism, Pulitzer Prize finalist Dan Egan investigates the past, present, and future of what has been called the oil of our time.

The story of phosphorus spans the globe and vast tracts of human history. First discovered in a seventeenth-century alchemy lab in Hamburg, it soon became a highly sought-after resource. The race to mine phosphorus took people from the battlefields of Waterloo, which were looted for the bones of fallen soldiers, to the fabled guano islands off Peru, the Bone Valley of Florida, and the sand dunes of the Western Sahara. Over the past century, phosphorus has made farming vastly more productive, feeding the enormous increase in the human population. Yet, as Egan harrowingly reports, our overreliance on this vital crop nutrient is today causing toxic algae blooms and dead zones in waterways from the coasts of Florida to the Mississippi River basin to the Great Lakes and beyond. Egan also explores the alarming reality that diminishing access to phosphorus poses a threat to the food system worldwide--which risks rising conflict and even war.

With The Devil's Element, Egan has written an essential and eye-opening account that urges us to pay attention to one of the most perilous but little-known environmental issues of our time.

In Molecules, bestselling author Theodore Gray demonstrates, through stunning, never-before-seen images and illustrations, how the elements of the periodic table combine to form the molecules that make up our world.

Everything physical is made up of the elements and the infinite variety of molecules they form when they combine with each other. In Molecules, Theodore Gray takes the next step in the story that began with the periodic table in his best-selling book, The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe. Here, he explores, through fascinating stories and trademark stunning photography, the most interesting, essential, useful, and beautiful of the millions of chemical structures that make up every material in the world.

Gray begins with an explanation of how atoms bond to form molecules and compounds, as well as the difference between organic and inorganic chemistry. He then goes on to explore the vast array of materials molecules can create, including: soaps and solvents; goops and oils; rocks and ores; ropes and fibers; painkillers and dangerous drugs; sweeteners; perfumes and stink bombs; colors and pigments; and controversial compounds including asbestos, CFCs, and thimerosal.

Big, gorgeous photographs, as well as diagrams of the compounds and their chemical bonds, rendered with never before seen beauty, fill the pages and capture molecules in their various states.

As he did in The Elements, Gray shows us molecules as we've never seen them before. It's the perfect book for his loyal fans who've been eager for more and for anyone fascinated with the mysteries of the material world.

Phosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal substances on earth: firebombs, rat poison, nerve gas. But it's also the key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer, which has sustained life for billions of people. In this major work of explanatory science and environmental journalism, Pulitzer Prize finalist Dan Egan investigates the past, present, and future of what has been called the oil of our time.

The story of phosphorus spans the globe and vast tracts of human history. First discovered in a seventeenth-century alchemy lab in Hamburg, it soon became a highly sought-after resource. The race to mine phosphorus took people from the battlefields of Waterloo, which were looted for the bones of fallen soldiers, to the fabled guano islands off Peru, the Bone Valley of Florida, and the sand dunes of the Western Sahara. Over the past century, phosphorus has made farming vastly more productive, feeding the enormous increase in the human population. Yet, as Egan harrowingly reports, our overreliance on this vital crop nutrient is today causing toxic algae blooms and dead zones in waterways from the coasts of Florida to the Mississippi River basin to the Great Lakes and beyond. Egan also explores the alarming reality that diminishing access to phosphorus poses a threat to the food system worldwide--which risks rising conflict and even war.

With The Devil's Element, Egan has written an essential and eye-opening account that urges us to pay attention to one of the most perilous but little-known environmental issues of our time.

Small molecules cause big problems in our modern world. Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas and the principal component of natural gas. It is currently squeezing the Earth, challenging our long-term survival. But, can it be reimagined and repurposed to play a constructive role in a future sustainable economy?

This book explores the contradictory nature of methane, since it is a potent greenhouse gas, but has the potential to play an important role in the energy transition towards a sustainable global economy. Are we crushing it? In that we can and must transform methane into a clean fuel, feedstock or hydrogen carrier for the green economy. Or is methane crushing it? Our one world will soon be crushed by methane and other molecules if we are either unable or unwilling to transform methane fast enough to save ourselves and the planet.

Written by distinguished scientists, this book appeals to a broad spectrum of academic and industrial communities, as well as the public and policy makers with an interest in how this small molecule, consisting of just five atoms, has had such a profound impact.

Students learn concepts on a need-to-know basis, evaluate data, and make decisions based on their observations and knowledge gained through the curriculum. The text features embedded labs and activities that give students the opportunity to apply their knowledge of chemistry. Each unit ends with an putting it all together (PIAT) activity, where students collaborate and use their knowledge gained throughout the chapter, both chemistry and real-life scenarios, to evaluate a potentially real-life problem.

Visit the website for more information: http: //www.acs.org/chemcom

This replaces the 6th edition published by W.H. Freeman
ISBN-13: 978-1429219525
ISBN-10: 1429219521

Unlike many titles on environmental issues that portend a dark future, Environmental Success Stories delves into the most daunting ecological and environmental challenges humankind has faced and shows how scientists, citizens, and a responsive public sector have dealt with them successfully.

In addition to presenting the basic chemical and environmental science underlying problems like providing clean drinking water, removing DDT and lead from agriculture and our homes, and curtailing industrial pollution, this book also discusses the political actors, agency regulators, and community leaders who have collaborated to enact effective legislation. Sharing the stories of the people, organizations, and governments who have addressed these problems successfully, Frank M. Dunnivant explains how we might confront the world's largest and most complex environmental crisis: climate change. Now is the time for rededicated scientific exploration and enlightened citizen action to save our environment, and Dunnivant's book offers a stirring call to action.

The book The Gases of the Atmosphere: The History of Their Discovery, has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are extensively used in consumer products, despite their high persistence and other hazards. The risks posed by this chemical class to human health and the environment, which are increasingly becoming understood, have triggered regulation and policy changes. However, safer alternatives to these technically effective materials and methods to discover and use those alternatives are still under development. Remediation of PFAS contaminated sites will not solve the growing worldwide pollution, but substitution with safer substances at the formulation and manufacturing phases will at least abate the flow of PFASs into our bodies and environment.

Introducing safer alternatives to some of the PFASs of concern used in select industry sectors, this book informs the reader about the processes of chemical hazard and alternatives assessment that can foster innovation. It is a valuable resource for both green chemists and industrial chemists interested in how they can make their products safer without compromising on function.

Nuked recounts the long-term effects of radiological exposure in St. Louis, Missouri--the city that refined uranium for the first self- sustaining nuclear reaction and the first atomic bomb. As part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II, the refining created an enormous amount of radioactive waste that increased as more nuclear weapons were produced and stockpiled for the Cold War.

Unfortunately, government officials deposited the waste on open land next to the municipal airport. An adjacent creek transported radionuclides downstream to the Missouri River, thereby contaminating St. Louis's northern suburbs. Amid official assurances of safety, residents were unaware of the risks. The resulting public health crisis continues today with cleanup operations expected to last through the year 2038.

Morice attributes the crisis to several factors. They include a minimal concern for land pollution; cutting corners to win the war; new homebuilding practices that spread radioactive dirt; insufficient reporting mechanisms for cancer; and a fragmented government that failed to respond to regional problems.

A dynamic and sweeping history that exposes how humankind's affinity for pesticides made the modern world possible--while also threatening its essential fabric.

For thousands of years, we've found ways to scorch, scour, and sterilize our surroundings to make them safer. Sometimes these methods are wonderfully effective. Often, however, they come with catastrophic consequences--consequences that aren't typically understood for generations.

The Chemical Age tells the captivating story of the scientists who waged war on famine and disease with chemistry. With depth and verve, Frank A. von Hippel explores humanity's uneasy coexistence with pests, and how their existence, and the battles to exterminate them, have shaped our modern world. Beginning with the potato blight tragedy of the 1840s, which led scientists on an urgent mission to prevent famine using pesticides, von Hippel traces the history of pesticide use to the 1960s, when Rachel Carson's Silent Spring revealed that those same chemicals were insidiously damaging our health and driving species toward extinction. Telling the story of these pesticides in vivid detail, von Hippel showcases the thrills and complex consequences of scientific discovery. He describes the invention of substances that could protect crops, the emergence of our understanding of the way diseases spread, the creation of chemicals used to kill pests and people, and, finally, how scientists turned those wartime chemicals on the landscape at a massive scale, prompting the vital environmental movement that continues today.

The Chemical Age is a dynamic, sweeping history that exposes how humankind's affinity for pesticides made the modern world possible--while also threatening its essential fabric.

Water Chemistry provides students with the tools needed to understand the processes that control the chemical species present in waters of both natural and engineered systems. After providing basic information about water and its chemical composition in environmental systems, the text covers theoretical concepts key to solving water chemistry problems.

Water Chemistry emphasizes that both equilibrium and kinetic processes are important in aquatic systems. The content focuses not only on inorganic constituents but also on natural and anthropogenic organic chemicals in water. This new edition of Water Chemistry also features updated discussions of photochemistry, chlorine and disinfectants, geochemical controls on chemical composition, trace metals, nutrients, and oxygen.

Quantitative equilibrium and kinetic problems related to acid-base chemistry, complexation, solubility, oxidation/reduction reactions, sorption, and the fate and reactions of organic chemicals are solved using mathematical, graphical, and computational tools. Examples show the application of theory and demonstrate how to solve problems using algebraic, graphical, and up-to-date computer-based techniques. Additional web material provides advanced content.

What was unthinkable until recently is now increasingly in the news: geoengineering. For instance, we hear about billionaires like Bill Gates advocating for projects that would dim the Sun in response to 'climate change.' Additionally, universities are conducting more and more research into large-scale interventions in nature, purportedly to reduce CO2 emissions and combat global warming. Ideas such as placing mirrors in space, 'fertilizing' oceans, whitening clouds, and dispersing chemicals into the stratosphere are no longer seen as far-fetched-they are becoming potential global-scale solutions to 'save' humanity.

Leaving aside the question of whether these measures are truly necessary, critics argue that geoengineering is far too dangerous. We have only one planet, and if something goes wrong, the consequences could be immediate and irreversible. Is the cure worse than the disease? The long-term, widespread use of toxic chemicals could have enormous consequences for all forms of life, including humans.

However, what is often overlooked in this debate is that geoengineering may have already been underway for years. Since the 1990s, aircraft have allegedly been spraying chemicals into the atmosphere-commonly referred to as 'chemtrails.' Although this has long been dismissed as a 'conspiracy theory, ' increasing evidence is coming to light. For example, questions about geoengineering have recently been raised in both the US Senate and the House of Representatives, and several US states have enacted laws banning geoengineering (chemtrails) over their territories. More and more people are becoming aware that something unusual is happening above their heads-artificial silvery skies have been replacing the once-vibrant blue skies for years.

Aerospace engineer Dr Coen Vermeeren has studied this complex issue for over 20 years. In this book, he shares the evidence for chemtrails and explains why they are not just another conspiracy theory. He clarifies how aircraft contrails form and how they differ from chemtrails. What chemicals are being spread by certain aircraft, how and where this occurs, and most importantly-why and by whom? What are the consequences for humans and the environment? With clear examples, Vermeeren shows how to distinguish between contrails and chemtrails, and offers practical advice on what individuals can do to help stop this assault on humanity. Because the real, darker motivation behind it all reaches far beyond our physical and mental health. 'Sinister Skies' reveals that, at its core, this is an attack on the very light within us.

Perhaps no other advancement of public health has been as significant. Yet, few know the intriguing story of a simple idea--disinfecting public water systems with chlorine--that in just 100 years has saved more lives than any other single health development in human history.

At the turn of the 20th century, most scientists and doctors called the addition of chloride of lime, a poisonous chemical, to public water supplies not only a preposterous idea but also an illegal act--until a courageous physician, Dr. John L. Leal, working with George W. Fuller, the era's greatest sanitary engineer, proved it could be done safely and effectively on a large scale.

This is thefirst book to tell the incredible true story of the first use of chlorine to disinfect a city water supply, in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1908. This important book also corrects misinformation long-held in the historical record about who was responsible for this momentous event, giving overdue recognition to the true hero of the story--an unflagging champion of public health, Dr. John L. Leal.

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Essential Provides a much needed systematic approach for advanced collaboration by diverse professionals to address the continued rapid-fire global applications of nanotechnology and other advanced smart materials. Establishes a scientific platform and commitment to recognize, understand and mitigate the potential health concerns. Maria Mitchell, Manager Risk Management and Safety Miami-Dade County The multidisciplinary depth and breadth of this training manual is unparalleled in detailing both the nuts and bolts of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA) as well as their extremely diverse applications in the world in which we live. A 'must read' for those who wish to stay informed as to the little-understood speed at which advanced technologies are being integrated with all aspects of modern societies. From advances in materials science to applications in medicine, military doctrine, law enforcement, environmental impacts, and more, the reader will become well-briefed about both the amazing potential uses and grave concerns regarding the impacts of modern SCADA systems. Ben Colodzin Ph.D., Psychologist Essential Provides a much needed systematic approach for advanced collaboration by diverse professionals to address the continued rapid-fire global applications of nanotechnology and other advanced smart materials. Establishes a scientific platform and commitment to recognize, understand and mitigate the potential health concerns. Maria Mitchell, Manager Risk Management and Safety Miami-Dade County The multidisciplinary depth and breadth of this training manual is unparalleled in detailing both the nuts and bolts of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA) as well as their extremely diverse applications in the world in which we live. A 'must read' for those who wish to stay informed as to the little-understood speed at which advanced technologies are being integrated with all aspects of modern societies. From advances in materials science to applications in medicine, military doctrine, law enforcement, environmental impacts, and more, the reader will become well-briefed about both the amazing potential uses and grave concerns regarding the impacts of modern SCADA systems. Ben Colodzin Ph.D., Psychologist

This book gives a comprehensive discourse on the various aspects of handling various environmental concerns through the use of various approaches involving chemistry. Green chemistry can also be called environmental chemistry. In essence, it is philosophical approach which propagates a viewpoint of applying chemistry in creating more environment friendly solutions. It is deemed to be a critical part of an extensive plan for protection of human well-being and ecology. It is an economically driven and scientific methodology towards accomplishing the goals of ecological protection and sustainable progress. Incorporating technological advancements with safety of the environment is one of the crucial challenges of current times. This book explains unique approaches for the industrial processes as well as chemical laboratories which are gentle to the environment. To present an overview on step change technologies, this book has been compiled from contributions by green chemistry experts.

Aerosol Measurement: Principles, Techniques, and Applications Third Edition is the most detailed treatment available of the latest aerosol measurement methods. Drawing on the know-how of numerous expert contributors; it provides a solid grasp of measurement fundamentals and practices a wide variety of aerosol applications.

This new edition is updated to address new and developing applications of aerosol measurement, including applications in environmental health, atmospheric science, climate change, air pollution, public health, nanotechnology, particle and powder technology, pharmaceutical research and development, clean room technology (integrated circuit manufacture), and nuclear waste management.

Carbon Dioxide Utilisation: Closing the Carbon Cycle explores areas of application such as conversion to fuels, mineralization, conversion to polymers, and artificial photosynthesis as well as assesses the potential industrial suitability of the various processes. After an introduction to the thermodynamics, basic reactions, and physical chemistry of carbon dioxide, the book proceeds to examine current commercial and industrial processes, and the potential for carbon dioxide as a green and sustainable resource.

While carbon dioxide is generally portrayed as a bad gas, a waste product, and a major contributor to global warming, a new branch of science is developing to convert this bad gas into useful products. This book explores the science behind converting CO₂ into fuels for our cars and planes, and for use in plastics and foams for our homes and cars, pharmaceuticals, building materials, and many more useful products.

Carbon dioxide utilization is a rapidly expanding area of research that holds a potential key to sustainable, petrochemical-free chemical production and energy integration.

Atmospheric Chemistry provides readers with a basic knowledge of the chemistry of Earth's atmosphere, and an understanding of the role that chemical transformations play in this vital part of our environment. The composition of the 'natural' atmosphere (troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere) is described in terms of the physical and chemical cycles that govern the behaviour of the major and the many minor species present, and of the atmospheric lifetimes of those species. An extension of these ideas leads to a discussion of the impacts of Man's activities on the atmosphere, and to an understanding of some of the most important environmental issues of our time. One thread of the book explains how living organisms alter the composition and pressures in the atmosphere, modify temperatures, and change the intensity and wavelength-distribution of light arriving from the Sun. Meanwhile, the living organisms on Earth have depended on these very same environmental conditions being satisfactory for the maintenance and evolution of life. There thus appear to be two-way interactions between life and the atmosphere. Man, just one species of living organism, has developed an unfortunate ability to interfere with the feedbacks that seem to have maintained the atmosphere to be supportive of surface life for more than 3.5 billion years. This book will help chemists to understand the background to the problems that arise from such interference. The structure of the book and the development of the subject deviate somewhat from those usually encountered. Important and recurring concepts are presented in outline first, before more detailed discussions of the atmospheric behaviour of specific chemical species. Examples of such themes are the sources and sinks of trace gases, and their budgets and lifetimes. That is, the emphasis is initially on the principles of the subject, with the finer points emerging at later points in the book, sometimes in several successive chapters. In this way, some of the core material gets repeated exposure, but in new ways and in new contexts. The book is written at a level that makes it accessible to undergraduate chemists, and in a manner that should make it interesting to them. However, the material presented forms a solid base for those who are extending their studies to a higher level, and it will also provide non-specialists with the background to an understanding of Man's several and varied threats to the atmosphere. Well-informed citizens can then better assess measures proposed to prevent or alleviate the potential damage, and policy makers more realistically formulate the necessary controls on a sound scientific foundation.

Chemistry of the Environment, 3rd Edition, is a concise, clear and current account of today's environmental issues and the science one needs to understand them. This intermediate-level text, which recommends General Chemistry as a prerequisite, systematically lays out themes of sustainability, atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biospheres, while stressing the interconnectedness of environmental problems and solutions. The completely revised third edition explains the natural chemical cycles, and how humans affect them. It also analyzes strategies for ameliorating human impacts. This stimulating new text uses concise, straightforward language and an accessible narrative style to inform quantitative thinking.