![]() ![]() ![]() He tells alternatingly horrific and comic tales about World War I's ominous Operation Disinfection as well as how Charles Dickens' Bleak House stirred up a huge controversy about, of all things, oxygen. He uses the volcanic eruption of Mount Saint Helens in 1980 as a gateway to explore the previous atmospheres that Earth has harbored over its existence, a past he vividly describes as "a place where megabubbles of poisonous gas broke free all the time and stalked the landscape like supernatural terrors." From there he meanders through a variety of subjects - anesthesia, steelmaking, refrigeration, gas warfare, atomic testing - while putting on his well-worn storyteller hat. People tend to take air for granted, but as Kean will persuade you, its invisibility and odorlessness - and, at times, its visibility and smell - hold clues to history. Subtitled Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us, it's a conversational and illuminating view of the history and inner workings of Earth's atmosphere - what comprises it, how we've harnessed it for better and for worse, and what it means to us going forward as a civilization. His new book, Caesar's Last Breath, goes after something equally as essential. In Sam Kean's previous nonfiction books, The Disappearing Spoon and The Violinist's Thumb, the bestselling pop-science writer tackled the topics of the periodic table and DNA, respectively. ![]() Your purchase helps support NPR programming. ![]() Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Caesar's Last Breath Subtitle Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us Author Sam Kean ![]()
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