What's Gotten Into You: The Story of Your Body's Atoms, from the Big Bang Through Last Night's Dinner
(By Dan Levitt)
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| Author | Dan Levitt |
Every one of us contains a billion times more atoms than all the grains of sand in the earth's deserts. If you weigh 150 pounds, you've got enough carbon to make 25 pounds of charcoal, enough salt to fill a saltshaker, enough chlorine to disinfect several backyard swimming pools, and enough iron to forge a 3-inch nail. But how did these elements combine to make us human?
All matter--everything around us and within us--has an ultimate birthday: the day the universe was born. This informative, eye-opening, and eminently readable book is the story of our atoms' long strange journey from the Big Bang to the creation of stars, through the assembly of Planet Earth, and the formation of life as we know it. It's also the story of the scientists who made groundbreaking discoveries and unearthed extraordinary insights into the composition of life. Behind their unexpected findings were investigations marked by fierce rivalries, obsession, heartbreak, flashes of insight, and flukes of blind luck. Ultimately they've helped us understand the mystery of our existence: how a quadrillion atoms made of particles from the Big Bang now animate each of our cells.
Shaped by the curious mind and bold vision of science and history documentarian Dan Levitt, this wondrous book is no less than the story of life itself.
“A truly astonishing and eminently readable work of chemical detection, provocative, surprising and alive with moments when you just want to tug your neighbor’s sleeve and ask—can you believe this?” — Simon Winchester, bestselling author of The Perfectionists and editor of Lapham's Quarterly
“You are billons of years old and brand new at the same time and if you want to know how you came to be and how gloriously lucky and mysterious it is to be here, read this book.” — Robert Krulwich , cofounder of Radiolab
"Dan Levitt's What's Gotten Into You is one fascinating journey, from the fireworks of the Big Bang to the busy life of cells, this is a story of scientific discovery, history, dazzling egos, quiet courage, and pure unexpected insight. In other words, the best kind of story. Don't miss it." — Deborah Blum , Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Poisoner's Handbook and The Poison Squad
“It’s a….mind-blowing book to read.” —CNN
"Levitt sheds light on the tiniest bits of what humans are made of in his stellar debut . . . . This is marvelous." — Publishers Weekly , starred review
“The 14 billion years story of how the primaeval seeds of matter become you and your breakfast - easily digested.” — Frank Close , Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics, Oxford University and author of Elusive: How Peter Higgs Solved the Mystery of Mass
“This book is sheer pleasure, a grand exploration through space and time from the expanding universe to the molecules in living cells. As told through the experiences of the men and women who made the discoveries, this is also a beautifully human story – a marvelous read in every way!” — Ruth Lewin Sime , author of Lise Meitner: A Life in Physics.
“There were many moments when I felt a deep sense of awe at the stranger than fiction journey that our planet has been on.” —Greenspirit, UK
“… intelligent, accessible and just sheer fun.” — Bookpage
““Levitt's work is brilliant popular science … He is a master at bringing scenes to life … keeps his narrative alive through sheer sense of wonder.” — Emily Cataneo , Undark Magazine”
