Chemistry for Breakfast

The Amazing Science of Everyday Life

By: Dr. Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim

Narrated by: Raechel Wong

Have you ever wondered why your alarm clock sends you spiraling? Or how toothpaste works on your teeth? Why do cakes and cookies sometimes turn out dry? (Hint: You may not be adding enough sugar.) In Chemistry for Breakfast, award-winning chemist and science communicator Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim reveals the amazing chemistry behind everyday things (like baking and toothpaste) and not-so-everyday things (like space travel). With a relatable, funny, and conversational style, she explains essential chemical processes everyone should know - and turns the ordinary into extraordinary.

Over the course of a single day, Mai shows us that chemistry is everywhere: We just have to look for it. In the morning, her partner's much-too-loud alarm prompts a deep dive into biological clocks, fight-or-flight responses, and melatonin's role in making us sleepy. Before heading to the lab, she explains how the stress hormone cortisol helps wake us up and brews her morning coffee with a side of heat conduction and states of matter.

Filled with laughter and plenty of surprises, Chemistry for Breakfast is a perfect book for anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of chemistry without having prior knowledge of the science. With Mai as your guide, you'll find something fascinating everywhere around you.

©2021 Sarah Pybus (P)2021 Tantor

Great read!

Was looking for a small ease into the world of chemistry and this was just what I needed. Easy enough for me as a noob to chemistry but still had those “I have no idea what that is” moments. I need to get my nerd level up I guess! Overall, a great read.

Tangible examples of everyday chemistry

Worth the read. I may use excerpts in my high school chemistry class to make topics more relatable to students.

Chemistry Nerds

I teach chemistry and enjoyed the STEM approach to the book. I will use what I learned to enhance my teaching next semester.

Engaging

Best book that keeps your attention! A lot of everyday things I see differently now in a good way!

Great narrator, terrible book

The narrator is great but the author of this book is so....bad at writing science content. At least in this context. The first 2 hours of this book is 15 percent chemistry and science, and 85 percent bragging about how she's a woman in science who works for YouTube, and how even though she looks "normal" she's a chemist, mundane everyday scenarios that she tries to badly tie to chemistry, etc. And not to mention, any science she does go over, is very basic and introductory. Maybe I was expecting something different but I'm sorry, I just can't continue to listen to this book.