num_pages: 384
description: It's invisible. It's ever-present. Without it you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell.In Caesar's Last Breath New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table around the globe and across time to tell the story of the air we breathe which it turns out is also the story of earth and our existence on it.With every breath you literally inhale the history of the world. On the ides of March 44 BC Julius Caesar died of stab wounds on the Senate floor but the story of his last breath is still unfolding; in fact you're probably inhaling some of it now. Of the sextillions of molecules entering or leaving your lungs at this moment some might well bear traces of Cleopatra's perfumes German mustard gas particles exhaled by dinosaurs or emitted by atomic bombs even remnants of stardust from the universe's creation.Tracing the origins and ingredients of our atmosphere Kean reveals how the alchemy of air reshaped our continents steered human progress powered revolutions and continues to influence everything we do. Along the way we'll swim with radioactive pigs witness the most important chemical reactions humans have discovered and join the crowd at the Moulin Rouge for some of the crudest performance art of all time. Lively witty and filled with the astounding science of ordinary life Caesar's Last Breath illuminates the science stories swirling around us every second.
language: English
title: Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us
publisher: Little, Brown and Company