Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives

(From Science Friday)
Book: Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives
Basic Information : Synopsis :  Expectations : Thoughts : Evaluation : Book Group : New Words : Book References : Good Quotes : References

Basic Information:
Author: Mark Miodownik
Edition: ePub on Overdrive from the San Francisco Library
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 054485019X (ISBN13: 9780544850194)
Start Date: June 5, 2019
Read Date: July 3, 2019
256 pages
Genre: Science
Language Warning: None
Rated Overall: 3 out of 5


Synopsis (Caution: Spoiler Alert-Jump to Thoughts):
Imagine you are on a flight from London to San Francisco. Then think about all of the different way liquids play a role in the flight. That is what Mark Miodownik does in this book. He introduces the topic through going through the British version of the TSA line-what is a liquid and why is peanut butter a liquid.

Then he works through that a plane is really a bomb full of kerosene. After getting you all panicked about ever flying again, there is talk of alcohol, tea, coffee, soaps, ketchup, and many other items. When there is an invention, he explains how the invention developed, such as with the ball point pen. Or when something is counter-intuitive, there is an explanation why the liquid is performing how it does.

He concludes by showing hat using liquids elasticy might improve the longevity of structures we make.

Expectations:
Recommendation: Science Friday
When: May 2019
How come do I want to read this book: Title and leading sounds interesting.
What do I think I will get out of it? Just a bit more scientific facts


Thoughts:
I like the American title of Liquid Rules much more than the British of just Liquid. Liquid Rules can have so many meanings and the author touches on them. Such as the rules governing the amount of liquids you can take onto a plane, and even what is considered a liquid. But it can also mean that in the world of solids, liquids and gases, it is liquid which governs things.

Introduction
Mercury-only metal a liquid at room temperature. Held a special place in ancient cultures. I remember my Dad bringing it home from work and playing with it, like the author did.

Miodownik says that the reason for the book is to understand how liquids play a part in a transatlantic flight. And that is the structure of the book. Miodownik notices a liquid in use-to drink, or wash your hands, or to glue stuff together-like a wing. He spends the flight exploring these substances and why they are important.

Explosive
Miodownik talks about how kerosene powers the jet he is flying in, but is very similar to olive oil chemically. Kerosene allowed things like light to be pervasive in homes.

Intoxicating
Flavor comes from smell. Vodka does not smell that much, so the flavoring is neutral. Wine tasters will smell the wine so they can taste it better.

Deep
Floating is a simple matter of density and pressure. Such as most people need about 90% of their bodies to be submerged to even out the pressure on top of them with that underneath them. Fat people more buoyant because the fat-to-bone ratio is less dense. Fat is less dense than bone.

Waves crashing on the beach is the result of a far away storm. The curl of a wave is the result of differences in ocean depth. The top is moving faster than the bottom which is being dragged and slowing down.

Sticky
What is gaffer tape? Apparently it tape which will tear where you want it to tear.

Visceral
Why are body fluids disgusting when they leave the body, but necessary when they are in the body?

Saliva-needed to dissolve substances and release flavors when there are no juices. Saliva’s says what is nutritious and what is dangerous.

A lot of food can be quite disgusting if you think about it out of context, … But in general, disgust overrides moral argument… He is talking here about his mother forcing him to eat certain foods because of the starving people around the world.

Refreshing
George Orwell wrote about how to make a perfect cup of tea. He had eleven rules for making tea, which he wrote about in an essay called A Nice Cup of Tea:
  • First of all, one should use Indian or Ceylonese tea. China tea has virtues which are not to be despised nowadays — it is economical, and one can drink it without milk — but there is not much stimulation in it. One does not feel wiser, braver or more optimistic after drinking it. Anyone who has used that comforting phrase 'a nice cup of tea' invariably means Indian tea.
  • Secondly, tea should be made in small quantities — that is, in a teapot. Tea out of an urn is always tasteless, while army tea, made in a cauldron, tastes of grease and whitewash. The teapot should be made of china or earthenware. Silver or Britanniaware teapots produce inferior tea and enamel pots are worse; though curiously enough a pewter teapot (a rarity nowadays) is not so bad.
  • Thirdly, the pot should be warmed beforehand. This is better done by placing it on the hob than by the usual method of swilling it out with hot water.
  • Fourthly, the tea should be strong. For a pot holding a quart, if you are going to fill it nearly to the brim, six heaped teaspoons would be about right. In a time of rationing, this is not an idea that can be realized on every day of the week, but I maintain that one strong cup of tea is better than twenty weak ones. All true tea lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger with each year that passes — a fact which is recognized in the extra ration issued to old-age pensioners.
  • Fifthly, the tea should be put straight into the pot. No strainers, muslin bags or other devices to imprison the tea. In some countries teapots are fitted with little dangling baskets under the spout to catch the stray leaves, which are supposed to be harmful. Actually one can swallow tea-leaves in considerable quantities without ill effect, and if the tea is not loose in the pot it never infuses properly.
  • Sixthly, one should take the teapot to the kettle and not the other way about. The water should be actually boiling at the moment of impact, which means that one should keep it on the flame while one pours. Some people add that one should only use water that has been freshly brought to the boil, but I have never noticed that it makes any difference.
  • Seventhly, after making the tea, one should stir it, or better, give the pot a good shake, afterwards allowing the leaves to settle.
  • Eighthly, one should drink out of a good breakfast cup — that is, the cylindrical type of cup, not the flat, shallow type. The breakfast cup holds more, and with the other kind one's tea is always half cold before one has well started on it.
  • Ninthly, one should pour the cream off the milk before using it for tea. Milk that is too creamy always gives tea a sickly taste.
  • Tenthly, one should pour tea into the cup first. This is one of the most controversial points of all; indeed in every family in Britain there are probably two schools of thought on the subject. The milk-first school can bring forward some fairly strong arguments, but I maintain that my own argument is unanswerable. This is that, by putting the tea in first and stirring as one pours, one can exactly regulate the amount of milk whereas one is liable to put in too much milk if one does it the other way round.
  • Lastly, tea — unless one is drinking it in the Russian style — should be drunk without sugar. I know very well that I am in a minority here. But still, how can you call yourself a true tealover if you destroy the flavour of your tea by putting sugar in it? It would be equally reasonable to put in pepper or salt. Tea is meant to be bitter, just as beer is meant to be bitter. If you sweeten it, you are no longer tasting the tea, you are merely tasting the sugar; you could make a very similar drink by dissolving sugar in plain hot water.
As a note, I think I would not like Orwell’s tea. My wife calls my tea brown water as it is made from two Lipton’s bags in a gallon jar, brewed via the sun. I can see Orwell rolling over in his grave right now. Oh yeah, I like it served cold. Which Miodownik points out that given how I like my tea, no matter how expensive or great a tea leaf is, I probably would not like it.
Miodownik then goes on about how to roast and brew your own coffee, not that it would do me any good.
Cleansing
The term opera comes from radio productions used by companies like Proctor and Gamble to advertise their soap.
Indelible
Oobleck-sort of a cornstarch like material. When moving slowly, they find routes around each other, but when there is vigorous movement, things come to a stand still.
Cloudy
Why are clouds white? Sunlight will usually pass right through air and moisture. But if there is enough drops of moisture, some of that light will reflect back or to the side. That is when there is enough of these reflections, we do not see thee sunlight but the white of the reflections.
Not sure how static accumulates inside of cloud.
Solid
Picture the tectonic plates all floating upon the inner liquid core of the earth. The tectonic plates somewhat correspond to the continents. He talks about the biggest volcano-Mauna Loa in Hawaii. I have been on Mauna Loa, but not to the top. He notes that Hawaii is a pretty dangerous place to live because of all the volcanic activity. He wrote this before the eruption in 2018.
Sustainable
This chapter talks about using liquids to self-repair human creations, such as roads and buildings. Such as putting capsules of sunflower oil in the tar. As the tar hardens, it cracks releasing the oil causing the tar to be more elastic.
3D printing will allow objects to be hollow with arteries connecting pieces, similar to our bodies.

Evaluation:
Mark Miodownik book Liquid Rules takes the reader on a transatlantic flight from London to San Francisco. His profession is in materials. The security line examining for liquids and then the pre-flight safety lecture triggers in him what liquids are we talking about? For one, the jet you are flying in is really a bomb, full of kerosene. After getting you all panicked about ever flying again, there is talk of alcohol, tea, coffee, soaps, ketchup, and many other items. His explanations are very readable and when he traces inventions, it makes the subject matter come alive.

The book is told in sections, divided by the type of liquids he encounters along the way. He leads an interesting discussion about why the liquids are different and how various liquids you would not associate are similar. I found that after about the fifth chapter of this, I was getting a bit overwhelmed with the detail of explanation-I usually find details like he presents as interesting. So I am not sure why this bugs me. I would chalk it up to the reader more than the writer.

I would recommend this book. But if you do read the book, try taking the book in smaller chunks rather than as a book to read straight through.

 
Notes from my book group:



Many of these questions are either from or adapted from LitLovers.
  • Why the title of Liquid Rules? (In England, it is just Liquid)
  • Does this story work as a popular science presentation?
  • Did the ending seem fitting? Satisfying?
  • Every story has a world view. Were you able to identify this story’s world view? What was it? How did it affect the story?
  • In what context was religion talked about in this book?
  • Why do you think the author wrote this book?
  • What would you ask the author if you had a chance?
  • What “take aways” did you have from this book?
  • What central ideas does the author present?
    • Are they personal or scientific
    • What evidence does the author use to support the book's ideas?
      • Is the evidence convincing...definitive or...speculative?
      • Does the author depend on personal opinion, observation, and assessment? Or is the evidence factual—based on science, statistics, historical documents, or quotations from (credible) experts?
    • Are these idea’s controversial?
      • To whom and why?
  • Are there solutions which the author presents?
    • Do they seem workable?
  • How did this book affect your view of the world?
    • Of how God is viewed?
    • What questions did you ask yourself after reading this book?
  • Talk about specific passages that struck you as significant—or interesting, profound, amusing, illuminating, disturbing, sad...?
    • What was memorable?

New Words:
  • Alembic (Explosives): an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, used for distilling.
  • Umami (Intoxicating): a category of taste in food (besides sweet, sour, salt, and bitter), corresponding to the flavor of glutamates, especially monosodium glutamate
  • Viscoelasticity (Visceral): the property of a substance of exhibiting both elastic and viscous behavior, the application of stress causing temporary deformation if the stress is quickly removed but permanent deformation if it is maintained.
  • Oobleck (indelible): a fluid that does not follow Newton's law of viscosity, i.e. constant viscosity independent of stress. In non-Newtonian fluids, viscosity can change when under force to either more liquid or more solid.
Book References:
  • Book of Secrets by Rhazes
  • The Book of One Thousand and One Nights
  • Ulysses by James Joyce
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
  • 1984 by George Orwell
  • Animal Farm by George Orwell
  • Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss
Good Quotes:
    • First Line: Peanut butter, honey, pesto sauce, toothpaste, and most painfully, a bottle of single-malt whisky--these are just some of the liquids I’ve had confiscated at airport security.
    • Last Line: Perhaps it will no longer involve the props of life jackets, oxygen masks, and seat belts--but we will always need ceremonies to celebrate the dangerous and delightful power of liquids.

      References:

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