Nov 8, 2009

Superfreakonomics

Got my copy of Superfreakonomics today, and I can't wait to get stuck right into it. [EDIT: for those who are unfamiliar with Freakonomics, here is the official site and blog, and probably more importantly, the wiki entry]. I thoroughly enjoyed the first one, and the authors reckon that this sequel is much better than the first. Well of course they would, but nonetheless I am looking forward to spending some time away from non-chemistry. I'm still working my way through Nicalaou and Snyder's Classics II but I think my PhD would really benefit from my brain taking some time away from curly arrows, pentagons and hexagons, and RBFs.

The success of the Freakonomics series made me think: are there any chemistry books written for the general public that has received such high acclaim? If so, I'd certainly like to know what they are. The Freakonomics series are hugely popular. On the day I bought Freakonomics (the original) four years ago, it was in the top 10, if not top 5 (memory fails me) bestsellers. Today, according to the NY times, Freakonomics is number 1 paperback non fiction, and Superfreakonomics is number 2 hardcover non fiction. When did a popular science (and in particular, chemistry) book make such a big splash?

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