In this new collection of bite-size pop science essays, bestselling author, chemistry professor, and radio broadcaster Dr. Joe Schwarcz shows that you can find science virtually anywhere you look. And the closer you look, the more fascinating it becomes. In this volume, we look through our magnifying glass at maraschino cherries, frizzy hair, duct tape, pickle juice, yellow school buses, aphrodisiacs, dental implants, and bull testes. If those don’t tickle your fancy, how about aconite murders, shot towers, book smells, Swarovski crystals, French wines, bees, or head transplants? You can also learn about the scientific escapades of James Bond, California’s confusing Proposition 65, the problems with oxygen on Mars, Valentine’s Meat Juice, the benefits of pasteurization, the pros and cons of red light therapy, the controversy swirling around perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), why English cucumbers are wrapped in plastic, and how probiotics may have seeded Hitler’s downfall.

Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex answers all your burning questions about the science of everyday life, like:

• why “superfood” is a marketing term, not a scientific one;
• why plastic wrap is sometimes the environmental choice;
• why supplements to reduce inflammation may just reduce your bank account;
• how maraschino cherries went from a luxury good to a cheap sundae topper;
• what’s behind “old book smell”;
• how margarine became a hot item for bootleggers;
• why duct tape is useful, but not on ducts; and
• how onstage accidents led to fireproof fabrics.

Joe Schwarcz is Director of the McGill Office for Science and Society. He is well known for his informative and entertaining public lectures on topics ranging from the chemistry of love to the science of aging. Dr. Joe has received numerous awards for teaching chemistry and for interpreting science for the public and is the only non-American ever to win the American Chemical Society’s prestigious Grady-Stack Award for demystifying chemistry. He hosts "The Dr. Joe Show" on Montreal's CJAD and has appeared hundreds of times on The Discovery Channel, CTV, CBC, TV Ontario and Global Television. He is also an amateur conjurer and often spices up his presentations with a little magic. Dr. Joe also writes a newspaper column entitled “The Right Chemistry” and has authored a number of books including best-sellers, Radar, Hula Hoops and Playful Pigs, The Genie in the Bottle, The Right Chemistry, An Apple a Day, Is That a Fact?, and Monkeys, Myths, and Molecules.  Dr. Joe was awarded the 2010 Montreal Medal, the Canadian Chemical Institute’s premier prize recognizing lifetime contributions to chemistry in Canada. In 2015 he was named winner of the Balles Prize for critical thinking by the US based Committee for Skeptical Inquiry in recognition of his 2014 book, Is That A Fact?

Joe Schwarcz's profile page

“This highly informative, authoritative title makes solid science accessible and entertaining, and it keeps alive the author's tradition of clearly differentiating pseudoscience and quackery from empirical science. Schwarcz’s fans will love this latest book, and he'll likely gain a new following as well.” — STARRED REVIEW Library Journal

“Dr. Joe gets it right once again! Using fascinating stories that merge the joy of discovery with the history of chemistry, he asks the simplest of questions about the objects that surround us in our everyday environment — questions that we rarely ask ourselves but the answers to which explain everything from pheromones to phlegm and from vampires to vaccines.” — Patricia Brubaker, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

“In Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex, Joe Schwarcz continues to make science and discovery both entertaining and educational. In his unique style, he teaches the reader about the origin of everyday items we take for granted and the personalities and times of the people who made them possible.” — David S. Rosenblatt, MD, Professor, Departments of Human Genetics, Medicine, Pediatrics, and Biology, McGill University

“If you’re intrigued by the distinction between science and pseudoscience, Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex is your compass through the maze. An indispensable guide to the chemistry of everyday life, this book weaves scientific facts and evidence-based knowledge into a captivating tapestry that readers of all ages will enjoy.” — Michelle Epstein, MD, Allergist and Clinical Immunologist, Medical University of Vienna

“Even well-informed readers will be surprised by what lies beneath … With its bite-sized commentary and accessible language, Superfoods, Silkworms, and Spandex offers quick, navigable lessons on everything from pickles to head transplants.” — Bookworm, no. 30, Literary Review of Canada's newsletter