The Guardian's Best Science Book of 2017: the fascinating science
and history of the air we breathe.
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.
