ReAction!

ReAction! gives a scientist's and artist's response to the dark and bright sides of chemistry found in 140 films, most of them contemporary Hollywood feature films but also a few documentaries, shorts, silents, and international films. Even though there are some examples of screen chemistry between the actors and of behind-the-scenes special effects, this book is really about the chemistry when it is part of the narrative. It is about the dualities of Dr. Jekyll vs. inventor chemists, the invisible man vs. forensic chemists, chemical weapons vs. classroom chemistry, chemical companies that knowingly pollute the environment vs. altruistic research chemists trying to make the world a better place to live, and, finally, about people who choose to experiment with mind-altering drugs vs. the drug discovery process. Little did Jekyll know when he brought the Hyde formula to his lips that his personality split would provide the central metaphor that would come to describe chemistry in the movies. This book explores the two movie faces of this supposedly neutral science. Watching films with chemical eyes, Dr. Jekyll is recast as a chemist engaged in psychopharmaceutical research but who becomes addicted to his own formula. He is balanced by the often wacky inventor chemists who make their discoveries by trial-and-error.

ISBN 019532692X   Pages 350 ISBN13 9780195326925 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Oxford University Press Inc   Weight (grammes) 720 Imprint Oxford University Press Inc   Published in New York Format Hardback   Height (mm) 245 Publication date 10 Sep 2009   Width (mm) 165 Library of Congress 2009007872   Spine width (mm) 26 DEWEY 791.4366   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

Introduction		The dark and bright side of chemistry in the movies		3
Ch. 1		Dr. Jekyll's mysterious transformative formula		9
Ch. 2		Invisibility steals the seen : chemistry creates criminal opportunities		35
Ch. 3		Isomorphs of paranoia : chemical arsenals		65
Ch. 4		Bad company : the business of toxicity		103
Ch. 5		A master/slave narrative : drug addiction and psychoactives		134
Ch. 6		Inventors and their often wacky chemical inventions		155
Ch. 7		Hard science = hard evidence : forensic chemistry and chemical detectives		186
Ch. 8		Chem 101 : learning by doing		221
Ch. 9		Good news : research and medicinal chemists making a difference		250
Ch. 10		First, do no harm : (but before that, self-experiment)		284
Conclusion		Chemistry in the movies		295
App. 1		How to use this material in the classroom		297
App. 2		About the back cover art		301
		References		303
		Movie index		323
		Subject index		331

"A must-have book for chemistry enthusiasts, educators, or anyone who wants to take a deeper look at how science is portrayed through [movies]. The book also provides a wonderful historial perspective of the development of both the movies and the chemistry and chemists portrayed in them. Once you pick up Reaction! you will be motivated to venture to your local theater, or if you prefer, your own laboratory, pull out the popcorn popper, fire up the entertainment system and do some experimenting at the movies."--Chemical Education Today"A long-overdue salute to films that have used chemistry as more than a mere plot device."--Chemical Heritage Newsmagazine"No school teacher should be without the capabilities of bringing "Hollywood" into the classroom especially where the chemistry context motivates, consolidates and educates students of all ages. Mark Griep and Marjorie Mikasen's book is likely to act as a catalyst to do that."-- Education in Chemistry"Fascinating and eng

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