Much Ado about (Practically) Nothing

A History of the Noble Gases

David Fisher (Professor Emeritus, Professor Emeritus, University of Miami)

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
16 September 2010

History of science; Popular science; Physics of gases; Chemistry; Inorganic chemistry

There are eight columns in the Periodic Table. The eighth column is comprised of the rare gases, so-called because they are the rarest elements on earth. They are also called the inert or noble gases because, like nobility, they do no work. They are colorless, odorless, invisible gases which do not react with anything, and were thought to be unimportant until the early 1960s. Starting in that era, David Fisher has spent roughly fifty years doing research on these gases, publishing nearly a hundred papers in the scientific journals, applying them to problems in geophysics and cosmochemistry, and learning how other scientists have utilized them to change our ideas about the universe, the sun, and our own planet.

Much Ado about (Practically) Nothing will cover this spectrum of ideas, interspersed with the author's own work which will serve to introduce each gas and the important work others have done with them. The rare gases have participated in a wide range of scientific advances-even revolutions-but no book has ever recorded the entire story. Fisher will range from the intricacies of the atomic nucleus and the tiniest of elementary particles, the neutrino, to the energy source of the stars; from the age of the earth to its future energies; from life on Mars to cancer here on earth. A whole panoply that has never before been told as an entity.

By: David Fisher (Professor Emeritus Professor Emeritus University of Miami)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 217mm, Width: 148mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 448g
ISBN: 9780195393965
ISBN 10: 0195393961
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 16 September 2010
Audience: College/higher education , A / AS level , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

1. In the Beginning 2. Helium 3. Argon 4. Helium and the Age of the Earth 5. Helium and the Nuclear Atom 6. Interlude: Helium, Argon, and Creationism 7. Brookhaven and Meteorites 8. Interlude: Cornell 9. K/Ar and the Irons 10. Interlude: The Spreading Sea Floor 11. Miami: Measuring the Spreading Sea Floor 12. The Argon Surprise 13. Primordial gases: Evolution of the Earth 14. Krypton 15. Xenon and the Primordial Gases: Evolution of the Solar System 16. Back on Earth: Tommy Gold and Fossil Fuels 17. Back to the Stars: Fritz Houtermanns, and How Do Stars Burn 18. And on to the Cosmos: Ray Davis, Argon, and the Neutrino Kerfluffle 19. Life on Mars! 20. From the Sublime to the Serious: Radon 21. L'Envoi, or How Science Works: A Morality Tale

David E. Fisher is Professor Emeritus of Geological Science at The University of Miami. He is the author of nine novels and fourteen works of non-fiction.

Reviews for Much Ado about (Practically) Nothing: A History of the Noble Gases

"""Fast-paced and humorous, the book keeps the reader's attention, even during complicated passages. Balancing scientific technicalities and story-telling, readers with and without extensive scientific knowledge can enjoy Fisher's book.""--Chemical Heritage"