Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim - Chemistry for Breakfast: The Amazing Science of Everyday Life

Copyright 2019 Droemer Verlag. An imprint of Verlagsgruppe Droemer Knaur GmbH & Co. KG, Munich

English translation 2021 by Sarah Pybus

First published in English by Greystone Books in 2021

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Greystone Books Ltd.

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Cataloguing data available from Library and Archives Canada

ISBN 978-1-77164-748-9 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-77164-749-6 (epub)

Copy editing by Rowena Rae

Proofreading by Meg Yamamoto

Cover and text design by Belle Wuthrich

Illustrations by claire Lenkova

Greystone Books gratefully acknowledges the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples on whose land our office is located.

Greystone Books thanks the Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council, the Province of British Columbia through the Book Publishing Tax Credit, and the Government of Canada for supporting our publishing activities.

The translation of this work was supported by a grant from the Goethe-Institut.

For my mom

My mom and dad are the most loving parents in the world. Such superlatives are rare for me, but I can use them with a clear conscience when it comes to my parents. They are a true team; they have fought together and have always put their own interests aside; they made a new home in what was then a foreign country so that my brother and I could lead the privileged lives we enjoy to this day.

Often I talk only about my dad; not only is he a wonderful father, husband, and chemist, he also inspired me and my brother to take up chemistry ourselves. But here, now, I would like to dedicate this book to my mom. She has been my greatest influence. She is the one who decided to stay home and commit herself to loving and caring for me and my brother. She is the one who has hugged me, supported me, and motivated me every single day. Her boundless devotion has made me the person I am today. This book would never have happened without my momso if you like it, shes the one you should thank.

Contents

Foreword

I WAS A pretty ugly baby. I was born with jaundice and refused to eat or drink. Seriously concerned, my parents did everything they could to feed me as much as possibleand continued to do so long after my health improved. As a result, I became a real butterball. When my hair began to grow, I developed the asymmetrical receding hairline of an elderly man. Naturally, my parents thought I was the most beautiful baby in the world.

As a chemist, I sometimes feel like the mother of an ugly child whose beauty only I can see. Most people see chemistry as evil, poisonous, artificial. Or they remember how much they hated it at school and couldnt wait to drop the class. Convincing these people that my baby is beautiful is a science in itself.

At best, people have no idea what chemistry entails. They look at me, wide-eyed and clueless, and ask, And what can you do with chemistry?

Sometimes Id like to shake them by the shoulders and yell EVERYTHING!!! Chemistry is EVERYTHING!!! For example, delicious food is one of my earliest associations with chemistrymy father is both a chemist and an excellent cook. He told me that all chemists are good cooks. If you cant cook, then youre not a good chemist. When I started to develop an interest in cosmetics at the age of thirteen, my father was able to explain everything involved there toothe chemical structure of color pigments, how volumizing hair spray works, and the pH value of face cream. For me, chemistry has always been part of everyday life.

Since studying chemistry, I have been beyond help. Whether Im drinking coffee, brushing my teeth, or exercising, I think about adenosine receptors, fluorides, and metabolic enzymes. If I go for a walk in the sunshine, I think about melanin and vitamin D; if I cook noodles, my mind turns to boiling-point elevation and starch polymers. And Ive become a pretty good cook tooI wouldnt be a good chemist otherwise.

Many people have very specific ideas not only about chemistry itself, but also about the people who work in the field. Im often told that I dont look like a chemist. The success of The Big Bang Theory may have made it socially acceptable to be a nerd, but it also showcased many clichsfor example, that its categorically impossible to be an expert and have social skills. This is just one of the many clichs we scientists have to fight. Scientists are unfamiliar creatures who spend their lives in laboratories or surrounded by bookshelves. Nobody knows what we look like, whether we have hobbies, or whether we even have friends. Are scientists humans too? Theres just no way of knowing.

During my doctorate, I decided to start a YouTube channel called The Secret Life of Scientists. I wanted my videos to give a face to science. I didnt just want to show how cool science is, but also how cool scientists are. This mission is like a complex research project, and Im still working on it today. I now also produce the maiLab YouTube channel for the German content network funk and present the German TV series Quarks.

So why write a book as well? Because I want to really let off some steam. This book invites you into my chemists brain and provides a brief insight into my everyday life as a science journalist and YouTuber. Above all, however, I want you to read this book, look deep into the eyes of chemistry, and succumb to its irresistible charm. And if Im right to believe that humans are curious creatures, then reading this book will show you not only that chemistry really is everything, but maybe even how beautiful this science can be.

BRRING-BRRING-BRRING!!!

I almost fall out of bed in fright. My heart is racing.

Furious, I want to scream Matthiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaas, but my linguistic faculties dont quite seem to be working yet. My bodys in a strange sort of limbo, halfway between dozing and hand-to-hand combat. I throw myself at Matthias/his cell phone and flail around until I manage to turn off his awful alarm. Its six in the morning, dammit!