The Disappearing Spoon Ch. 11

Summary:

Sometimes, for more good that we think an element can be, it can turn out to not be so and instead can cause chaos. But it can also be the other way around. Nitrogen for example can cause someone to collapse and even die by preventing the proper intake and processing of Oxygen. A swedish doctor, Per-Ingvar Branemark, when studying the growth of bone marrow through a titanium window, after having done his observations, noticed how he could no longer take this window out, and this awoke the area of prosthetics. Branemark had made a great discovery. Other people had tried other metals and had failed, but they never thought of using Titanium. In a few experiments trying to see the body’s reaction to this element, the outcomes were positive and had not failed.

Beryllium awakes the taste buds just as if it were sugar, but too much, comes to be very toxic. It can shred one’s lungs. Taste buds are very helpful in helping the body determine harmful substance. When we detect sour, the taste buds let Hydrogen in and our tongues feel the electricity of charged particles. If any element is incorporated into a human system, there is no guarantee of the effects it would have. Iodine found in salt can prevent health defect like goiter.

Reflection:

In this chapter the first thing that shocked me, was the fact that NASA lost lives for a chemical negligence leaving Oxygen in a spacecraft. Oxygen burns faster. Poor astronauts. It is sad and funny how the author of the book personifies the elements mentioning that the way Nitrogen kills is “kind”. It was saad to read how even to today’s date a little piece of coral is used to seal the titanium. Corals should not be used like this since they are very delicate. The science behind why mint relaxes and helps the mouth is very interesting since it awakes the tongue receptors that awake a cold feeling. It is fun to see history incorporated in this book specially including famous and influential figures like Gandhi and his hatred for salt or like the book mentions “iodine”. This iodine apparently has a lot of health benefits preventing health defects.