Foreword -- Acknowledgments. Meet Walter White -- Side RxN #1: crystallography and synchrotrons. Chemistry I : Chemical credits -- Side RxN #2: chemical composition of the human body -- Playing with fire -- It's a (phosphine) gas -- Side RxN #3: carbon, by any other name. Physics : DIY battery -- Side RxN #4: Breaking Bad balloons -- A magnetic conversation -- Side RxN #5: zombie computers -- Trouble brewing -- Side RxN #6: they're minerals, Marie! Chemistry II : Explosives: fulminated mercury and the wheelchair bomb -- Side RxN #7: quality face time with Gus Fring -- Pyrotechnics: thermite lockpick -- Side RxN #8: Walter White's fraying nerves -- Corrosives: hydrofluoric acid. Biology : Psychiatry: fugue state, panic attacks, and PTSD -- Side RxN #10: Walter White's heredity -- Side RxN #11: Holly White joins the show -- Oncology: cancer and treatment -- Side RxN #12: Walt's major award -- Toxicology: ricin, Lily of the Valley, and...cyanide? -- Pharmacology: drugs, addiction, and overdoses. Chemistry III : Methylamine: the solution is dilution -- Let's get analytical -- Side RxN #13: glass grade -- The lab maketh the meth -- Side RxN #14: qualitative analysis of foods at Madrigal -- Finale/felina. Glossary -- Notes -- Index.
Summary:
Breaking Bad's (anti)hero Walter White (played by Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston) is a scientist, a high school chemistry teacher who displays a plaque that recognizes his "contributions to research awarded the Nobel Prize." During the course of five seasons, Walt practices a lot of ad hoc chemistry?from experiments that explode to acid-based evidence destruction to an amazing repertoire of methodologies for illicit meth making. But how much of Walt's science is actually scientific? In The Science of "Breaking Bad," Dave Trumbore and Donna Nelson explain, analyze, and evaluate the show's portrayal of science, from the pilot's opening credits to the final moments of the series finale. The intent is not, of course, to provide a how-to manual for wannabe meth moguls but to decode the show's most head-turning, jaw-dropping moments. Trumbore, a science and entertainment writer, and Nelson, a professor of chemistry and Breaking Bad's science advisor, are the perfect scientific tour guides. Trumbore and Nelson cover the show's portrayal of chemistry, biology, physics, and subdivisions of each area including toxicology and electromagnetism. They explain, among other things, Walt's DIY battery making; the dangers of Mylar balloons; the feasibility of using hydrofluoric acid to dissolve bodies; and the chemistry of methamphetamine itself. Nelson adds interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes and describes her work with the show's creator and writers. Marius Stan, who played Bogdan on the show (and who is a PhD scientist himself) contributes a foreword. This is a book for every science buff who appreciated the show's scientific moments and every diehard Breaking Bad fan who wondered just how smart Walt really was.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.