Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us

by Sam Kean

It's invisible. It's ever-present. Without it, you would die in minutes. And it has an epic story to tell.

In Caesar's Last Breath, New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean takes us on a journey through the periodic table, around the globe, and across time to tell the story of the air we breathe, which, it turns out, is also the story of earth and our existence on it.

With every breath, you literally inhale the history of the world. On the ides of March, 44 BC, Julius Caesar died of stab wounds on the Senate floor, but the story of his last breath is still unfolding; in fact, you're probably inhaling some of it now. Of the sextillions of molecules entering or leaving your lungs at this moment, some might well bear traces of Cleopatra's perfumes, German mustard gas, particles exhaled by dinosaurs or emitted by atomic bombs, even remnants of stardust from the universe's creation.

Tracing the origins and ingredients of our atmosphere, Kean reveals how the alchemy of air reshaped our continents, steered human progress, powered revolutions, and continues to influence everything we do. Along the way, we'll swim with radioactive pigs, witness the most important chemical reactions humans have discovered, and join the crowd at the Moulin Rouge for some of the crudest performance art of all time. Lively, witty, and filled with the astounding science of ordinary life, Caesar's Last Breath illuminates the science stories swirling around us every second.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Chemistry, Popular Science, Biology

384 pages, Hardcover

First published July 18, 2017

About the author

Sam Kean is the New York Times-bestselling author of seven books. He spent years collecting mercury from broken thermometers as a kid, and now lives in Washington, D.C. His stories have appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Slate, among other places, and his work has been featured on NPR’s “Radiolab”, “Science Friday”, and “All Things Considered.” The Bastard Brigade was a “Science Friday” book of the year, while Caesar’s Last Breath was the Guardian science book of the year.
from SamKean.com


(Un)Official Bio:
Sam Kean gets called Sean at least once a month. He grew up in South Dakota, which means more to him than it probably should. He’s a fast reader but a very slow eater. He went to college in Minnesota and studied physics and English. At night, he sometimes comes down with something called “sleep paralysis,” which is the opposite of sleepwalking. One of his books appeared in an iPhone commercial once. Right now, he lives in Washington, D.C., where he earned a master’s degree in library science that he will probably never use. He feels very strongly that open-faced sandwiches are superior to regular ones.

Reviews

[Mario the lone bookwolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tend to regularly have this WTF moments when realizing (and I am talking about sober realizations, no kind of beer or THC induced pseudo profundity) that anything just changes its form of energy and matter and that we are built out of stuff that is not just ancient, but millions, even billions, of years old, die, and become parts of other stuff. It´s freaking weird.

But it´s beautiful and frightening too, as it means that we were and will be parts of whatever in the future and that this approach and explanation might motivate more people to be interested in physics and chemistry than, let's say, boring!!!

From the early atmosphere to the future, many topics are covered and linked to the lives of the scientists who gased (wordplay intended) around. And how freaky they were, the mad scientist trope doesn´t have to have something to do with world domination, it´s already enough if scientific curiosity leads to dangerous to deadly black comedy situations.

Kean has a great style of telling stories, mixing anecdotes about potentially fatal mixtures with hard science, using wit and including things such as Le Pentomane aka the farter, explosions, steam power, the fact that steel was only possible through a special process, and using silver iodide in the atmosphere and iron across the oceans to fight global warming.

It has some elements of Big History in it too and I would have probably avoided some of the drier topics in articles, but enjoyed them thanks to the pure edutainment and vividness included in this work.

A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosph...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 5 out of 5]

ETA: I would just like to add that even though I have the ARC of this book in ebook form, I just paid retail price for the hardback as a Christmas gift for my teenage science nerd kid (shhh, don't tell him). Highly recommended if you or anyone you love enjoys non-fiction pop science books!

Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature (along with my co-reviewer Bill's 5 star review):

So much fun! Caesar’s Last Breath is certainly the most enjoyable, informative and accessible popular science book I’ve read, and is gunning for the title of my favorite non-fiction book ever. Sam Kean takes the general topic of gases, shakes it around, and turns it upside down and inside out, examining it from multiple different angles ― some of them quite unexpected. The development of our earth’s atmosphere from the days our earth was formed, volcanoes, explosives from gunpowder to nuclear bombs, a farting genius, the vital role of ammonia in fertilizer (which development led to the use of chlorine in gas warfare), and many more gaseous topics are explored in this delightful book.

Kean has a vivid and engaging style of writing, with a wry sense of humor, which elevates Caesar’s Last Breath far above most pop science books. Gas molecules are described as feral, oxygen as a madman, our moon as an albatross (as compared to the gnats that circle most other mooned planets), and gravity as “that eternal meddler” that won’t abide two planets in the same neighborhood. I learned about the Big Thwack (when a hypothetical planet called Theia smashed into our earth, vaporizing itself and eventually reforming into our moon), the Oxygen Catastrophe of 2,000,000,000 BC, and the mushroom cloud-shaped cakes baked during the heady days of the late 1940s when nuclear blasts didn’t really seem all that dangerous.

Almost every topic Kean tackles is also given a human element. Some particularly memorable ones: Harry Randall Truman, the gutsy old coot who wouldn’t leave Mount Saint Helens, is juxtaposed with David Johnston, a geologist who volunteered for extra shifts in the closest observation towers on Saint Helens, believing that as a fit young marathon runner he had a better chance of escaping when the foreseeable eruption came than his older co-workers (he didn’t). The victims of Vesuvius who had the tops of their heads blown off like a mini-volcano eruption ― when your brain boils, the vapors need to escape somewhere! Louis Slotin, the nuclear scientist who had the eventually fatal habit of balancing a beryllium shell over a plutonium sphere and using an ordinary screwdriver to jiggle the sphere up and down, yo-yoing toward a nuclear chain reaction. Slotin rolled his eyes when Enrico Fermi warned him that he’d be dead within a year if he didn’t cut it out.

While I didn’t reach the stratospheric levels of Bill’s highlighting, I did highlight 56 different passages in Caesar’s Last Breath (I counted), far above my normal level. I also spent several minutes telling my teenage children about some of the particularly interesting facts and stories in this book, pinning them down at breakfast where they couldn’t escape me. Not that they wanted to! Caesar’s Last Breath would be an excellent gift for readers of all ages, even those who aren’t particularly science-minded. I’m already planning it as one of my 15 year old son’s Christmas gifts.

By the way, if Julius Caesar expelled one liter of air with his final breath, that breath contained approximately 25 sextillion molecules of air. Even though that’s a miniscule percentage of the air in our atmosphere, chances are that at least one molecule of Caesar’s last breath is in the very next breath you take.

I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley for review. Thank you!!

[Sean Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In ninja-like fashion and with deadly and merciless scientific roundhouses, Sam Kean has become one of my favorite non-fiction writers, which means two things: 1) I’m going to gush about his latest offering; and 2) the other writers in that group should be wary (so watch your back, Joseph Ellis; maybe start sleeping with the lights on).

As with Kean’s previous books, Caesar’s Last Breath is a marvelous balancing act that mixes copious quantities of science with wit and humor without being boring (like a bad high school teacher) or cheesy* (like a bad high school teacher).

(*Okay, so, Kean’s humor can occasionally veer into cheddar territory, but it’s done knowingly and purposefully with a wink and a nod; it’s like dad jokes on steroids. Or maybe just helium.)

In taking readers on a tour of the gaseous portion of the periodic table by way of the air we breathe, Kean simultaneously illuminates and entertains, whether he’s recounting the horrible history of the development of nuclear weapons or giving some air time to the exploits of Le Petomane (I refer, of course, not to Mel Brooks’ hapless governor in Blazing Saddles, but, rather, the famous French flatulist who was, surprisingly, not so flagrantly fragrant). It’s compulsively readable, bite-sized science that offers not just amusing anecdotes, but genuine insight into the natural (and unnatural) world around us. If Kean could be cloned and teach science to every kid across the U.S., I’d wager my weight in radon that our performance on the international science stage would improve exponentially.

I’ve enjoyed all of Kean’s work, but this is my favorite thus far. I’d say it’s a breath of fresh air, but, well…turns out the air’s not so fresh (unless maybe Caesar died while munching on some Tic Tacs). Regardless, add it to your reading list posthaste.

(On an unrelated, but sort of semi-related note: there used to be a bar near my office in Washington, DC, called Science Club. It was a dark, quirky place adorned with scientific paraphernalia, and I always thought it would be the perfect setting for a sitcom about science-inclined wizards, sort of a Big Bang Theory meets Cheers kind of thing. I’ve always found the line between magic and science to be a very blurry one; I mean, what’s magic but something that we haven’t figured out the governing laws and principles behind, right? Imagine a snarky and recalcitrant but highly intelligent group of wizards and scientists who trade barbs and puzzle out the mysteries of the universe, all while drinking heavily and navigating a series of wacky subplots, at least one of which will involve a race to get to the battle of the bands on time. My new mission in life is to get Sam Kean to co-write a pilot with me. I see it as a 50/50 partnership: he brings wit, intellect, and scientific acumen to the project. I bring a laptop that has Microsoft Word 2010 on it and a pretty adequate supply of gum. It might not beat Doctor, Doctor, but it’d give it a run for its money. Let’s do this, Kean.)

[Claude's Bookzone]

DNF at 15%

Well I really tried.

Please do not be put off by my DNF. This had some incredibly interesting stories in the parts I read. Genuinely fascinating. However, these were dotted between lots of sciencey type words all in a row and my brain was hurting. So so many science words together and my fiction loving brain just threw it's hands up in the air and stormed off. I'm in my Zombie-a-thon so I need my brain to fend off flesh eating monsters. Who knows, maybe the molecules from Caesar's last breath are inside the zombies that are chasing the heroines from my first zombie book of the month! Eat tu Brute? See what I did there? 😂😂

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kean in his typical lighthearted style explores air. He discusses the earth’s early atmosphere ending with his thoughts on its future. In between he offers a collection of vignettes about the scientists and engineers who studied and manipulated all sorts of gases. We get the scientific concepts with entertaining stories making this an easy read.

Kean starts describing the formation of the earth’s atmosphere, much of it coming from volcanoes. He sidetracks to the story of the Mount Saint Helen’s eruption in 1980 and the story of an old codger named Harry Truman (not the president). Living three miles from the cone he refused to leave and his body quickly converted to its gaseous state when he was vaporized by the eruption. The energy of the eruption equaled 27,000 Hiroshima bombs - a reminder of the power that formed not only the atmosphere but the continents.

Kean then recounts the history of Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch who pioneered a way to turn air into fertilizer, more specifically freeing its nitrogen and producing ammonia. Today this technology is essential to support a population of 7.5 billion. Turning to the dark side Haber went on to develop and deploy poison gas in WWI. Despite this he won a Nobel Prize as did Bosch. Neither man could stand Hitler. Their disdain led to sad ends, Haber losing everything when he left Germany and Bosch, pushed out of his job, became a hopeless drunk.

Two other stories with sad endings were those of Joseph Priestley and Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier. Priestley isolated oxygen in 1774 but didn’t understand it was a new element. Realizing Priestley was on to something, Lavoisier documented many of its unique characteristics and gave oxygen its name. Both are credited with its discovery and of course neither could accept the other getting credit launching a typical scientific feud. But they had worse problems. Back home in Birmingham, locals saw Priestley as very strange. An angry mob torched and ransacked his home in what was known as Priestley’s Riot. With nothing left in England he moved to the US. Lavoisier who had hobnobbed with the elites in Louis XVI’s France was executed by the guillotine in the French Revolution. A scientist to the end he wondered how long his head would be conscious. He reportedly asked an assistant to count the number of times he blinked as his head rolled off the blade. We don’t know the results.

On a more pleasant note Kean turns to Thomas Beddoes and Humphrey Davy who experimented on themselves with every gas they could conjure up. Eureka, came the discovery of the effects of nitrous oxide, laughing gas, of which Davy became very fond. In 1799 he opened a clinic where at night he would share his discovery with his friends like poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey. According to Kean the scene at night resembled an “opium den.” Davy noted that nitrous oxide would be useful as an anesthetic, for which there was a great need, but he never followed through on that idea. Keen then tells the stories of the first uses in the 1840’s of nitrous oxide, ether and chloroform as anesthetics. Nitrous oxide would find a place in dentistry, ether in surgery and chloroform in giving birth. In 1853 Queen Victoria gave birth using chloroform.

Of course, Kean can’t be serious too long so he segues to the story of Le Pentomane, the Fartomaniac. He was the star of the Moulin Rouge starting in 1892, soon becoming the highest paid entertainer in France, making twice per show what Sarah Bernhardt was making. After a few years he left the Moulin Rouge and performed at his own club until 1914. His act all came from his rear end, playing tunes, impersonations, and even smoking cigarettes. Doesn’t sound like a class act, but he hobnobbed with Matisse and Renoir. Ravel was a huge fan and Freud had his picture on his wall.

Perhaps the most important gas of the industrial revolution was steam. Kean takes us through the development of the steam engine and the story of inventor James Watt. He sold his first steam engine in 1775 forever changing society. His steam engine allowed factories to leave rural areas alongside streams and move to their markets in cities speeding urbanization. Kean moves on to Alfred Nobel and his efforts to tame volatile nitroglycerin culminating in 1867 in the invention of dynamite. Explosives work by chemical reactions quickly releasing lots of gas molecules. Getting such powerful chemical reactions to work only when intended was a difficult problem and Nobel marketed many dangerous products before dynamite. But success for inventors can be problematic. Both Nobel and Watt wasted their later years fighting court battles over their many patents and impeding the progress of others. Despite dynamites many peaceful uses, many people despised Nobel for making wars more deadly. To right this wrong he established a huge prize fund with his wealth dismaying his heirs.

The production of low cost steel made possible the era of skyscrapers and magnificent suspension bridges. So we learn about Henry Bessemer who in the 1860s developed his eponymous process which relied on the precise infusion of air. We end the period with Lord Rayleigh and William Ramsey who discovered the noble gases, largely inert gases such as argon, adding a whole new column to the periodic table. Both men won Nobel Prizes. Rayleigh also answered a fundamental question. Why is the sky blue? He realized gas molecules of oxygen, nitrogen and argon were the perfect size to scatter the sun’s incoming light sending more of blue’s shorter wavelengths our way.

Turning to more recent times, Kean reviews gaseous aspects of the Manhattan project and atomic explosions including fallout. Initially the government played down the dangers of fallout. But eventually the public became concerned. I remember being with my father looking at home fallout shelters being prominently offered for sale. I can also remember drills in grade school in which we got under our desks in case we were bombed. My friends and I knew our little desks would not protect us against atomic bombs. My school was just outside Washington, D.C., not a place known for clear thinking.

Next Kean looks at twentieth century efforts to change the weather. Seeding clouds became a popular idea. The US government got involved in 1947 with project Cirrus. The goal was to end droughts and stop hurricanes but, other purposes came to the fore. After defoliating Viet Nam didn’t get results, the US began seeding to make the VC slip and slide on the Ho Chi Minh trail. It was called project Popeye, the motto, “make mud not war”. By the 1970’s, none of its goals coming to fruition, the government realized seeding didn’t work very well and it stopped. But if you couldn’t control the weather, could you at least predict it? It took the computer age to come close and a new idea emerged – chaos theory. A change in a minute detail could change results significantly. Recognizing this, a weather scientist, Edward Lorenz gave us a popular idiom when he wrote a paper in 1972 entitled “Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil set off a Tornado in Texas?”

Lastly Kean looks at our future, not just here on earth but on other planets as well. On earth our future does not look good. Given what he’s seen of the human propensity to procrastinate until the last minute, Kean does not believe we will restrict carbon output enough to prevent dramatic climate change. He even offers up the possibility of a positive feedback loop leading to a runaway greenhouse effect that we and even cockroaches couldn’t survive. So he looks at the prospect of engineering our way out. Shooting silver iodide into the atmosphere might work and the sky might not be so blue but we’d have awesome red sunsets. Or sprinkling iron all over the ocean to grow more oxygen producing phytoplankton. If that doesn’t work out there is terraforming other planets or the moon, but that looks like more work than people in a hurry could handle. Lastly we could build a gigantic spaceship and search for a new home around another star. I’ll weigh in and say if we can’t do any of the former, I wouldn’t hold my breath for that.

Despite the gloomy end, this is a fun book and it contains a lot of real science which I skipped over in this review. For those of us that read a lot of popular science books, there isn’t much new, but it is still entertaining. The pages turn fast. For those who are interested in science but not fond of science books, this could be a good bet. Even if you skip over the scientific explanations you can enjoy this book.

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to thank the publisher for providing a copy of this book for me to review, this book is a study of oxygen, what is composed of , what it is it's structure and how the study of it had affected our society, all along the book the author provides historical notes to provide a relief to all the science behind the book , and these are very welcome . It is amazing to know how much it is to know about this gas (oxygen) that we usually take for granted but without which we would not exist , life as we know it could not have developed...even though there was a time in which oxygen was the most dangerous thing to life on Earth. If you like science that is relevant to our times presented in a fun format, then this is the book for you.

[Tom Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

That's the goal of Caesar's Last Breath—to make these invisible stories of gases visible, so you can see them as clearly as you can see your breath on a crisp November morning. At various points in the book we'll swim with radioactive pigs in the ocean and hunt insects the size of dachshunds. We'll watch Albert Einstein struggle to invent a better refrigerator, and we'll ride shotgun with pilots unleashing top-secret "weather warfare" on Vietnam. We'll march with angry mobs, and be buried inside an avalanche of vapors so hot that people's brains boiled inside their skulls. All of these tales pivot on the surprising behavior of gases, gases from lava pits and the guts of microbes, from test tubes and car engines, from every corner of the periodic table. We still breathe most of them today, and each chapter in this book picks one of them as a lens to examine the sometimes tragic, sometimes farcical role that gases played in the human saga.

What I wouldn't give to write like Sam Kean. He informs as he entertains, and vice versa. In his hands, material as dry and stultifying as a high school Chemistry textbook becomes a narrative - and one that is clever, amusing, and energetic. This is his most recent title to date, and he has really improved on the already high-quality work he published before. Caesar's Last Breath leaps and bounds through what would seem a very limited topic but towards the end begins to grind with some of the wearying repetition and noncohesive threads that I found distracting in his earlier books.

4 stars out of 5, and very close to 4.5. It really is wonderful and Kean really is a great writer, but I would have liked it cut down by about 25 pages or so. I started skimming in the final sections, particularly the chapter about fallout which is presented in a way that makes it seem only tangentially related to gas laws.

[Atila Iamarino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um passeio leve e bem humorado pelos elementos e as moléculas que fazem o ar que respiramos. O Sam Kean sabe tornar a ciência interessante e acessível e este livro não é excessão. Dessa vez, ele foi para o lado da química, como gases se comportam e situações inusitadas, com direito à história do peidador profissional, Le Pétomane.

[Thomas Edmund · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of Caesar's Last Breath for review, which I confess does make me a little positively biased , BUT Kean's non-fiction piece is really good. I'm not sure how he does it but Kean somehow takes an extremely broad topic: "the air" and structures the book in a way that makes sense. Balancing historic anecdotes, not just about scientists (for example Caesar), with science lessons the book was fun to digest even though their was a lot to absorb.

One thing I will say however is this piece is not for the faint of existential hearts! If you're like me and don't necessarily like thinking too hard about things like how thin our atmosphere really is, how much radiation there blasting through the world, how toxic oxygen is and so forth, this book is probably going to induce some anxiety.

On the political side there are some must read sections about the use and misuse of science (particularly around war) which provide some cautionary tales which I hope people will acknowledge (i.e. let's not destroy our own planet people!).

All up I'm pretty happy I read Caesar's Last Breath despite the existential terror and frustration at some of the human race's folly. Highly recommended.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Given that the two Sam Kean books I've read where I'm fairly well-acquainted with the subject have come off to me as popular science drivel (this one and The Disappearing Spoon ), I might have to retroactively lower my assessments of his other books (if I don't want to fall prey to the Murray Gell-Mann amnesia effect). To be fair, I don't remember anything that was actively wrong in this book, just a lot of bluster and puffing.

One thing I really don't like is Kean's attempt to "have his cake and eat it too" with regards to apocryphal stories. He seems unwilling to repeat an apocryphal story as fact, but he has no compunctions about saying, "Although this is almost uncertainly not true, here's some story that makes whatever point I'm trying to make that has been in the popular narrative." He does this more than once, and it's disingenuous - what's the point of the story? It's a made up story so it doesn't actually make the point, it's more of a "wouldn't it be fun if this were true?" But the answer to that is, "Yes, but it's not, so stop saying it."

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming at you today with some atmospheric chemistry - all about the gases we're breathing right this very moment. All sextillion of those molecules of oxygen, nitrogen, ammonia, etc etc... And yeah, maybe even some of the same ones as Julius Caesar's last breaths, as the title of this book implies.

"Air is the single most important thing in your environment right now. You can survive without food, without solids, for weeks. You can survive without water, without liquids, for days, without air, without gases, you'd last a few minutes at most."

It's rewarding to find those popular science books that balance facts, humor, and accessibility. Kean did it with this one. He's written several other popsci books, most notably the bestselling 'The Disappearing Spoon' (which I haven't read but have seen several times - have you read it?), and seems to strike that balance well. He's got an engaging and light style - often bordering 'cheesy' or 'punny' - but still entertaining and educational. He traces the history of discovery about the invisible gases that form our #atmosphere, that enter and exit our bodies, that build up in the earth, that form vacuums, that are used in warfare, agriculture, flight, that form our weather and the science of meterology... He covers all the gaseous ground here!

He ends the books with a chapter speculating on exoplanet exploration and how humans of the future will breathe and adapt in those environments.

If only my high school chemistry classes had been this fun! Accessible reading level/interest for older teens, and of course us curious adults who may not remember all the lectures on the periodic table 🤔

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Random, hodge-podge theory: the epitome of "all over the page".

This is one of those books I wish I could UN-read. We don't all breathe the same air as our ancient ancestors--including Caesar. We'd have to live in a dome and Earth isn't that kind of place.

[Sonja Arlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like with The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements, this author is in his element when he dives into the periodic table (see what I did there? :-)

With this book the author puzzles out the role of noble (and other) gases in the forming of earth’s atmosphere all the way to WW2, weather manipulation and life on other planets.

”At various points in the book we’ll swim with radioactive pics in the ocean and hunt insects the size of dachshunds. We’ll watch Albert Einstein struggle to invent a better refrigeration, and we’ll ride shotgun with pilots unleashing top-secret “weather warfare” on Vietnam”.

If you have ready any of Kean's previous books you will know to expect quirky tidbits, historic vignettes and trivia that (if you can remember them) will make you extremely popular on pub quiz nights.

I find his brand of investigative writing extremely satisfying to read but as always, I also find his books so densely packed with facts that I have to slow down to try and absorb the content.

Just be warned this one is more science heavy than some of his other books.

[Ross Blocher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meditation practice often begins with focus on breathing, and in that sense there is no deeper meditation than "Caesar's Last Breath" to inspire mindfulness of the air within you (and around you). With this treatise on gasses, Sam Kean has solidified himself as one of my favorite authors. He shares stories of fact and discovery with a pervasive sense of humor and humanity, a brilliant penchant for the "callback" that connects and reinforces disparate concepts, a keen sense of which details are important and interesting, and the amazing ability to anticipate questions as I have them. This is science writing at its best.

You'll learn what the air is made of, how much you breathe of each component in a single breath, how it got there in the first place, where else it has traveled, who discovered it and who almost discovered it, and what they were intending to find - which was typically something else. You'll learn the power of gasses to manufacture, to obliterate, to entertain and depress, with fascinating looks along the way at volcanoes, explosives, nuclear warfare, human combustion, combustion engines, farts, anesthesia, weather control, refrigeration, hot air balloons, alien visitation, space exploration, and the many fascinating personalities throughout history who have changed the way we live by increasing our understanding of gasses. The subject is explored from every angle, and the result is an immensely engaging and satisfying read.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I picked up Sam Kean's new book on air, I knew I was going to learn about the molecular structure of air and the permanence of these molecules in the history of our planet. What I didn't expect was a thorough study of everything that can possibly relate to the element. I learned about weather-making, atomic bomb testing, first balloon flights, radioactivity of bananas, Roswell incident, life on other planets, and much more. I'm a complete nerd for trivia, and now I'm just bursting to unleash all I absorbed from this book onto unsuspecting public. Good stuff!

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

A wonderful book recounting the science surrounding the air around us, and how many of the gases and their properties were discovered, often by accident. Very entertaining stuff, and very educational at the same time.

Highly recommended.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received to review via Netgalley; publication date 18th July

Sam Kean is an entertaining pop science writer in general, and though this isn’t as perfectly up my street as The Tale of the Duelling Neurosurgeons, it’s still fascinating and very readable. It starts by reminding us that we’re breathing the same air as everyone who has ever lived — including Caesar, hence the title — and that there’s a high chance we’re breathing in some of the same molecules that bounced around their lungs. Then it goes on to talking about the foundation of Earth’s atmosphere, the power of gases and the road humans took to discovering that, and finishes with a look at how life affects its environment — of course, the changes in the composition of our atmosphere that we cause, but also how we might spot other species on other planets doing the same.

As you can see, that’s a lot of ground to cover, and Kean manages to string everything together into a pretty logical narrative. The longer chapters are leavened by interludes covering events that illustrate some part of what’s under discussion, like using hot gases to cut into a bank vault…

Overall, entertaining and interesting, especially given that Earth sciences and the study of our atmosphere has never been a great interest of mine.

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

[Ctgt · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can capture the entire history of the world in a single breath.

Accessible writing with some dry humor and a bit of snarkiness thrown in from time to time.
Broken down into three basic parts
-the first atmospheres, how our early atmosphere was formed.
-human discoveries of the workings of the atmosphere and various gasses.
-effects human inventions/discoveries had on the atmosphere.

Overall an enjoyable book and I'll leave you with this thought from the author on climate change,

But as much as I believe in the law of unintended consequences, I believe even more strongly in the consistency of human nature over time. And given that laziness and shortsightedness have dominated our behavior in the past, I don't see why they won't dominate our behavior in the future as well.
In contrast, coming up with a technological fix for the problem, while not easy, exploits what humans do well-rally around a cause when things get desperate, then start building shit.

8/10

[Mady · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, definitely. But I’m tired of his religious cynicism that thinks spiritual folk can’t make sense the things science discovers (like we’re trapped believing in an old-timey fairy tale and can’t use critical thinking). He also doesn’t apply the same deep thought to the religious ideas he so glibly discredits.

[David Rubenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Sam Kean's previous books, this one is a fascinating look at chemistry. Its emphasis is on gaseous elements, but not exclusively. This is not a comprehensive treatise--it is what I would call "pop-chemistry" (as analogous to pop-psychology). Sam Kean writes in a popular, friendly style that borders on cutesy. Here are a few quotes as an example:

"boiled our frickin' oceans"

"To say that geologists didn't embrace Wegener's theory is a bit like saying that General Sherman didn't receive the warmest welcome in Atlanta.

"Heck, mucking around down there might even backfire and trigger another outburst."

This type of language simply sounds ingratiating to me, and really irritates me. However, I can look beyond this silliness, and find a lot to like in this book.

For example, there is an interesting story about how Carl Scheele and Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen, but it wasn't truly understood until Lavoisier investigated its significance, its role in chemistry, and gave the element its name. There is a retelling of a fascinating myth about Lavoisier's final science experiment as he was about to be beheaded at the guillotine. This is then followed by another fascinating story, this one about the "Priestley riot", the only riot named after a scientist! The riot took place in Birmingham, in the aftermath of his writing "History of the Corruptions of Christianity" and also because of his cheering of the French Revolution. His house and neighboring houses were burned down in the riot.

During the 19th century, it was believed that spontaneous combustion could occur. And this is recounted in stories by Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Herman Melville, and Washington Irving.

There is a fascinating story about William Morton, a con-man who was only interested in making a quick buck. He re-discovered that ether would be useful as an anesthetic during surgery. He arranged to use the "mystery gas" in a surgery by Dr. John Warren at Mass General Hospital. Everybody who got to know William Morton lived to regret it. However, his efforts to popularize the anesthetic did more "to benefit humankind that almost anyone who ever lived."

The gases that make up the atmosphere are emphasized in this book. And, as in many other science books these days, there is a considerable amount of discussion about climate change.

This is a very accessible book, full of interesting stories and anecdotes. You might think that Sam Kean chose topics carefully, in order to pack in the most interesting, and sometimes hilarious stories. You would be right.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I was sent a review copy in exchange for a fair review.

I probably got the review copy because I loved an earlier Sam Kean book, The Violinist's Thumb. In that book, Kean did a deep dive (for laymen) into our genetic code, with each chapter organized around an amusing story that tied into the theme of that chapter. It was deeply researched, very entertaining, and quite informative.

Here, he tries the same formula...only it never quite gels.

So this one is about gases. Just that--gases in general. There's sort of a vague progression of "beginning of the Earth" gases through "the order in which we discovered stuff" gases to "what we might find one day on other planets" gases. But while the genetic code is a topic that you can go incredibly deep on but has some fairly well defined boundaries, gases are...well, by nature, they're amorphous and don't much like being contained. So this is chock full of insights, but they're really barely connected to each other. There's no actual story here.

And the amusing anecdotes accelerate this problem instead of corralling it. They're really, really random. And he goes far, far deeper into them than actually necessary. (For example, we get multiple pages of learning the life history of a guy who got blown up by Mount Saint Helens. Because...gases were involved in the explosion. Or something. It's entertaining! But really doesn't actually have much more to do with gases than say, my own life history. Because I've played with helium balloons! Or something.)

So. It's deeply researched. (Maybe too deeply, more deeply than is justified.) Very entertaining. (Really! Kean's writing style is delightful! Accessible and funny, and great at putting complex concepts into laymen's terms.) Quite informative. (Did you know the French Revolution can be blamed on a volcano in Iceland?) But it's less a book and more a multi-hour binge on Wikipedia, where you keeping clicking the most interesting link on the page and learning more and more fascinating stuff, none of which has anything to do with each other, and end the evening feeling stuffed full of random knowledge which might be fun to pull out at parties some day, and maybe a little headache-y. (Or maybe that's just me?)

[Brendan Monroe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I had a better reason for not liking this book. Believe me, I'm trying to think of one ... too many numbers? Should have read it in print rather than listened to the audio?

I don't think either of those excuses really cuts it. So, to paraphrase the great George Costanza — or was it Jerry who first used this as an excuse? — it's not you, Sam Kean, it's me!

Truth be told, I guess I just don't care enough about air. I mean, sure, a few facts and I'm all ears, but an entire book on the subject? No thanks.

I know what you're thinking. "The balls on this guy! To give a book a bad review because he didn't care about the subject! Why the hell would anyone read a book about something they weren't even interested in?"

I hear you! And my answer is ... I don't know. I thought it would be interesting. I mean, the blurb made it sound interesting enough. But really, when it came down to it, I don't really give a damn whether some of the air molecules I just inhaled were previously floating around the lungs of Julius Caesar. Who would? (and anyway, how could they be the same? I still didn't quite get this part ... don't our air molecules just float around, until they eventually just dissolve up into the atmosphere?)

Ok, apparently a lot of people give a damn. Have you ever been to Graceland? Or to any Hard Rock Cafe? People go apeshit over a pair of tattered leather pants if those tattered leather pants were once worn by Mick Jagger. Our celebrity-obsessed society is full of people who believe that the closer they are in proximity to the rich and the famous — or their air molecules — the better their prospects of becoming rich and famous.

All that to say, I'm sure Sam Kean's book was chock-a-block full of fascinating info, but I found that I'd barely be onto a new chapter before being unable to recall all the information laid out in the previous chapter (perhaps I should have taken notes?).

So to all who loved this book, more power to you. As for me, I better stick to reading about topics that interest me.

[Scarlett Sims · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam Kean does it again! In his typical conversational style, he makes science accessible and fun for the lay person, using odd occurrences from history to explain the gases that make up our atmosphere (and a few others). I really love his writing style because it is so much like how a person would talk and so non-technical. In some ways, I guess I like it because it's kind of how I would write? He takes a very human-interest sort of perspective, telling the stories of people who discovered elements and crazy things that happened to them. I really liked the two previous books I'd read by Kean and this one didn't disappoint me.

I received this free from Goodreads giveaways.

[Sille · Rating 4 out of 5]

See ei olnud küll sugugi mitte esimene populaarteaduslik raamat, mida lugedes ma peaaegu mõtlesin, et milleks ilukirjanduslikud põnevikud, kui teadus on nii põnev, aga igatahes käis see mõte ka siinpuhul peast läbi. Autor on kahtlemata suurepärane teaduse populariseerija, kes suudab populaarsuse ja teaduslikkuse vahel kenasti tasakaalu hoida.

[P K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a pretty interesting read. I was a little suspicious that I would find the subject too dry, but a couple of things prevented this. One is that Kean really writes this book from a human interest perspective. Each story is enriched with details about the lives and motivations of the people involved, often told in a humorous way. The other is that the subject matter is approached in a pretty broad way. The book isn’t a list of anecdotes about the discovery of various gasses through history. It’s more about how gasses have shaped the world. Also, Kean has a knack for approaching topics from the right perspective to keep the reader’s attention. For example, to talk about the way the atmosphere of the earth has changed over time, he starts with a story (full of extraneous but interesting details about the kooky characters involved) of a time when the atmosphere changed very dramatically and suddenly (the eruption of Mount St. Helens) and how it affected life in the surrounding area. Additionally, for the stories that focus on a scientific discovery, he really emphasizes the process, making the reader really understand why the scientists involved thought what they did, or took the next step that they did. The tone is also very conversational. I read in some published book reviews that some readers found it too conversational saying it “sounded too unscientific and undercut his otherwise authoritative voice.” I think that’s a weird criticism. Who cares if it sounds “unscientific” given our cultural associations with words like “fart”? The book is written in a logical format and does not extrapolate beyond known empirical data. It also happens to use words like fart. I liked the tone. I also saw the criticism that the book was too scattered. I agree the tangents abound. Personally, I really don’t have a problem with that in non-fiction books that are a broad survey of a topic. I do think it detracts from a book that has a specific thesis and a point to make. But just as I wouldn’t fault a friend for not sticking strictly to a linear narrative over a fun lunch date, I don’t fault Kean for it in this book. But also like a fun lunch date, I’m glad I had this conversation with Kean, but I don’t really need to record it to go back to, or make all my friends also have this conversation. It was enjoyable, but it didn’t change my life, hence the three stars. Like many science books written in the last few years, Kean also uses the opportunity to remind us that climate change is upon us, that we’re all connected and part of a common ecosystem etc. He also interestingly speculates about the future of human life off-planet. Nice way to wrap up the book.

[Melora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I have his previous books. Maybe those other topics – the elements, genetics, the human brain – are just more interesting to me than “gases.” “Air” is just such an … amorphous topic, and the organization here felt very random. As always, Kean tells the stories related to each gas in a lively, humorous way, and he skillfully connects the scientific ideas he's relating with historical incidents that illustrate their relevance. Air might not look like much, but it's powerful stuff. 3 ½ stars, rounded up to 4.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

My copy courtesy Little, Brown - much thanks!

[Cj Zawacki · Rating 5 out of 5]

So we talk in it, see in it, we walk in it: and even bring it into our bodies. Sam Kean has written CAEAR'S LAST BREATH to explain what is in the air we breath in our lives. I could say this is a nerd's book on science, however, I found the story of what we are breathing to be extremely enjoyable with lots of side comments.
Kean takes us on an adventure into the discovery of all the gases we inhale and the history of their discovery. Each chapter has insights from the beginning of Earth to the Stars of the Universe. Great reading for inquisitive minds, well explained for the common readers.
An enjoyable read about a necessity life function we cannot live without. Just try holding your breath on this book's knowledge.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great look at the atmosphere

This is the third book of Sam Kean’s that I’ve read; the other two were “The Violinist's Thumb” and “The Disappearing Spoon”. I loved the latter two, so I had high expectations for “Caesar’s Last Breath”. I was not disappointed. Once again Kean does some great storytelling, this time about the atmosphere. There is some science involved since it is necessary to understand the behavior of gases in order to understand the atmosphere. Kean explains the science very simply, clearly, and painlessly. He then delves into a discussion of the atmosphere. Although I was already familiar with some of the material that Kean discusses, Kean’s magnificent storytelling made it seem all new. Even the footnotes are great. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who likes science.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.

[Fernando del Alamo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pongo 5 estrellas a este libro porque no hay más. Absolutamente genial, ameno, informativo. Explica todo lo que tiene que ver con diferentes gases, su física y su historia. Muy ben documentado y explicado. Algunas cosas de las un servidor conocía, las explica con mucha profundidad.

Recomendado para los amantes de la ciencia y la historia de la ciencia.