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MY CHEMICAL LIFE
To The Best of Our Knowledge
from Wisconsin Public Radio
Linus has his security blanket. Renowned neurologist
Oliver Sacks had the Periodic Table of the Elements. In this hour
of To the Best of Our Knowledge, My Chemical Life. Oliver
Sacks remembers a childhood steeped in chemistry. Also, Primo Levi
survives Auschwitz, through chemistry. And, Union Carbide's deadly
business in Bhopal.
SEGMENT 1:
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Renowned neurologist and author Oliver
Sacks talks with Jim Fleming about his childhood in
wartime London and the important role chemistry played in
his life. He was comforted by the rigor and orderliness
of science, even if his chemistry experiments almost destroyed
his house. Sacks' memoir is called "Uncle Tungsten:
Memories of a Chemical Boyhood."
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SEGMENT 2:
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John Emsley
is the author of "Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z
Guide to the Elements." He tells Jim Fleming lots of
fascinating facts about the Periodic Table of the Elements,
and why science, and the teaching of science, should be
fun. Also, Dominique Lapierre talks from France with
Anne Strainchamps about his book "Five Past Midnight
in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial
Disaster." He says thousands of people died because
they fled in the wrong direction.
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SEGMENT 3:
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Carole Angier
is the author of "The Double Bond: Primo Levi, A Biography."
She tells Steve Paulson that Levi was a brilliant chemist
who mined the world of chemistry for metaphors to help him
process his experiences as a Holocaust survivor. Levi's
memoir of Auschwitz is a classic of Holocaust literature.
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Cassette copies are available
at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 02-08-11-A.
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Books:
- Carole Angier,
The Doubled Bond: Primo Levi: a biography (FSG)
- John Emsley, Nature's Building Blocks:
An A-Z Guide to the Elements (Oxford)
- Primo Levi, The Periodic Table (Schocken
Books)
- Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro, Five
Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest
Industrial Disaster (Warner Books)
- Oliver Sacks, Uncle Tungsten: Memories
of a Chemical Boyhood (Knopf)
Music:
- "I Made Something Strange With My Chemistry
Set." Jack Prelutsky. A Pizza the Size of the Sun. Listening
Library.
- "Remembrances." Schindler's List: Original
Motion Picture Soundtrack. Music composed and conducted by John
Williams. MCA
- "End Credits." The Thin Blue Line:
Motion Picture Soundtrack.
- Music composed by Philip Glass. Elektra.
- "The Elements." Tom Lehrer. The
Remains of Tom Lehrer: Disc 1. Rhino.
Distribution dates:
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Questions and comments can
be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org
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