Cold Light Creatures, Discoveries, and Inventions That Glow

by Sitarski, Anita

• ISBN13: 9781590784686
• ISBN10: 1590784685
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-10-01
• Publisher: Astra Young Readers

Summary

Luminescence sheds light on the adventure of science. Scientists and many others have explored the science and wonder of cold light-the chemistry of animals and things that make light but not heat. A seventeenth-century alchemist tried to turn a stone into gold. He failed, but the stone glowed in the dark instead. The alchemist began to mold the first luminescent objects. A light also came on one night for the famous chemist Robert Boyle. After he saw a raw chicken glowing in his kitchen, he began his own research into luminescence. With light humor, Anita Sitarski brings the thrill of discovery to life as she recounts the stories of the alchemist, chemist Robert Boyle, the adventurers who first saw bizarre creatures glowing in the depths of the sea, and others. Awe-inspiring, full-color photographs accompany the compelling, fact-filled text in these scientific explorations.

Author Biography

Anita Sitarski has combined her loves of teaching and science in a career spanning more than twenty years. She has taught in the classroom and online, and as education director for a historic house-museum. She lives in the Finger Lakes region of New York State with her husband, Michael, and her son, Kevin. Cold Light is her first book.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 5
How Can You Be So Cold?: The Stone That Captured the Sun	p. 7
Back Off, I Need Some Air: The Chicken That Glowed in the Dark	p. 11
What's in a Name?: The Inside Story of Fire Beetles and Glowing Mushrooms	p. 16
They're Everywhere: Shedding Light on Bioluminescent Creatures	p. 20
Don't Bother Me, I'm Busy: The Secret Lives of Glowing Sea Creatures	p. 23
You Light Up My Life: Those Special Fireflies	p. 28
Send In the Clones: New Frontiers in Bioluminescence Research	p. 32
I Don't Need You Anymore: Jellyfish GFP and Beyond	p. 37
New Kids on the Block: Man-Made Cool Light	p. 41
Epilogue	p. 44
To Learn More	p. 45
Glossary	p. 46
Index	p. 47
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