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Hardcover Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine Book

ISBN: 0195092899

ISBN13: 9780195092899

Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine

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Format: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good*

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Book Overview

Alcohol and caffeine are deeply woven into the fabric of life for most of the world's population, as close and as comfortable as a cup of coffee or a can of beer. Yet for most people they remain as mysterious and unpredictable as the spirits they were once thought to be. Now, in Buzz, Stephen Braun takes us on a myth-shattering tour of these two popular substances, one that blends fascinating science with colorful lore, and that includes cameo appearances by Shakespeare and Balzac, Buddhist monks and Arabian goat herders, even Mikhail Gorbachev and David Letterman (who once quipped, "If it weren't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever").
Much of what Braun reveals directly contradicts conventional wisdom about alcohol and caffeine. Braun shows, for instance, that alcohol is not simply a depressant as popularly believed, but is instead "a pharmacy in a bottle"--mimicking the action of drugs such as cocaine, amphetamine, valium, and opium. At low doses, it increases electrical activity in the same brain systems affected by stimulants, influences the same circuits targeted by valium, and causes the release of morphine-like compounds known as endorphins--all at the same time. This explains why alcohol can produce a range of reactions, from boisterous euphoria to dark, brooding hopelessness. Braun also shatters the myth that alcohol kills brain cells, reveals why wood alcohol or methanol causes blindness, and explains the biological reason behind the one-drink-per-hour sobriety rule (that's how long it takes the liver, working full tilt, to disable the 200 quintillion ethanol molecules found in a typical drink). The author then turns to caffeine and shows it to be no less remarkable. We discover that more than 100 plant species produce caffeine molecules in their seeds, leaves, or bark, a truly amazing distribution throughout nature (nicotine, in comparison, is found only in tobacco; opium only in the poppy). It's not surprising then that caffeine is far and away the most widely used mind altering substance on the planet, found in tea, coffee, cocoa, chocolate, soft drinks, and more than 2,000 non-prescription drugs. (Tea is the most popular drink on earth, with coffee a close second.) Braun also explores the role of caffeine in creativity: Johann Sebastian Bach, for one, loved coffee so much he wrote a Coffee Cantata (as Braun notes, no music captures the caffeinated experience better than one of Bachs frenetic fugues), Balzac would work for 12 hours non-stop, drinking coffee all the while, and Kant, Rousseau, and Voltaire all loved coffee. And throughout the book, Braun takes us on many engaging factual sidetrips--we learn, for instance, that Theodore Roosevelt coined the phrase "Good to the last drop" used by Maxwell House ever since; that distances between Tibetan villages are sometimes reckoned by the number of cups of tea needed to sustain a person (three cups being roughly 8 kilometers); and that John Pemberton's original recipe for Coca-Cola included not only kola extract, but also cocaine.
Whether you are a sophisticated consumer of cabernet sauvignon and Kenya AA or just someone who needs a cup of joe in the morning and a cold one after work, you will find Buzz to be an eye-opening, informative, and often amusing look at two substances at once utterly familiar and deeply mysterious.

Customer Reviews

5 customer ratings | 5 reviews

Rated 4 stars
Entertaining and informative (and a fast read)

Science journalist Stephen Braun explores the science and lore of alcohol and caffeine in this slim but informative little volume. Recent progress in understanding brain chemistry has given scientists a different perspective on the workings of these two of mankind's oldest chemical friends. Alcohol is a small molecule which is soluble in both fat and water and consequently its physiological effects are manifold. Rather than...

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Rated 5 stars
Concise and witty, will entertain and inform.

"Buzz" by Stephen Braun is one of the best science books I've read in a while. Mr. Braun destroyes popular myths about society's most popular drugs, and he replaces those myths with facts and evidence. Often those facts are just as interesting as the myths! The book is witty and full of insight and advice about caffeine and alcohol. A must read for people curious about the two most popular drugs on the planet.

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Rated 5 stars
Accessable and accurate

Although I know somewhat more than the average person about both substances, This book gave me new information presented in an interesting style. I would recommend it highly both to the casual reader and to educational programs for medical and substance abuse communities.And, the guy has a sense of humor!!

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Rated 4 stars
An interesting blur of scientific fact about alcohol

The book lifts into the hard core facts about alcolhol, caffine, drugs, and other stimulants while keeping a common sense attitude to the subject. Very interesting, especially for the college student.

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Rated 5 stars
A full-bodied history

Caffeine and alcohol are two of the most popular drugs on earth, and yet until recently not a whole lot has been found out about how they affect us. Stephen Braun's "Buzz" compiles the latest research on them, and examines the truth of various myths that have grown up around them. Braun looks at each drug separately and records his findings with a clarity of prose that will delight the general reader. His book goes down like...

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