Everything Else Follows

By: Van Houte, Cornelis

Wood does not burn; only the gas above it does. Iron in dry oxygen stops at four nanometres, but with water it becomes a battery. Three quarters of every breath is nitrogen, yet wheat starves for want of a hundred and fifty grams. Salt is the only rock human beings eat, and its history is two thousand years of taxation. Coffee extraction is a race between acids, body, and bitterness, stopped on purpose.

In Everything Else Follows, Cornelis van Houte collects five complete books-Fire in 100 Facts, Rust in 100 Facts, Nitrogen in 100 Facts, Salt in 100 Facts, and Coffee in 100 Facts-into a single volume. Arranged not by chronology, but by how fast a reaction goes and what human beings do about the rate, each book starts with a sentence that contradicts common assumptions and demonstrates how an entire field follows from a single number or ratio.

From the physics of room flashovers, the chemistry of the Haber-Bosch process, and the forensic science of fire investigation, to the economics of state monopolies and the precise timing of a proper brew, this omnibus explores the narrow, real power we have over the world's rates and reactions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HL98MCC7
• ISBN13: 9798177610344
• Release Date: September 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 636 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"