Juan David’s Newsletter - July 30th, 2023

The Cheesy Energy of Lithium Book

Hey there!

Remember when we last chatted? Well, since then, I've been immersed in finishing a book all about lithium, and guess what? Today, I'm excited to share it with you!

The Cheesy Energy of Lithium. Yes! That's the title. Go check it out now.

Just as a coiled spring, as soon as school ends, I'm jumping with potential energy, just waiting to be released. No longer confined to the routines of classes, I release that stored energy, and for the next three months, I'm on a journey of curious obsession over a particular topic. It's like the spring unwinding and propelling me into a world of exploration and learning.

This has become a yearly tradition for me. Last summer, I obsessed over flying things. The summer before about Affordable Profitable Housing, and the year before that, I wrote a book on the future of marketing with a neuroscience professor. Each summer brings a new adventure, a new curiosity to explore, and a chance to immerse myself fully in a world of discovery.

I'm not entirely sure how or why it happens, but it just does, and I love it.

This summer was all about lithium. I taught myself everything I could about this fascinating element, and I sought answers to any questions that crossed my mind. There's something magical about putting your thoughts and learning into words on paper.

Anyone who did great work had notebooks (or the modern equivalent). Here are some examples:

• Leonard da Vinci had more than fifty notebooks filled with sketches, observations, and ideas about art, science, and engineering.

• Srinivasa Ramanujan used his notebooks to record mathematical discoveries.

• Isaac Newton used notebooks to record his work on mathematics, optics, and physics.

• Charles Darwin kept notebooks during his travels on the HMS Beagle to document his observations of nature.

From The Book of Everything: Writing To Teach Yourself, Why Every Great Mind Uses Notebooks, and How to Experience The Way

Instead of taking traditional classes, go write a “book” about whatever subject you want to learn about. Don’t start with the intention of being an author or any of that. Start with curiosity and follow it. Ask yourself questions, and answer, and if you do that multiple times, you’ll have written a “book” and learn so much more once you look back.

You’ll become more knowledgeable than most people and learn enough to be dangerous from knowing where the cool opportunities are to maybe even finding your life’s work.

Plus, you'll attract opportunities, and interesting people will want to talk to you as you have a legit reason to engage with them. Trust me, I ended up chatting with some awesome folks like the president of the Nevada Mining Association and even an economist from the Federal Reserve in Dallas.

And now, the book is done! Let’s gooooo!

What's next? I honestly don't know, but that's the beauty of it. This book is just the starting point for many more research questions. I'm excited to be done, to share it, and to see where this journey takes me, but for now, this is where I stand.

What’s next for you? Reading The Cheesy Energy of Lithium.

---

The Cheesy Energy of Lithium

An Exploration of Lithium's Power in Batteries, Medicine, and Nuclear Physics

Table of Contents

• Curiosity = Love

• How to Read This Book

• Lithium: An Atom's Perspective

  • Isotopes: Lithium's Siblings

• "I'm radioactive, radioactive": The Magic of Radioactive Decay and the Charms of Radioactivity

  • Applications of Radioactivity

  • Misconceptions: Is The Use of Radiation Safe?

  • Radiation in the United States

• A Journey to the Subatomic World: Theoretical Physics, Particles, and Matryoshkas

  • Theoretical Physics: The Secret to Your Lover's Heart

  • From Beta Decay to Bosons and Fermions

  • On Dirac: Naming Monopoly, One Word Per Hour, and Potatoes

  • Zooming out on Understanding

• Properties of Lithium

  • Physical Properties

  • Chemistry of Lithium

• History of Lithium

  • How Language Affects Understanding

  • The Discovery of Lithium

• Lithium's Applications: Batteries, Drugs, and Atomic Bombs

  • I. Batteries and Energy

  • II. Pharmaceuticals and Medicine

  • III. Ceramics and Glass

  • IV. Lubricants and Greases

  • V. Metallurgy and Alloys

  • VI. Catalysts and Chemical Synthesis

  • VII. Other Applications

  • VIII. Future Applications

• Nuclear Physics: Lithium-6, Fusion, Reactors, and The Future

  • Nuclear Reactors

  • Hybrid Fusion-Fission Reactor

  • The Separation of Lithium-6

  • The History of Lithium-6

  • Trillion-Dollar-Idea: Separating Lithium-6

  • "Fusion May Actually Work To Make Electricity"

• Lithium-Ion Batteries

  • Batteries Explained

  • The History of the Battery

  • History of the Lithium-ion Battery

  • Honorary to John B. Goodenough

  • What Happens After a Lithium-ion Battery is Connected to a Device?

  • Why The Lithium-Ion Battery?

  • Why Do Lithium Batteries Explode?

  • Battery Manufacturing

  • Differences Between Car and Phone Battery Manufacturing?

  • Alternatives to Lithium-Ion Batteries

  • The Ideal Battery

• Is Lithium Abundant?

• Lithium From Mining to Consumers' Hands

• Lithium Mining

• Lithium Extraction

  • Brine or Ore?

• Lithium Refinement

  • Brief History of Lithium Refinement

  • Methods of Lithium Refinement

  • Precision and Purity of Lithium

  • Starting a Lithium Refinery Company

• Summers of Obsessions

• Other Random Curiosities About Lithium

• Good Resources

• Questions

• Notes

---

or

Still not convinced? If this doesn’t convince you to go read The Cheesy Energy of Lithium, I don’t know what will.

See you soon!

🎸,

Juan David Campolargo