A Chemical History Tour: Picturing Chemistry from Alchemy to Modern Molecular Science / Edition 1

by Arthur Greenberg

Overview

Take a stroll through this one-of-a-kind book that offers readers an illustrated tour of how chemistry developed, from alchemy to the emergence of chemistry as a scientific discipline in the early 17th century, and, finally, modern-day chemistry. Discover this rare collection of more than 180 illustrations spanning 400 years of chemical publications, with each illustration accompanied by an essay discussing its significance in the context of historical scientific beliefs as well as modern chemical science. The author's knowledge and enthusiasm for the books, images, and subject matter are clearly reflected throughout the very readable, informative, and frequently funny essays. High-quality, full-page reproductions from the author's art collection, published from 1599 to the present, are eloquently displayed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780471354086
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	03/07/2000
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	15 Years

About the Author

ARTHUR GREENBERG, PhD, was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1946 and obtained his PhD in chemistry from Princeton University in 1971. He is presently Professor and Chair of the Chemistry Department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Table of Contents

Partial table of contents: PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY, MINING, AND METALLURGY.

What Fresh Hell Is This?

The Essence of Matter: Four Elements (or Five);
Three Principles (or Two); or Three Subatomic Particles (or More).

Practical Chemistry: Mining, Assaying, and Refining.

SPIRITUAL AND ALLEGORICAL ALCHEMY.

The Philosopher's Stone Can No Longer Be Protected By Patent.

The Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine. First Key: The Wolf of Metals and the Impure King.

What Is Wrong with this Picture?

Protecting the Roman Empire's Currency from the Black Art.

The Wordless Book.

IATROCHEMISTRY AND SPAGYRICALL PREPARATIONS.

Paracelsus.

The Dream Team of Alchemy.

Distillation By Fire, Hot Water, Sand, or Steamed Boar Dung.

CHEMISTRY BEGINS TO EMERGE AS A SCIENCE.

The First Ten-Pound Chemistry Text.

A Salty Conversation.

The Alchemist in the Pit of My Stomach.

Black's Magic.

Cavendish Weighed the Earth but Thought He Had Captured Phlogiston in a Bottle.

Saltpetre, Abigail. Pins, John.

MODERN CHEMISTRY IS BORN.

Fire Air (Oxygen): Who Knew What and When Did They Know It?

Nice to His Mice.

Chemistry in the Barrel of a Gun.

A Boring Experiment.

Was Avogadro's Hypothesis a Premature Discovery?

Chemistry Is Not Applied Physics.

CHEMISTRY BEGINS TO SPECIALIZE AND HELPS FARMING AND INDUSTRY.

The Electric Scalpel.

Chemical Scalpels Through the Ages.

Taming The Primeval Forest.

The Atomic Weight of Carbon and Related Confusions.

The People's Chemistry.

Ink from Peanuts and the Finest Sugar in the South.

TEACHING CHEMISTRY TO THE MASSES.

Michael Faraday's First Chemistry Teacher.

"Chemistry No Mystery".

Molecular Mechanics In The Year 1866.

THE APPROACH TO MODERN VIEWS OF CHEMICAL BONDING.

Riding Pegasus to Visit Chemistry in Space.

Is the Archeus a Southpaw?

X-Rays Measure the Distances Between Atoms or Ions.

Where Did We Dig Up The Mole?

Nanoscopic "Heavens".

Moving Matter Atom-By-Atom.

POST-SCRIPT.

Ending In Imagery.

Index.

What People are Saying About This

Roald Hoffmann

"With the original and often startling images of chemistry, Arthur Greenberg makes the history of science come to life. A remarkable, witty book!"

Oliver Sacks, M.D.

"Chemistry has perhaps the most intricate, most fascinating, and certainly most romantic history of all the sciences. Arthur Greenberg's A Chemical History Tour: Picturing Chemistry from Alchemy to Modern Molecular Science provides an entirely new sort of history, a dramatic journey in which he transports us through more than a hundred scenes or episodes from the earliest beginnings of alchemy to the latest in quantum mechanics and transmutation. Dr. Greenberg's essays -- delightful, learned, quirky, highly personal, and richly illustrated with contemporary drawings (many of great rarity and beauty) -- provide a kaleidoscope of intellectual landscapes, bringing the experiments, the ideas, and the human figures of chemistry's past intensely alive."

Editorial Reviews

"Overall, as intended...a fascinating book to browse through and an excellent starting point for anyone interested in the strange and wonderful history of our collective discipline." (Today's Chemist, Vol. 10, No. 2, February 2001)
"This is a delightful book that has no equal. It is a joy to read and well worth its retail price.... Sentences are short; words are familiar; humor and well-turned phrases abound." (Chemical Heritage, Spring 2001)
"Greenberg offers chemistry teachers, practicing professionals...and lay readers a light-hearted tour of his discipline's history." (SciTech Book News, Vol. 24, No. 4, December 2000)
"This is not an encyclopedic work on the entire history of the science, but a picture book to be read an enjoyed by chemists and nonchemists alike. Nevertheless, it will serve as a valuable secondary source for historians of science..." (American Scientist, Vol. 89, May/June 2001)
"...will captivate younger chemists...there has been nothing like it available since [...] 'A pictorial history of chemistry', 1939..." (Chemistry & Industry, 20th November 2000)
"...a work of art as well as of science.... I highly recommend it to practicing chemists, chemical educators, bibliophiles and book collectors, and anyone interested in chemistry, art and culture, and even to historians.... The author obviously had a lot of fun and enjoyed himself in writing it...in reading it you'll experience the same feelings." (Endeavor, Vol. 26, No. 2, June 2002)

From the Publisher

Overall, as intended...a fascinating book to browse through and an excellent starting point for anyone interested in the strange and wonderful history of our collective discipline.

Today's Chemist

This is a delightful book that has no equal. It is a joy to read and well worth its retail price.... Sentences are short; words are familiar; humor and well-turned phrases abound.

Chemical Heritage

Greenberg offers chemistry teachers, practicing professionals...and lay readers a light-hearted tour of his discipline's history.

SciTech Book News

This is not an encyclopedic work on the entire history of the science, but a picture book to be read an enjoyed by chemists and nonchemists alike. Nevertheless, it will serve as a valuable secondary source for historians of science...

American Scientist

...will captivate younger chemists...there has been nothing like it available since [...] 'A pictorial history of chemistry', 1939...

Chemistry & Industry

Greenburg (chemistry, U. of North Carolina-Charlotte) offers chemistry teachers, practicing professionals in science and medicine, and lay readers a light-hearted tour of his discipline's history. Pivoting on illustrations, it is meant to be skimmed and dipped into as well as read systematically. It begins with the frontispiece of the 1738 edition of in which Becher introduced the phlogiston concept, and ends with a quantum corral of 48 iron atoms placed one-by-one using an atomic force microscope. Eight of the illustrations are color plates. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

…delightful book…the reader can be assured of an informative and entertaining read.
— Nature

John Emsley