The art of chemistry : myths, medicines, and materials / Arthur Greenberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Greenberg, Arthur.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chemistry--History.

Chemistry.

History.

Alchemy.

Medicine--History.

Medicine.

Chemistry--history.

History of Medicine.

Medical Subjects:

Chemistry--history.

Alchemy.

History of Medicine.

Physical Description:

xix, 357 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm

Place of Publication:

Hoboken, N.J. : Wiley-Interscience, [2003]

Summary:

In A Chemical History Tour, Arthur Greenberg book readers on a wild romp through the history of chemistry, introducing the unique characters, sometimes bizarre theories, and novel experiments that ultimately produced the modern science. Now Greenberg returns with more tales of chemistry glory, lovingly chronicling the extraordinary artwork that alchemists and chemists have produced in their pursuit of understanding the nature of matter in The Art of Chemistry: Myths, Medicines, and Materials. The Art of Chemistry employs 187 figures (including 16 full-color plates) to illuminate 72 essays on the mythical origins, wondrous experiments, and adventurous explorers in the annals of chemistry. Each section tracks chemistry's incremental progress from myth to modern science, featuring the figures and diagrams that early chemists used to explain their craft. Along the way, readers will meet the deadly basilisk and the fabulous phoenix that populated the lore of pre-modern chemistry, learn the contributions to chemistry of the American natural philosopher Benjamin Franklin, and encounter Antoine Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry and perhaps France's greatest economist. Greenberg also examines our fundamental connections with science through two personal essays, one on an adolescent friend who improbably (but perhaps inevitably) became a world-renowned entomology professor and the other on his quest to discover his own chemical heritage. The Art of Chemistry is sure to inform and entertain anyone interested in our eternal quest to know the natural world.

Contents:

Section I. Spiritual and Mythological Roots 1

Eastern and Western Esoterica 1

The Four Ancient Elements 4

Mystical and Majestic Numbers 6

Natural Magick: Metamorphoses of Werewolves and Metals 10

Albert the Great and "Albert the Pretty Good" 16

A Canterbury Tale of Alchemy 20

The Ship of Fools 24

The First Modern Encyclopedia 25

An Alchemical Bestiary 26

Who Is Athanasius Kircher, and Why Are They Saying Those Terrible Things about Him? 37

Unnatural Magick

Witches and Stirring Rods of Bone 41

Section II. Stills, Cupels, and Weapons 45

The Magic of Distillation 45

Practical Metallick Chymistry 54

A Promising President 69

These Are a Few of Our Nastiest Things 71

Section III. Medicines, Purges, and Ointments 77

The Joy of Sextodecimo 77

The Compleat Apothecary 80

"Rare Effects of Magical and Celestial Fire" 86

Secrets of a Lady Alchemist 89

"Pray and Work" 92

A Good Old-Fashioned Purge 96

Section IV. An Emerging Science 105

The Ancient War of the Knights 105

Skeptical about "Vulgar Chymical Opinions" 107

Enhancing Frail Human Senses 113

A Fleeting Whiff of Oxygen? 119

Lucifer's Element and Kunckel's Pills 122

The Emperor's Mercantile Alchemist 127

The Humble Gift of Charcoal 133

The Surprising Chemical Taxonomies of Minerals and Mollusks 135

There Is Truth in Chalk 142

Section V. Two Revolutions in France 145

In the Early Morning Hours of the Chemical Revolution 145

An Early but Distant Relative of the Periodic Table 157

Apothecary's Assistant and Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences 161

Laughing Gas or Simply "Semiphlogisticated Nitrous Air" (?) 166

Eulogy for Eudiometry 168

Water Will Not "Float" Phlogiston 172

Ben Franklin

Diplomate Extraordinaire 177

Okay, I Now Know What "Oxidation" Means, but What Is "Reduction"? 183

The Man in the Rubber Suit 184

"Poor Old Marat"? I Think Not! 188

Poor Old Lamarck 194

Mon Cher Phlogiston, "You're Speaking Like an Ass!" 197

Requiem for a Lightweight 200

Section VI. A Young Country and a Young Theory 205

"It Is a Pity So Few Chemists Are Dyers, and So Few Dyers Chemists" 205

Two Early Visions: Oxidation without Oxygen and Women as Strong Scientists 208

EXCLUSIVE! First Printed Pictures of Dalton's Molecules 211

Atmospheric Water Molecules and the Morning Dew 215

'Tis a Bonnie Chymistrie We Brrring Ye 219

[characters not reproducible] "For It's Hot as Hell ... in Phila-del'-phi-a" [characters not reproducible] 221

Twelve Cents for a Chemistry Lecture 225

Section VII. Specialization and Systemization 231

Geodes 231

Colorful "Notions of Chemistry" 233

What Are Organic Chemists Good for? 241

Never Smile at a Cacodyl 245

Mendeleev's "Cosmic Staircase" to a "Pythagorean Heaven" 250

The Electric Oxygen 260

"Chemistry Compressed" 265

Laevo-Man Would Enjoy the "Buzz" but Not the Taste of His Beer 267

What Else Could a Woman Write about? 272

Searching for Signs of Neon 276

A "Grouch" or a "Crank"? 281

Why Is Prout's Hypothesis Still in Modern Textbooks? 289

Section VIII. Some Fun 293

Clairvoyant Pictures of Atoms

A Strange Chymical Narrative 293

The Periodic Helix of the Elements 300

White Lightning in an Atom, a Kiss, or a Star 306

"Trade Ya Babe Ruth for Antoine Lavoisier!" 311

The Secret Life of Wanda Witty 318

Pauling's Cartoon Carnival 320

Here's to Long Life (L'Chaim)! 325

So You Weren't Joking, Mr. Feynman! 329

A Natural Scientist 335

Descended from Fallopian Test Tubes? 339.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0471071803

OCLC:

50080290