From Alchemy to Chemistry in Picture and Story
1. Edition January 2007
688 Pages, Hardcover
General Reading
Short Description
From Alchemy to Chemistry in Picture and Story gives readers an illustrated tour of how chemistry developed. Integrating the contents of his two earlier books, A Chemical History Tour and The Art of Chemistry, the author has included over 350 high-quality reproductions of figures from rare books spanning 400 years of chemical publications in his rare-book collection. The illuminating and entertaining essays that accompany each illustration explain the imagery's meaning and significance in the context of both historical scientific beliefs and modern chemical science. Several essays are new to this edition.
Praise for From Alchemy to Chemistry in Picture and Story
"The timeline from alchemy to chemistry contains some of the most mystifying ideas and images that humans have ever devised. Arthur Greenberg shows us this wonderful world in a unique and highly readable book."
--Dr. John Emsley, author of The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison
"Art Greenberg takes us, through text and lovingly selected images, on a 'magical mystery tour' of the chemical universe. No matter what page you open, there is a chemical story worth telling."
--Dr. Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Laureate and coauthor of Chemistry Imagined
"Chemistry has perhaps the most intricate, most fascinating, and certainly most romantic history of all the sciences. Arthur 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."
--Dr. Oliver Sacks, author of Awakenings
From Alchemy to Chemistry in Picture and Story takes you on an illustrated tour of chemistry's fascinating history, from its early focus on the spiritual relationship between man and nature to some of today's most cutting-edge applications. Drawing from rare publications and artwork that span over five centuries, the book contains nearly 200 essays and over 350 illustrations--including 24 in full color--that tell the engaging story of the development of this fundamental science and its connection with human history.
Join Arthur Greenberg as he combines the "best of the best" from his previous works (as well as several new essays) to paint a colorful picture of chemistry's remarkable origins!
Suggestions for Further Reading and Touring.
Acknowledgments.
SECTION I. PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY: MINING, METALLURGY AND WAR.
SECTION II. SPIRITUAL AND ALLEGORICAL ALCHEMY AND CHEMISTRY.
SECTION III. MEDICINES, PURGES, AND OINTMENTS.
SECTION IV. AN EMERGING SCIENCE.
SECTION V. THE CHEMICAL REVOLUTION.
SECTION VI. A YOUNG DEMOCRACY AND A NEW CHEMISTRY.
SECTION VII. CHEMISTRY BEGINS TO SPECIALIZE, SYSTEMIZE, AND HELP THE FARM AND THE FACTORY.
SECTION VIII. TEACHING CHEMISTRY TO THE MASSES.
SECTION IX. CHEMISTRY ENTERS THE MODERN AGE.
SECTION X. SOME BRIEF CHEMICAL AMUSEMENTS.
Index.
"My advice to everyone who is interested in the history of chemistry: give your old versions of Greenberg's books away and buy the new one." (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, July 2, 2007)
"...a book that the reviewer would have been delighted to have discovered as a student in high school or college..." (Bulletin for the History of Chemistry, Fall 2007)
"'A light-hearted tour through selected highlights of chemical history...has been admirably achieved in this generously illustrated book." (CHOICE, July 2007)
"...can be strongly recommended...it will put a smile on your face on the way to the lab." (Chemistry World, July 2007)