Chasing the Molecule [Hardcover]

John Buckingham (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0750933453 | ISBN-13: 978-0750933452 | Publication Date: June 25, 2004

In the 50s, a tremendous conceptual breakthrough was about to take place in science, revolutionising the way we think about the molecules of life. The story ranged across laboratories throughout Europe in which the protagonists built molecular models that promised to unlock the natural world's secrets. When the breakthrough finally occurred, some of the participants became widely honoured, while others were unjustly neglected and died in obscurity. This all happened in the 1850s, not the 1950s. By the mid-nineteenth century, chemists had established that many natural products were made of just three elements - carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. How could this be true? How could such extraordinarily complicated substances, even man himself, be made of nothing but charcoal and air? The molecules were the fundamental substances of organic chemistry, the building blocks not only of the DNA unravelled a century later, but of the mass of natural products and synthetic substances that were to dominate the modern world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Buckingham has a PhD in Chemistry and is editor of Chapman and Hall's chemistry list on a part-time basis. A former lecturer in organic chemistry at London University (Westfield), he was the founding editor (and now consultant editor 0 for the only comprehensive database devoted to natural products.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: The History Press (June 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750933453
• ISBN-13: 978-0750933452
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,019,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pieces of the truth, June 19, 2006

By 

M. Taylor (Austria) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chasing the Molecule (Hardcover)

For every thousand books about political events, wars and the people involved in them perhaps there is one written about science and technology. This is an extraordinary state of affairs in a world increasingly shaped by science and its applications. Public ignorance of the scientific world, its origins, concepts and possibilities is almost universal, yet these are matters of the utmost importance to current and future societies.

'Chasing The Molecule' is one book in a thousand. It deals with the development of modern chemistry, a major science that has touched the lives of everyone on Earth through the discovery and production of materials that they wear, food they eat, and medicines that save their lives. Buckingham offers the reader a detailed account of the origins of modern chemistry. The story flows across Europe from the 16th to the 20th centuries. It bubbles with anecdotes and fascinating tales that trace the development of present day chemical concepts and the scientific method. Numerous brilliant personalities fill the pages as they interact and struggle to advance, misdirect and sometimes even retard the progress of the science. Debates are described that rage for decades culminating in the concept of the molecule. What are the weights of atoms? How many atoms are there in a molecule of water? Basic questions like these can now be answered by every school child, yet only because of the work of many generations of chemists.

A very different book, verging on a novel in style with the discipline of a reference text. It should be appealing to readers with a bent for science and history. A must read for students and teachers of Chemistry.

5.0 out of 5 stars Personalities of Chemistry: From Alchemy to Engineering!, December 13, 2010

By 

Karen L. Black (Blodgett, OR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chasing the Molecule (Paperback)

Anyone who has taken a chemistry course will recognize many of the people portrayed in this book -- Lavoisier, Dalton, Liebig, Kukele, and so on. Buckingham does a great job placing these people in time and among the lesser-known chemists whose contributions have been overlooked.

I enjoyed this book very much and recommend it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, Personalties bring theories behind the molecule to life, August 29, 2010

By 

Allen Brooks - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chasing the Molecule (Paperback)

A rare look at the history surrounding the chase to understand the physical world, from alchemists to Boyle and finally through to Kekule's discovery of the molecule. The author does an excellent job of introducing the important players, their contributions and their relationships with one another that both advanced science and hindered its development. The author keeps the narrative moving well finding time to interject interesting anecdotes along the way. A great book for anyone interested in chemistry or the history of science.