Customer Reviews

Chasing the Molecule

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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.

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.

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.

Even those of us who were educated in the sciences have usually not heard the details of the interactions among the chemists who contributed to the body of knowledge. Some contributed more than we had before believed and some Less! Nothing dull about this book. And very educating!