Creations of Fire [Hardcover]

Cathy Cobb (Author), Harold Goldwhite (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0306450879 | ISBN-13: 978-0306450877 | Edition: 1st

More than any other science, the history of chemistry is intimately linked to human history. Chemical technology has fostered the development of civilizations, altered the course of wars, generated the industrial revolution, and created the petroleum and plastics that fuel and shape our modern world. In this fascinating and significant book Cathy Cobb and Harold Goldwhite, two respected scientists and writers, have teamed up to present a wonderfully rich story of chemistry - celebrating not only theories and breakthroughs, but the provocative times and personalities that shaped this amazing science and brought it to life.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

As professors of chemistry, the authors could have approached the history of their science from a technical perspective, but they chose instead to place it within the broader framework of social, cultural, and political circumstances. Although their treatment of people and events is at the introductory level, their broad time line begins with chemistry in the Stone Age and ends with current areas of interest such as superheavy elements and the polymerase chain reaction. Along the way, the coverage includes alchemy, cold fusion, and many more popular subjects, as well as less familiar topics like the contributions of Lise Meitner and Marie Lavoisier. Several other concise histories are available (e.g., H.W. Salzberg's From Caveman to Chemist, American Chemical Society, 1991), but this book's light and often humorous style makes it especially appealing to the general reader. Recommended for both history of science and chemistry collections.?Jan Williams, Monsanto Co., St. Louis
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Excellently written...highly recommended." -- -Choice

"Well-written, witty and erudite. An excellent introduction for anyone interested in the development of chemistry." -- -Martin Saltzman, Ph.D., Chair, Division of History of Chemistry, American Chemical Society --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Plenum Press; 1st edition (August 21, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306450879
• ISBN-13: 978-0306450877
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,696,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best History of Chemistry in Print!, November 12, 2006

By 

David B Richman (Mesilla Park, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creations Of Fire: Chemistry's Lively History From Alchemy To The Atomic Age (Paperback)

I have always liked the science of chemistry. It was, in fact, a hobby of mine when I was in my teens, but I eventually chose to go into biology. I still had to minor in chemistry and physics, and while I struggled in physics, chemistry was my cup of tea!

One of the reasons for this was my fascination with the history of the science and I was much influenced by "Crucibles" by Bernard Jaffe. This was (and still is) a very interesting and informative book, but I think now much improved upon by "Creations of Fire: Chemistry's Lively History from Alchemy to the Atomic Age" by Cathy Cobb and Harold Goldwhite. In this current volume the authors include a number of researchers only mentioned in passing or not at all by Jaffe. In addition they have placed chemical advances in the perspective of the time in which they occurred. This is science history as it should be written! I always think that the history of any subject, be it science, literature, art or religion, better informs the student than presenting only the current thinking in the given field. I know that I understand the structure of modern chemistry better when I also understand the steps that led to it.

I highly recommend this excellent history of chemical thought to student and professional alike, as well as anyone who wants to understand how scientists got Avogadro's law, atomic theory, or discovered the elements and the periodic table. Hint: they all took a lot of work and determination and were understood only after a lot of blind alleys and conflict. Nothing was self evident or handed down on a platter!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than a detective novel, September 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Creations of Fire (Hardcover)

Unputdownable. The story of hundreds of scientists and enthusiasts who wanted to understand matter and gradually decoded its secrets. Generally accessible to the lay-reader (I got a little lost when we reached proteins, enzymes and so forth), its full of little quirky details from the lives of the protagonists, making them human and interesting.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars key tale told well, February 24, 2004

By 

Gaunilon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creations Of Fire: Chemistry's Lively History From Alchemy To The Atomic Age (Paperback)

If you have to own one chemistry book, this should be the one. It explains the concepts, frames the drama, and avoids the nomenclature and exasperating detail. Chemistry forms the basis of the material world, and the future of many technologies, ranging from medicine and electronics to materials and environmental science. The approach to chemistry, over the millennia, has defined scientific method and ultimately, philosophy of science. From this book, one can grasp the dramatic outline, with all explanations easily digested, and the dramatic highpoints presented with just the right flourish. These two writers do not come from Oxford but rather a state school in California, and they tell the tale with a simplicity and directness that most anybody can appreciate.