Customer Reviews

A Short History of Chemistry (Science Study Series)

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A great accompanyment to a high school chemistry course. High school chemistry is so abstract, that one wonders how chemists ever thought to look at the things they studied to develop the field. Asimov explains what concrete problems and concerns led to the development of each important discovery, situating it in terms of what was understood at the time, and making the logic of the field's development clear. Easy enough for the non-scientist, but with lots of material I never learned in my science education. Asimov was a great popularizer!

Even though this book was written forty years ago and there have been many advances in chemistry since then, it remains the best introduction to chemistry available. Isaac Asimov is still the best explainer of science that has ever existed and he was never better than when writing this book. Although Asimov was capable of writing in all areas of science, he was trained as a chemist, so in this case he was writing about the subject that he knew the most about.
The understanding of the elements that led to the modern periodic table did not come easy. There were many false starts and partial truths that were presented, refuted and remodeled. Asimov takes you through all of this historical record, emphasizing that scientific "truth" is an evolutionary process. The "Aha!" moment is a very rare event in science. Most discoveries are the results of months or years of painstaking research and few are definitive. Some of the main advances started as intelligent suppositions that were not verified for decades.
Written at the level of the intelligent high school student, this is the best introduction to the intellectual struggles that forged (literally and figuratively) our current knowledge of chemistry.

I've had my copy of this since high school. Most of my other books are gone, but I still have this one. It's a very excellent overview of the developments in chemistry, from the early days of discovery, from Lavoisier, to Mendleev, to the Atomic Age. A wonderful book that livens up what can be a very dry subject.

This little paperback, published in 1965 by Dr. Asimov is a highly-readable and interesting introduction to the history of chemistry. It begins in ancient times with the Egyptians and Greek philosophers. I was pleased that adequate attention was given to the brilliant Arabic scientists and their insurmountable contribution to early modern (post-middle age) science and medicine. The book does an excellent job with the major discoveries of the 19th century. It describes the chemists, their experiments and major discoveries in detail that is satisfactory to both laymen and scientists alike. While the 20th century has given rise to substantial developments in chemical theory, particularly in organic and biochemistry, this text still stands as being a great introduction which will be entertaining to the reader unlike most modern textbooks. 5 Stars and Highly Recommended!