Molecules at an Exhibition: Portraits of Intriguing Materials in Everyday Life (Paperback)

~ (Author) "THERE ARE scores of myths surrounding the things we eat: chocolate is almost addictive; Coca-Cola is just a concoction of chemicals; garlic wards off heart..." (more)
Key Phrases: average person weighing, thallium sulphate, mistletoe lectin, World War, South Africa, Dunn School (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Reading Molecules at an Exhibition is like listening to a charmingly eccentric British chemistry professor lecture over lunch. In fact, that's just what John Emsley is, and he's expanded his "Molecule of the Month" column series in the Independent into this gallery of molecular portraits, organized into loose themes such as "Testing Your Metal" and "Elements from Hell." He informs us about his favorite molecules through droll anecdotes and basic chemistry. Throughout the book, Emsley exhibits a reverence for industrially useful chemicals that comes across as a grumpy rejoinder to chemo-phobes: "Quit griping.... A little plastic wrap won't hurt you!" Not that he ignores the dangers of some molecules; in fact, he gleefully reports the tiny doses of things such as the nerve gas sarin sufficient to kill you. Other compounds are the subject of Emsley's genuine admiration:

For those who still have to live in shacks of corrugated iron and plywood, a temporary answer is to spray the building with polyurethane, which makes them livable in [sic] by keeping out insects and the heat of the Sun, and making them soundproof.... Nor will the investment be wasted when people are rehoused: they can cut the polyurethane into panels with a knife and use it as insulation in their new new [sic] home.

While Molecules sometimes reads like a paean to the green revolution (which we now know has been responsible for bioaccumulation of carcinogenic pesticides in food webs and the appearance of chemical-resistant insect pests), Emsley does make a strong point for efficient recycling and reuse of the plastics and chemicals we produce in such staggering quantities. And one can forgive him his enthusiasm for technological developments in chemistry. After all, chemicals really are amazing, and it's rewardingly fun to find out how they fit into our diets, our biochemistry, and our daily lives, especially when the education is hidden in fact-filled essays suitable for party entertaining. --Therese Littleton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Emsley's facts can be fascinating and his stories are nicely loopy. -- The New York Times Book Review, Ann Finkbeiner --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (December 9, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192862065
• ISBN-13: 978-0192862068
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #168,732 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating look at everyday materials., May 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Molecules at an Exhibition: Portraits of intriguing materials in everyday life (Visions of Science) (Hardcover)

Molecules might seem an unlikely topic for a popular work, but the author is one of those rare teachers who can breathe life into the most unpromising subject. This work is a guided tour through some of the most interesting materials on earth - or perhaps this is Emsley's art.
He has organized his subjects thematically in broad areas such as health, transport, and the environment, with eight galleries of a dozen portraits each. The history of each is traced, with information on its structure, origin, and its role in our world. Some substances, such as selenium, prove unexpectedly vital. Others, such as Sarin, the terrorists' nerve gas, began innocuously enough but have been adopted for evil purposes. Still others hold the key to the secret of chocolate, how Teflon sticks to pans, and possibly a clean, renewable fuel for the future. All are interesting.
The alchemy is Emsley's transmutation of chemistry into entertaining instruction.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Molecules at an Exhibition: Portraits of Intriguing Material, November 11, 2004

By	Joe Zika "Khemprof" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Molecules at an Exhibition: Portraits of intriguing materials in everyday life (Visions of Science) (Hardcover)

"Molecules at an Exhibition: Portraits of Intriguing Materials in Everyday Life" written by John Emsley in a very intriguing book to say the least, filled with anecdotal and fascinating science. If you've ever wanted to know something more about everyday chemistry this is the book for you. This book should be read by all high school chemistry teachers to bring this information to their respective classes.

I found this book to be a treasure trove of information about things that are now common in everyday life but at one time they were great breakthroughs. Like the information given about what's really in Coca-Cola... neither Coca leaves nor Cola nuts, but rather that the blending of ingrediants such as blended oils of lemon (120 parts), orange (80), nutmeg (40), cinnamon (40), neroli (40) and coriandor (20). These were blended in a special way only by Dr. John Pemberton a pharmacist to produce what we know as formula 7X for Coca-Cola the drink that he invented.

There are intriguing questions that are answered throughout this narrative text as to what is it in chocolate that makes us feel good, what is the chean, cold fuel for the coming century, and what's the molecule that turns men on? These are but a few of the questions that answers abound in this book as we read on.

You'll find that the narrative is informative as it is anecdotal and there are a lot of surprises as you read on in the text. The book is set up in galleries rather then chapters as the author showcases like materials. They are as follows:

Gallery 1 Nearly as nature intended
Gallery 2 Testing your metal
Gallery 3 Starting lives, saving lives screwing up lives
Gallery 4 Home, sweet home
Gallery 5 Material progress and immaterial observations
Gallery 6 Landscape room: environmentail cons, concerns
Gallery 7 We're on the road to nowhere
Gallery 8 Elements from hell

You need not have a degree in chemistry to understand this book as it is written in plain and easily understandable language as there are no chemical formulas, equations, or molecular diagrams, but the is a list of other books you can consult at the end of the book.

I gave "Molecules at an Exhibition" a solid 5 stars for being informative and educational and answering many questions about things in everyday life that makes todays life easier.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Uneven but fascination, January 30, 2002

By	Thomas D. Worthen (tucson, az United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mr. Elmsley is a stylist potent enough to make what to most people is a ho-hum subject into interesting reading. As a budding chemist myself I am not of that ilk; even so a person with the least bit of curiosity about how things work will be enlightened and entertained by Elmsley's exposition about chemistry as it affects our everyday lives.

The expostion is titled in imitation of Moussorgsky's pictures at an Exposition and refers to the loose organization of essays around topics, e.g., the chemistry of polymers.

The essays are somewhat uneven, however, in terms of the energy behind their creation and, consequently, the volume of interest they might generate. These essays were created by the author over a largish period of time, as he writes a column for a British newspaper on chemical topics. The essay on penicillin, for example, is of some antiquity. And it is just here I find the greatest fault with Elmsley's writing. During the development of penicillin, which took place during the Second War, its British originators wanted to patent it, but were vetoed by their group leader on the grounds that things of great humanitarian value as this would surely prove to be should not be privatized. This is made out to be a value of the English character. Since the Islands were under Luftwaffe attack, the mass production of the first antibiotic was taken to America where the strain of mold was expropriated and patented by one of the local scientists, a dasdardly act that, of course, made him rich. SUch ruthlessness is made out to be a feature of the American character by Elmsley. Sorry, John.