Caveman Chemistry: 28 Projects, from the Creation of Fire to the Production of Plastics (Paperback)

by Kevin M. Dunn (Author) "It all began with a spark..." (more)
Key Phrases: Material Safety Locate, United States, Bayer Aspirin (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
In Caveman Chemistry, Kevin Dunn presents a historically oriented hands-on introduction to chemistry and chemical technology that is tremendously entertaining. -- http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Issues/2004/Apr/abs490.html The Journal of Chemical Education

Product Description
Half a million years ago our ancestors learned to make fire from scratch. They crafted intricate tools from stone and brewed mind-altering elixirs from honey. Their descendants transformed clay into pottery, wool into clothing, and ashes into cleansers. In ceramic crucibles they turned rock into metal, metal into colored glazes, and glazes into glass. Buildings of brick and mortar enshrined books of parchment and paper. Kings and queens demanded ever more colorful clothing and accessories in order to out-class clod-hoppers and call-girls. Kingdoms rose and fell by the power of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. And the demands of everyday folk for glass and paper and soap stimulated the first round of chemical industrialization. From sulfuric acid to sodium carbonate. From aniline dyes to analgesic drugs. From blasting powder to fertilizers and plastics. In a phrase, “from Caveman to Chemist.”

Caveman Chemistry is an experiential exploration of chemical technology from the campfires of the stone age to the plastic soft-drink bottle. An experiential exploration? Not only will you learn about these technologies, you will learn to recreate them. Instructions are given for making bronze from metal ores; glass from sand, ashes, and limestone; paper from grass or straw; soap from fat; alcohol from honey; photographs from egg whites; chlorine from salt water and celluloid from cotton.

Your guides on this journey are the four alchemical elements; Fire, Earth, Air and Water. These archetypical characters deliver first-hand accounts of the births of their respective technologies. The spirit of Fire, for example, was born in the first creature to cultivate the flame. This spirit passed from one person to another, from one generation to another, from one millennium to another, arriving at last in the pages of this book. The spirit of Earth taught folks to make tools of stone, the spirit of Air imparted knowledge of units and the spirit of Water began with the invention of “spirits.” Having traveled the world from age to age, who can say where they will find their next home? Perhaps they will find one in you.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 428 pages
• Publisher: Universal Publishers (August 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581125666
• ISBN-13: 978-1581125665
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #57,702 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eccentricity aside..., June 29, 2005

By	W. Carver "crafty_bastage" (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a current chemistry major with a long and sordid history of odd compounds, this book is a JOY to read even for me. It is this type of writing that truly brings "normal" non-scientific readers into the realm of the laboratory.
It is fact and procedure written in a style that is instantly comfortable and reasonably non-technical. As one reviewer stated, THIS is what required reading should be.
Everyone is worried about the "brain drain" in the US right now. If books like this were present in the arena of primary education for the last ten years, we wouldn't have anything to worry about. For people that can't immediately "dream this stuff in color" it is books like this that create a first breach in the dam that is our current bureaucratic education system.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific., March 14, 2005

By	L. Hoyt (Pocatello, ID) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm using this book in a college chemistry class for nonscience majors. Dunn's writing is a bit eccentric, no doubt, but the projects are great and my students are engaged as never before, so--I win!

Science books that are intended to be marketed both as trade books and as textbooks generally fail at both. Often the two goals are just incompatible. Dunn has achieved something special here: he has done a nice job of resolving the conflicts between these two goals. The text is rigorous enough to be used in a general-college class, yet accessible to any interested person looking for a nifty science project (or a handbook for surviving the collapse of civilization!)...and as a bonus, it's a great read. In addition he maintains an extremely helpful website for the book; I have learned almost as much about the projects from reading the comments of his students as from reading the book, and having a central place for errata to be posted online is very convenient for my students.

I'd love to see a character in the next Mad-Max-style post-apocalypse movie pull out a copy of Caveman Chemistry and start a fire with two sticks, or make soap starting with ashes. But even if civilization survives, I will take consolation in this: with the projects in this book, we can participate in a tradition of human technology going back 500,000 years.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing I-dea, July 3, 2004

By A Customer

I just finished reading the book, and even though I admit I haven't gotten my hands "black with charcoal" on even a single project, this was probably the best science book I have ever read.

The author's style was weird and entertaining, the concepts were well explained (though I had to go over chapter 7 a few times).

I even learned an answer to a question I had as a child that no one knew how to answer (why did it hurt when I bit down on aluminum?).

I was truly amazed at the evolution of history of chemicals and how industries came to be built from virtually nothing - and not only that, but how you can make the same chemicals and projects at home.

I plan to read the book again and try some of the experiments.

I wish I had had a course based on this book in college, in high school, in elementary school - at any point.

In short, if you are interested in understanding the basic chemical processes in the world around you and their history, where common products you buy from the store come from and how to make them on your own, and of course, how to make fire, paper, pharmaceuticals, and explosives - then this is the book for you.