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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
You are standing in the supermarket holding two bottles of sunscreen. One claims to have titanium dioxide, the other something called OMC. What are these mysterious chemicals and which works better? Enter Emsley, Cambridge University science writer in residence, who demystifies the benefits of chemistry from a catalogue of over 30 chemicals that we encounter every day. His subjects jump from lipstick and sunscreen to trans-fats and vitamin C, bleach, Prozac, baby diapers and Viagra (hence the third V of the title). Emsley includes the sources and uses of all the chemicals, which can read like encyclopedia entries, as well as histories of each chemical's discovery and occasional misuses. To this he adds a few morality tales of chemical witch-hunts in the media, such as the unsubstantiated accusation that aluminum causes Alzheimer's. The book can be read cover to cover or used as a reference, but either way, even chemists will find out some surprising facts, such as that scurvy was for a time treated with sulfuric acid. The more complicated chemistry is relegated to a glossary, but unexplained scientific terms pop up with regularity in the text. Emsley gets on his soapbox in the postscript, asking for a little gratitude for the much maligned chemical industry, whose benefits he has already demonstrated. Given the occasional detours into technical language, however, his audience may be predominantly the chemically inclined.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Emsley knows his everyday chemicals like a farmer knows his sheep.... From depression to cleaning your bathroom, Alzheimer's disease to chewing gum, he discusses the common compounds used in everyday products and remedies and assesses how, why and whether they work."--Financial Times
"Emsley clearly loves his subject, and writes in a lively style that enhances the fascinating tales he tells, like how castor oil--the object of great disdain in another form--became an essential ingredient in lipstick, or how Viagra's future may include being sold in the form of chewing gum."--Gregory Mott, Washington Post
"His subjects jump from lipstick and sunscreen to trans-fats and vitamin C, bleach, Prozac, baby diapers and Viagra (hence the third V of the title).... The book can be read cover to cover or used as a reference, but either way, even chemists will find out some surprising facts."--Publishers Weekly
"Emsley is a champion of the many ways chemicals ease our lives, and in the book's final pages he says he hopes to dispel the 'chemiphobia' of those who think that anything chemical must be bad."--Science News
"In this engaging work, Emsley succeeds on two major points: he provides the chemistry background that most consumers lack to analyze the advertising and media claims behind everyday products, foods, and medical treatments; and he makes a sound case against the rampant 'chemiphobia' that equates the word chemical with artificial, or worse, toxic."--Library Journal
"Emsley explores the science that goes into meeting our needs and satisfying our desires. From lipstick to love potions, vitamins to Viagra, he explains facts and explodes myths. Clever chemistry is everywhere: fighting germs in kitchens and bathrooms, sucking up what babies deposit in their diapers, perking people up when they feel down and even giving teenagers something to chew on. Like it or not, we all use the fruits of the chemical industry and, with Emsley's help, we can be better informed about them and know how to respond to the more outlandish scare stories about 'chemicals'."--Peter Budd, New Scientist
See all Editorial Reviews
You are standing in the supermarket holding two bottles of sunscreen. One claims to have titanium dioxide, the other something called OMC. What are these mysterious chemicals and which works better? Enter Emsley, Cambridge University science writer in residence, who demystifies the benefits of chemistry from a catalogue of over 30 chemicals that we encounter every day. His subjects jump from lipstick and sunscreen to trans-fats and vitamin C, bleach, Prozac, baby diapers and Viagra (hence the third V of the title). Emsley includes the sources and uses of all the chemicals, which can read like encyclopedia entries, as well as histories of each chemical's discovery and occasional misuses. To this he adds a few morality tales of chemical witch-hunts in the media, such as the unsubstantiated accusation that aluminum causes Alzheimer's. The book can be read cover to cover or used as a reference, but either way, even chemists will find out some surprising facts, such as that scurvy was for a time treated with sulfuric acid. The more complicated chemistry is relegated to a glossary, but unexplained scientific terms pop up with regularity in the text. Emsley gets on his soapbox in the postscript, asking for a little gratitude for the much maligned chemical industry, whose benefits he has already demonstrated. Given the occasional detours into technical language, however, his audience may be predominantly the chemically inclined.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Emsley knows his everyday chemicals like a farmer knows his sheep.... From depression to cleaning your bathroom, Alzheimer's disease to chewing gum, he discusses the common compounds used in everyday products and remedies and assesses how, why and whether they work."--Financial Times
"Emsley clearly loves his subject, and writes in a lively style that enhances the fascinating tales he tells, like how castor oil--the object of great disdain in another form--became an essential ingredient in lipstick, or how Viagra's future may include being sold in the form of chewing gum."--Gregory Mott, Washington Post
"His subjects jump from lipstick and sunscreen to trans-fats and vitamin C, bleach, Prozac, baby diapers and Viagra (hence the third V of the title).... The book can be read cover to cover or used as a reference, but either way, even chemists will find out some surprising facts."--Publishers Weekly
"Emsley is a champion of the many ways chemicals ease our lives, and in the book's final pages he says he hopes to dispel the 'chemiphobia' of those who think that anything chemical must be bad."--Science News
"In this engaging work, Emsley succeeds on two major points: he provides the chemistry background that most consumers lack to analyze the advertising and media claims behind everyday products, foods, and medical treatments; and he makes a sound case against the rampant 'chemiphobia' that equates the word chemical with artificial, or worse, toxic."--Library Journal
"Emsley explores the science that goes into meeting our needs and satisfying our desires. From lipstick to love potions, vitamins to Viagra, he explains facts and explodes myths. Clever chemistry is everywhere: fighting germs in kitchens and bathrooms, sucking up what babies deposit in their diapers, perking people up when they feel down and even giving teenagers something to chew on. Like it or not, we all use the fruits of the chemical industry and, with Emsley's help, we can be better informed about them and know how to respond to the more outlandish scare stories about 'chemicals'."--Peter Budd, New Scientist
See all Editorial Reviews
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