Creative Chemistry
Written by Edwin E. Slosson
Narrated by LibriVox Community
3/5
()
About this audiobook
Slosson reviews the transformation of alchemistry from an obscure and imprecise practice to the science of chemistry. Along the way, he explains how the modern industrial world now relies on fertilizers, explosives, textile materials, polymers and metals.
By exploring the properties of a once undervalued element, the high strength of vanadium steel made the Ford car possible. Another element, cerium, appears in butane lighters and was once seen as a threat to the match industry in France.
In his chapter on oils, Slosson reviews the development of hydrogenated oils, especially during WWII, in the search for a way to reuse otherwise discarded components of corn and cottonseed. Through the revolutionary reaction of hydrogenation, waste materials became a stable product that wouldn't spoil when packaged or carried without refrigeration. Once thought of as a miracle, shoppers were once willing to pay more for fully hydrogenated oils than their natural, unsaturated forms. Only in recent years has evidence of health risks checked their popularity and given them the image of cheap, unhealthy fillers. (Summary by LivelyHive)
Related to Creative Chemistry
Related audiobooks
The World Set Free Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History of Chemistry, Volume II. From 1850-1910 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Do Chemical Tricks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Romance of Modern Chemistry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chemical Phenomena in Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Equations of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Opticks Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The King of Infinite Space: Euclid and His Elements Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Periodic Tales: A Cultural History of the Elements, from Arsenic to Zinc Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Symphony in C: Carbon and the Evolution of (Almost) Everything Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Martyrs of Science, or, the Lives of Galileo, Tycho Brahe, Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Stories of Inventors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKepler Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Chemical History of A Candle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What's Hidden Inside Planets? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, Part 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Outline of Science, Vol 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-made World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pioneers of Science Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How It Began: A Time-Traveler's Guide to the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Short Account of the History of Mathematics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Quantum Chemistry Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Assembling Life: How Can Life Begin on Earth and Other Habitable Planets? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Science & Mathematics For You
Radiolab: Mixtape: How The Cassette Changed The World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cosmos: A Personal Voyage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Midnight in Chernobyl: The Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Radiolab: Journey Through The Human Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Radiolab: The Feels Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Every Tool's a Hammer: Life Is What You Make It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind: My Tale of Madness and Recovery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thinking in Systems: A Primer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Brain Rules (Updated and Expanded): 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Creative Chemistry
2 ratings0 reviews