Prometheans in the Lab: Chemistry and the Making of the Modern World by Sharon Bertsch McGrayne (PDF)

Description

Biographies of nine chemists who solved critical social problems and built both the chemical industry and our modern way of life. Their discoveries — white clothes, cheap soap and sugar, colored washable fabric, clean water, fertilizer, powerful aviation and automotive fuel, safe refrigerants, synthetic textiles, pesticides, and lead-free fuel and food — were wildly popular with consumers. In time, however, some of their reforms produced difficulties such as pollution. In each case, the burden of identifying and solving the problem fell to chemistry. The nine chemists are Nicolas Leblanc, William Henry Perkin, Norbert Rillieux, Edward Frankland, Fritz Haber, Thomas Midgley Jr., Wallace Hume Carothers, Paul Hermann Mueller, and Clair C. “Pat” Patterson. “A compelling read… many fascinating stories… an ambitious book, and well-researched.” — Nature”This book is a gem! Rarely have I seen chemistry so clearly and eloquently explained, while still showing all its shortcomings … A good and easy read.” — AAAS Science Books and Films.”Absorbing.” — Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything.”On your next trip to the bookstore bypass the action adventure thrillers and seek out Prometheans in the Lab… I wish that McGrayne’s book were twice its length.” — Popular Mechanics.com”Masterly … exciting and absorbing. McGrayne critically examines the tangled and complicated interrelationships between the public’s insistence on progress and comfort and the need to preserve the environment. McGrayne’s thesis [is] that science in general and chemistry in particular can solve any problems that it has unintentionally created…Meticulously documented.” — The Chemical Educator”Gripping… sparkling… balanced … A joy to read. A wonderful book.” — Chemical Heritage.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐A good history of some of the major historical developments and discoveries made by chemists – and the scientists who discovered the substances.I was especially interested in the chapter on the use of lead in gasoline, and the manufacture of leaded gasoline, and its ultimate phase out. The chapter did not disappoint. Lead was so toxic that those making the additive or blending it many times became ill – and the employer for one lead additive manufacturer claimed it was not lead positioning causing the problem but the employees were trying so hard in the plants they were working themselves to death. And some of the alternatives to lead apparently worked well – but the smell was so bad, and the smell permeated the passengers clothes and anything nearby and could not be washed out, that they were not used even though they might have been a bit less toxic.The first chapter is a bit slow – the book is arranged chronologically – but it picks up from there. The first rule as an author is to hook your reader in the first 20 pages, then they will slog with you though the swamp if necessary. In this book you wade through the swamp in the first few pages, then reach the sunshine and interesting parts.

⭐Great read. Stranger than fiction.

⭐Great. Rec by friend & very glad she did do

⭐As stated so ably by other reviewers, the book is a page-turner. It would help some probably to understand some chemistry, but it’s not necessary to really enjoy this book. There are nine chapters each telling the story of an individual chemist making daily-life-changing discoveries. One theme that seems to occur over and over is that some life-enhancing discoveries are decades later recognized to have harmful effects — two examples are Midgely’s CFCs (chloroflourocarbons) and Muller’s DDT (insecticide). CFCs contribute to the destruction of the ozone and DDTs build up in birds and mammals and are a health risk. But, this book puts the discoveries in context — before CFCs refrigerants were toxic and flammable, and before DDTs disease-carrying insects wreaked massive havoc on humans. Think millions and millions of lives saved, and hundreds of millions of lives improved. Of interest is the conclusion that the author leaves to the reader to draw, that is, bad effects notwithstanding, it would have been compelling to move forward with the chemical implementations even if the bad effects could have been more clearly foreseen.

⭐I highly, highly recommend this well-written, well researched book which contains fascinating accounts of various chemists who made great contributions. It deserves to be read by a new generation of readers, and not just by those studying the sciences, but by the general population as well. The book was a pleasure to read, and I wished the author had gone on for several more chapters.

⭐This accessible but rewarding history of applied chemistry ranks among the best books I have read in years. It does the basic job: providing information, but its prose is transparent and unobstrusive, its exposition uniformly consistent and intelligible, and the narrative even builds to moments of drama; finally, it demonstrates the tension between chemistry and environmental concerns, as well as that between science, capital and society. All this without taking a polemical stance. Who would have thought so drab a subject could be rendered this important and engaging? Anybody with an interest in business, finance, industry, environmentalism, science and applied research should read it. It wouldn’t hurt for some book authors to study it as well as how to tranform coal-tar into mauve, so to speak.

⭐Excellent book

⭐Had been looking for this book!

⭐Well written and fun

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