Prometheans in the Lab : Chemistry and the Making of the Modern World

Newton, Darwin, Pasteur, Einstein and other great physicists and biologists are household names, but the great chemists have recieved little recognition. Yet it could be argued that chemistry, more than andy other scientific discipline, has made the modern world possible, largely through products that we take for granted. The author Sharon Bertsch McGrayne tells the history of the chemical revolution through the lives of the men who created it. We don't recognize their names, but their legacy is all around us. Before Nicholas LeBlanc discovered the chemical process for making washing soda in the early 1800s, soap was a highly taxed luxury item, and now it's something we use many times a day without a second thought. Without chemical fertilizer there might have been worldwide starvation in the mid 1900s. Even something as simple as affordable dyes, which brought bright clothing to the masses and democratized fashion, is given full attention. This text looks at not only the upside of each pivotal discovery, but also the often devastating unforeseen effects they wrought on the environment and public health. "excellent job of describing the chemical processes and their legacies-both beneficial and unintended. She never lets any of her characters be good or bad, just human. This humanity makes her stories gripping. I highly recommend this thoughtful and thought-provoking book. McGrayne successfully describes the ambiguous effects of chemical technology and the role that human strengths and frailties play on mitigating or exacerbating those effects." Chemical & Engineering News "a compelling read." Nature "Sharon Bertsch McGrayne's appealing collection of biographical essays reminds us how much we owe to chemistry." New Scientist "On your next trip to the bookstore bypass the action adventure thrillers and seek out Prometheans in the Lab by Sharon McGrayne . . . I wish that (it) were twice its length." PopularMechanics.com "In this striking and readable collection of nine thumbnail biographies of heroic (and troubled) figures in the history of chemistry . . . McGrayne is conscientious about showing the downside of each chemical breakthrough, and the human flaws and ' features' of each Promethean." Choice Soap and Nicolas Leblanc (December 6, 1742 - January 16, 1806) -- Color and William Henry Perkin (March 12, 1838 - July 14, 1907) -- Sugar and Norbert Rillieux (March 17, 1806 - October 8, 1894) -- Clean Water and Edward Frankland (February 20, 1825 - August 9, 1899) -- Fertilizer, poison gas, and Fritz Haber (December 9, 1868 - January 29, 1934) -- Leaded gasoline, safe refrigeration, and Thomas Midgley, Jr. (May 18, 1889 - November 2, 1944) -- Nylon and Wallace Hume Carothers (April 27, 1896 - April 29, 1937) -- DDT and Paul Hermann Mitter (January 12, 1899 - October 13, 1965) -- Lead-free gasoline and Clair C. Patterson (June 2, 1922 - December 5, 1995). Table of contents includes: Soap and Nicholas Leblanc, Color and William Henry Perkin, Sugar and Norbert Rillieux, Clean water and Edward Frankland, Fertilizer, poison gas, and Fritz Haber, Leaded gasoline, safe refrigeration and Thomas Midgley, Jr., Nylon and Wallace Hume Carothers, DDT and Paul Hermann Muller, Lead-free gasoline and Clair C. Patterson Nicolas Leblanc was a catch-as-catch-can chemist, a "wannabe" scientist hovering on the fringes of stardom.