The Last Alchemist in Paris: And other curious tales from chemistry

This is a book about discovery and disaster, exploitation and invention, warfare and science - and the relationship between human beings and the chemical elements that make up our planet. Lars Ohrstrom introduces us to a variety of elements from S to Pb through tales of ordinary and extraordinary people from around the globe. We meet African dictators controlling vital supplies of uranium; eighteenth-century explorers searching out sources of precious metals; industrial spies stealing the secrets of steel-making. We find out why the Hindenburg airship was tragically filled with hydrogen, not helium; why nail-varnish remover played a key part in World War I; and the real story behind the legend of tin buttons and the downfall of Napoleon. In each chapter, we find out about the distinctive properties of each element and the concepts and principles that have enabled scientists to put it to practical use. These are the fascinating (and sometimes terrifying) stories of chemistry in action.
1117249526
The Last Alchemist in Paris: And other curious tales from chemistry

This is a book about discovery and disaster, exploitation and invention, warfare and science - and the relationship between human beings and the chemical elements that make up our planet. Lars Ohrstrom introduces us to a variety of elements from S to Pb through tales of ordinary and extraordinary people from around the globe. We meet African dictators controlling vital supplies of uranium; eighteenth-century explorers searching out sources of precious metals; industrial spies stealing the secrets of steel-making. We find out why the Hindenburg airship was tragically filled with hydrogen, not helium; why nail-varnish remover played a key part in World War I; and the real story behind the legend of tin buttons and the downfall of Napoleon. In each chapter, we find out about the distinctive properties of each element and the concepts and principles that have enabled scientists to put it to practical use. These are the fascinating (and sometimes terrifying) stories of chemistry in action.
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The Last Alchemist in Paris: And other curious tales from chemistry

The Last Alchemist in Paris: And other curious tales from chemistry

by Lars Ohrstrom
The Last Alchemist in Paris: And other curious tales from chemistry

The Last Alchemist in Paris: And other curious tales from chemistry

by Lars Ohrstrom

Hardcover

$34.95 
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Overview


This is a book about discovery and disaster, exploitation and invention, warfare and science - and the relationship between human beings and the chemical elements that make up our planet. Lars Ohrstrom introduces us to a variety of elements from S to Pb through tales of ordinary and extraordinary people from around the globe. We meet African dictators controlling vital supplies of uranium; eighteenth-century explorers searching out sources of precious metals; industrial spies stealing the secrets of steel-making. We find out why the Hindenburg airship was tragically filled with hydrogen, not helium; why nail-varnish remover played a key part in World War I; and the real story behind the legend of tin buttons and the downfall of Napoleon. In each chapter, we find out about the distinctive properties of each element and the concepts and principles that have enabled scientists to put it to practical use. These are the fascinating (and sometimes terrifying) stories of chemistry in action.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780199661091
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date: 01/28/2014
Pages: 256
Product dimensions: 5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Lars Ohrstrom is a Swedish inorganic chemist who has also worked in France, Botswana, Switzerland, and the USA. He was educated at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and currently he is professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. At Chalmers he has devoted much time to teaching and curriculum development for the first year chemistry courses and recently he has made a number of popular science podcasts for Chemistry World magazine. His main research interest is in Metal-Organic Frameworks, which are new types of potentially porous materials with budding technological applications, especially in green and sustainable chemical manufacturing.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Rendezvous on the high plateau
2. The curious incident with the dog in the airship
3. Mr Khama, is coming to dinner
4. Diamonds are forever and Zirconium is for Submarines
5. Graphite Valley, IT in the 18th century Lake District
6. When state security was bullshit business
7. Bonaparte's bursting buttons: a thin story
8. The cycle and the square
9. The emperor and miss Smilla
10. War and Vanity
11. I told you so said Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
12. The Spy and the Saracen's Secret
13. Two immigrants and a swimming pool
14. Erin and Julia
15. Two brilliant careers
16. Biopiracy - the curse of the nutmeg
17. Blue Blooded Stones and the Prisoner in the Crystal Cage
18. The actress and the spin doctor
19. Mr Blix goes to Bagdad
20. Death at number 29
21. Pardon my French: Captain Haddock and the morons
22. The last alchemist in Paris
23. Of Pea-Soup, Morning Coffee, and the Test of Mr Marsh
24. A telephone call to the heart of darkness
25. To Give back the Future
Appendix 1: The elements of this book
Appendix 2: The chemical concept in this book

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