A Chemical History Tour: Picturing Chemistry from Alchemy to Modern Molecular Science (Wiley-Interscience) Book

Praise for A Chemical History Tour: Picturing Chemistry from Alchemy to Modern Molecular Science . . . "With the original and often startling images of chemistry, Arthur Greenberg makes the history of science come to life. A remarkable, witty book!" -- Roald Hoffmann, PhD, Nobel Laureate "Chemistry has perhaps the most intricate, most fascinating, and certainly most romantic history of all the sciences. Arthur Greenberg's A Chemical History Tour: Picturing Chemistry from Alchemy to Modern Molecular Science provides an entirely new sort of history, a dramatic journey in which he transports us through more than a hundred scenes or episodes from the earliest beginnings of alchemy to the latest in quantum mechanics and transmutation. Dr. Greenberg's essays--delightful, learned, quirky, highly personal, and richly illustrated with contemporary drawings (many of great rarity and beauty)--provide a kaleidoscope of intellectual landscapes, bringing the experiments, the ideas, and the human figures of chemistry's past intensely alive." -- Dr. Oliver Sacks, author of Awakenings About the cover art . . . The artwork on the cover of this book is from an egg tempera painting (original in full color; author's private collection) signed in 1845 and is a version of a 17th century work by David Teniers the Younger (J. Read, Prelude to Chemistry, The MacMillan Co., New York, Plate 29; J. Read, The Alchemist in Life, Literature, and Art, Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd., London, 1947, Plate 21 and pp. 72-79). It has some mischief in it: the leg of the table has a mouth and an eye reminiscent of a tortoise or dragon--both potent chemical symbols. The painting is signed "las voy" ("les noy" or similar) with some symbols and we do not know the identity of the artist.Read More