The Diamond Makers Book

Diamonds have an enduring appeal but they are no more than one form of a very common element--carbon. This realisation and the promise of instant fame and fortune has provided the necessary stimulus for a succession of inventors, fraudsters and madmen to try their hand at artificially making diamonds. Diamonds can now be made from almost any form of carbon, from soot to peanut butter. Robert M. Hazen, an American research scientist, tells the often eccentric tales of The Diamond Makers for the general reader. From the early 1800s, claims of synthetic diamond production have been made but it was not until February 16, 1953, that success was finally achieved by Swedish scientists. By then the experimenters realised that making diamonds is not so easy. Nature can do it many kilometres deep within the earth or by hitting the earth with a large meteorite but reproducing these conditions in the lab are not so easy. It requires massive metal anvils capable of crushing rock material at over 60,000 atmospheres and then heating it to over 1500 degrees C. Alternatively controlled explosions can blast graphite into diamond at pressures in excess of 200,000 atmospheres. Hazen relishes the details of this macho science and technology and his laddish enthusiasm transfers well to the printed page. Nearly 50 black and white photos and figures, end notes and index make The Diamond Makers both informative and a good read. --Douglas PalmerRead More