Details

This book is a graphic introduction to how chemistry developed, from ancient times to now. Led by cartoon host, Ben Zene — with occasional interjections by eccentric Greek philosopher Democritus — readers learn about ancient Greek and Chinese elements, alchemists, and the development of chemistry as we know it today, from Robert Boyle and Antoine Lavoisier, from Elizabeth Fulhame and John Dalton, to Jöns Jakob Berzelius and Friedrich Wöhler, to Rosalind Franklin, Linus Pauling, and Mario Molina. The book delves into topics like nanochemistry, environmental chemistry, and how the structure of atoms and molecules was uncovered, all with good humor, bright colors, and lively drawings. There are occasional sidebars on chemical-related history and the arts, and factoids such as how President of the USA Herbert Hoover and President of Israel Chaim Weizmann influenced chemistry, how personal politics may have denied Gilbert Lewis the Nobel Prize, a Japanese tale of intrigue mingling with chemistry, and which chemist was the first living person to have an element named for him.