Caveman Chemistry

Half a million years ago our ancestors learned to make fire from scratch. They crafted intricate tools from stone and brewed mind-altering elixirs from honey. Their descendants transformed clay into pottery, wool into clothing, and ashes into cleansers. In ceramic crucibles they won metal from rock, the metals lead to colored glazes and glass. Buildings of brick and mortar enshrined books of parchment and paper. Kings and queens demanded ever more colorful clothing and accessories in order to out-class clod-hoppers and call-girls. Kingdoms rose and fell by the power of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. And the demands of everyday folk for glass and paper and soap stimulated the first round of chemical industrialization. From sulfuric acid to sodium carbonate. From aniline dyes to analgesic drugs. From blasting powder to fertilizers and plastics. In a phrase, From Caveman to Chemist. Your guides on this journey are the four alchemical elements; Fire, Earth, Air and Water. These archetypical characters deliver first-hand accounts of the births of their respective technologies. The spirit of Fire, for example, was born in the first creature to cultivate the flame. This spirit passed from one person to another, from one generation to another, from one millennium to another, arriving at last in the pages of this book. The spirit of Earth taught folks to make tools of stone, the spirit of Air imparted knowledge of units and the spirit of Water began with the invention of spirits. Having traveled the world from age to age, who can say where they will find their next home? Perhaps they will find one in you.

Caveman Chemistry is about getting back to the basics of food preparation, starting so basic even a caveman could get it, while rising to the heights of fine comfort-food dining. It's your guide to recapturing the magic of those lost meals and making new memories full of flavor for yourself and your family. Along the way, we'll be sampling - and preserving - the rich and storied history of my own family's cooking, from Mom's Spaghetti and Meatballs to Grandma Hoffman's Buttermilk Pancakes to Cousin Mel's Chocolate Éclair Torte to Aunt Mary's Watermelon Pickles, with over 600 family recipes in-between.

Tracing the oddities of the history of chemistry. Salzberg examines cultural and political influences on the ideas of chemists. He follows the evolution of chemistry from the Stone Age beginnings of ceramics and metallurgy, through the rise and decline of alchemy, to the culmination of classical chemistry in the late nineteenth century. Chapters one through nine lead from prehistoric technology, through ancient and medieval science to the study of chemicals and reactions that resulted in the sixteenth century birth of scientific chemistry. Chapters ten through fifteen focus on key chemists such as Sala, Boyle, Black, Lavoisier, Dalton, Berzelius, Laurent, and Arrhenius as they developed the ideas that led to classical chemistry and the concepts of molecules, chemical reactions, homology, valence, and molecular formulas and structures, among others. Twenty illustrations enhance the text. Also included are six timelines and two maps to help readers understand the influences of early history on chemistry.

Did you know that some societies once used giant rocks for money? Why do some coins have holes in them? Will plastic soon replace paper currency? The history of money closely parallels the history of chemistry, with advances in material science leading to advances in our physical currency. From the earliest examples of money, through the rise of coins, paper, plastic and beyond, with excursions into corrosion and counterfeiting along the way, this book provides a chemist's eye view into the history of the cash in our pockets. Written in an accessible style that will appeal to the layperson and scientist alike, The Chemistry of Money will be sure to both enlighten and entertain. You will never look at money the same way again!

From tulsi to turmeric, echinacea to elderberry, medicinal herbs are big business—but do they deliver on their healing promise—to those who consume them, those who provide them, and the natural world? “An eye-opener. . . . [Armbrecht] challenges ideas of what medicine can be, and how business practices can corrupt, and expand, our notions of plant-based healing.”—The Boston Globe "So deeply honest, sincere, heartful, questioning, and brilliant. . . . [The Business of Botanicals] is an amazing book, that plunges in, and takes a deepening look at those places where people don’t often venture."—Rosemary Gladstar, author of Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs "For those who loved Braiding Sweetgrass, this book is a perfect opportunity to go deeper into understanding the complex and co-evolutionary journey of plants and people." —Angela McElwee, former president and CEO of Gaia Herbs Using herbal medicines to heal the body is an ancient practice, but in the twenty-first century, it is also a worldwide industry. Yet most consumers know very little about where those herbs come from and how they are processed into the many products that fill store shelves. In The Business of Botanicals, author Ann Armbrecht follows their journey from seed to shelf, revealing the inner workings of a complicated industry, and raises questions about the ethical and ecological issues of mass production of medicines derived from these healing plants, many of which are imperiled in the wild. This is the first book to explore the interconnected web of the global herb industry and its many stakeholders, and is an invaluable resource for conscious consumers who want to better understand the social and environmental impacts of the products they buy. "Armbrecht masterfully manages the challenges and complexity of her source material . . . [She] is a spirited storyteller . . . [and] presents all this with the skill of an anthropologist and the heart of an herbalist."—Journal of the American Herbalists Guild

"Scientific Soapmaking" bridges the gap between the technical and craft literature. It explains the chemistry of fats, oils, and soaps, and teaches sophisticated analytical techniques that can be carried out using equipment and materials familiar to makers of handcrafted soap.

Classic guide provides intriguing entertainment while elucidating sound scientific principles, with more than 100 unusual stunts: cold fire, dust explosions, a nylon rope trick, a disappearing beaker, much more.