Sonne, Sex und Schokolade: Chemie im Alltag II

by John Emsley

Emsleys preisgekrönter Erfolgstitel Parfum, Portwein, PVC... Chemie im Alltag verlangte eine Fortsetzung. Hier ist sie! Entdecken Sie, warum Schokolade uns glücklich macht, was im Körper passiert, wenn Männer von der Liebe träumen, welche Geheimnisse Coca-Cola in sich birgt und ob Mozarts Tod nicht ein ärztlicher Kunstfehler war?

Die Geheimnisse der Natur zu ergründen und zu entschlüsseln, scheint ein fast unlösbares Unterfangen zu sein. Keineswegs gefährlich wie eine Polarexpedition, sondern sehr vergnüglich, äußerst kurzweilig und lebendig kann eine solche Entdeckungsreise zum Breitengrad der Chemie mit John Emsley sein. Wissenschaftliche Informationen, historische Details, unterhaltsame Anekdoten und eine gute Portion Humor verwebt er zu fesselnden Geschichten, bei denen überraschende Wendungen garantiert nicht fehlen!

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"Willkommen bei John Emsleys persönlichem und informativem Rundgang durch die Welt der Moleküle - allesamt Meisterwerke der Natur. Die Welt der Chemie wurde nie unterhaltsamer als in diesem erstaunlichen Reiseführer beschrieben."

Roald Hoffmann, Cornell University


"John Emsley ist der perfekte Führer durch die Welt der stets weckt er den Wunsch nach noch mehr Geschichten, noch mehr Informationen!"

Carl Djerassi, Stanford University

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Chemistry, Popular Science

302 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Popular science writer and chemist

Reviews

[Lance · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The days when the chemical industry was careless and uncaring are long gone, and yet even in its early years it was responsible for rescuing many millions of people from lives of disease, scarcity, drabness, and poverty."

There need to be more popular chemistry books, and especially those which aid a scientific understanding of the magical materials that most people use in everyday life. I really appreciated the approach of this book, and learned a lot. It really does amaze me just quite how many things, even cosmetics and nappies, rely on products from the petrochemical industry, even through these could not be more different from crude oil. This brings back happy memories of the eye-opening awesomeness of applied chemistry at A level. Here's a tour of everything I've learned!
The first chapter concerns cosmetics. I was surprised just far back the historical evidence goes for "modern" products like lipstick, and particularly the truth of the anti-wrinkle cream story. The most common chemical used in creams for this effect is glycolic acid, a hydrocarbon which peels the superficial layer of dead skin away from the face. "Because it was common in so many foods, glycolytic acid was deemed inherently safe. Were it not so, the toxicity test carried out on it might have given cause for concern." It was interesting to learn that there are perfectly potent anti-wrinkle chemicals known to science, but it's the safety concerns that keeps these dilute and ineffective in commercial products. Even if this is the same material that is polymerised in medical sutures I use everyday! Good to know that useful biproducts come from vitality. Another cosmetic covered was sunscreen, which as a red-haired Scottish person I consider a final line of protection against death itself. "A good sunscreen should be easy to apply to the skin, giving a continuous film, and yet be invisible. It should not be sticky, or easily washed off when swimming, although it should be easily removed using soap." A recurring theme is just how many different factors must be considered when developing products the public will want to use, far more than just the presence of an active ingredient. And it was also helpful to know that SPF suncream ratings are a logarithmic scale, I don't know why this is not publicised.
The chapter on food was even more compelling. It's a shame that the basic chemistry of fats is not taught in food technology/home economics in school to avoid the temptation of daft diets. I was particularly fascinated by the story of Vitamin C, first isolated from paprika by a crazy Hungarian who wanted to call it "ignose" as a joke. This one acidic bastian against scurvy isn't needed in the diets of most animals. "Almost all animals make their own Vitamin C, the exceptions being fish, bats, ginea pigs - and humans.". Lucky us.
Being me, I also enjoyed the reproduction chapter, especially the section on the enigmatic nitric oxide, once thought to be nothing more than a free radical produced in car exhausts. "NO was an unstable, toxic free radical gas, and as unlikely to be made in the human body as to win a Nobel prize ..." This was one of my favourite topics in cardiovascular physiology as an undergrad. I enjoyed the author's deep research and the way he narrates through the papers that led to the eventual discovery of NO as a crucial physiological messenger. Additionally, I enjoyed the irony of excess selenium promoting sperm motility with the side effect of rank breath: "While such men might be producing Olympic swimming sperm, their changes of these finding their target are virtually non-existent." I can think of some really creepy excuses for BO based on that.
The next chapter, based on one of my morbid fascinations, the utter ennialation of bacteria, confirmed my life philosophy that it you want something disinfected - douse in it bleach. Bleach, the active ingredient of which is the hypochlorite ion, is pretty hardcore. It even kills fungal spores. And I was fascinated to find that evolution has even got on my bleach bandwagon. "In 1996, it was reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that white blood cells produce hypochlorite to fight off invading microbes." Phenols were also mentioned as cleaning products, but dealing with high concentrations in the lab and witnessing the lethal reactions these chemicals undergo makes me question whether these are selectively toxic to microbes and not just equally toxic to everything else they come in contact with, with the exception of the innocently dilute Dettol. Then I got a shout-out! "A molecule that contains a positively charged nitrogen atom to which is attached a long hydrocarbon chain can lance through a bacterium's cell wall and deliver it a deadly blow." Those quaternary ammonium salts sound effective. A molecular sword! How cool is that?
I'm sorry to say that the chapter on antidepressants was rather vague and verged on inaccurate at times. The basic grey matter on the outside white matter on the inside division just isn't true, and I think that the description of the synapse really needed a diagram to make any sense to anyone not familiar with this term. There are plenty of textbooks with some basic functional information about neurotransmitters which this chapter could seriously have benefitted from. This is a real shame, because some of the strongest scepticism in certain public groups concerns drugs that act on the brain. I'm sorry to have to bring the rating down one star because of this chapter.
I appreciated the message of this book, although I think that it's main market will be readers already with a good appreciation of industrial science. "Compared with the obnoxious materials in the water, food, and air of a century ago, today's environment is clean and safe, and getting better all the time." Yet at the same time, environmental issues surrounding disposal "Its ultimate fate is still either incineration of disposal to a landfill site.", and the need to develop polymers based on renewable sources are real areas of concerns which challenge the current production methods used in industry. I particularly appreciated the afterword guide to interpreting epidemiological reports in the media. I think this should be on the reading lists of all budding scientists in their final years of school.

[Sanabel Atya · Rating 3 out of 5]

لابدّ من فائدة ولو كانت كلمة من كل كتاب يُقرأ، فما بالكم بكتاب علميّ من ارض الواقع؟!!

يحوي العديد من المعلومات الشيقة، والملامِسَة لواقعنا وما نبتاعه. لكن النسخة المُترجمة "مخسوفة للأسف :( " وقد غضت الطرف عن الفصل الأخير فيما يتعلق بالرجولة، واكتفت ببعض أسرار الجمال والحيوية. أو أنّ النسخة الالكترونية المتوفرة مجاناً قد "خُسفت" بشكل متعمد.. لا أدري!

ومن أجمل ما ذُكر، هو النباتات التي من شأنها أن تُساعد، بالرغم من فعالية المادة الكيميائية أكثر,. معلوم أن النباتات وكل ما هو طبيعيّ يحتاجُ وقتاً أطول.

في فصل أسرار الجمال :D

بعد ما قرأت،أصبحت مهتمة عند شرائي لمرطب الشفاه "تحديداً" قراءة المكونات كما أفعل مع أغلب المنتجات، خاصة بعد ان علمتُ ما تحتويه أصابع أحمر الشفاه من مكونات، وهذا ما فعلته فعلاً :D

/////

حقن البوتكس لإخفاء التجاعيد،
أول مرة لُوحظ فيها تأثيره على التجاعيد عندما استخدمته أخصائية في
طب العيون كندية الجنسية تُدعى جين كاروثرس لتخفيف رفة العين لدى أحد المرضى،
ولاحظت اختفاء التجاعيد بوجهه أيضًا!!!

صدفة !
~~~~
أحماض ألفا هيدروكسي،خاصة حمض الجليكوليك، تعمل على التقليل من آثار التجاعيد. وتتواجد في: قصب السكر، البصل،اللبن،العنب، الليمون،التفاح،اللوز المر.
~~~~
نتريد البورون، الذي صُنع أساساً لتلبية احتياجات صناعة الطيران، يُستخدم في إضفاء النعومة على البشر!!!!

طيران وألمونيوم ونعومة !!!!!! ههه غير متوقع !

في فصل الحيوية//

تم التحدث عن الاطعمة التي تمدنا بحيوية وعُمراً مديداً، وتلك الضارة بنا. تم التحدث باستفاضة عن الدهون المشبعة وغير المشبعة وأنواعها "تذكرنا بعضاً ما كنا قد درسناه، وتعلمنا جديداً عما كنا قد درسناه"

للعلم وللتذكير...

الكربوهيدرات تُعطي 4 سُعر لكل جرام.
البروتين... 4 سُعر حراري لكل جرام.
الكحول... 7 سُعر حراري لكل جرام
الدهون والزيوت... 9 سعر حراري لكل جرام.
~~~~~
الجسم الذي يجد أن لديه فائضاً في الطاقة الناتجة عن الطعام يبدأ بتكوين دهون الجسم.. لذلك فإن الطريقة الواضحة لتجنيب البدانة هي تناول القليل من الأطعمة عالي الطاقة، عن طريق تناول المزيد من الأطعمة منخفضة الطاقة :D
~~~~~
معلومة عن لبن الأم :O

" يُعطي لبن الثدي عن النساء 750 سعر حراري لكل لتر منه. ويتنوع في تركيبه خلال الأسبوعين الأوليين، فينخفض البروتين إلى النصف (23 جم -11جم) وتزداد الكربوهيدات (57جم -70 جم) وتزيد الدهون ( 30-45جم) والحقيقة أن المحتوي الدهني يزداد أثناء الرضاعة وربما يرتفع من (10-60 جم)/لتر بنهاية فترة الرضاعة. !!!

وأنا اللي كنت فاكرة أنه واحد ثابت لا يتغير غالباً، إلا بمقدار تغير غذاء الأم O.o
////
... أرقام صدمتني

واليوم تنفق المرأة الأمريكية نحو ٧٠٠ مليون دولار سنويٍّا على أحمر الشفاه، وعلى الصعيد العالمي يكادد يتجاوز إجمالي النفقات على أحمر الشفاه أكثر من ضعف هذا المبلغ.
~~~~
تتجاوز الآن مبيعات مستحضرات التجميل والمنظفات الشخصية ٣٠ مليار دولار سنويٍّا في الولايات المتحدةوحدها، وربما ما يزيد على ضعفي هذا المبلغ على الصعيد العالمي.

[Shirin Abdel Rahman · Rating 4 out of 5]

بعد قراءة هذا الكتاب سوف تكتشف أن كل ما تستخدمه من كريم الحلاقة حتى معجون الاسنان و الشامبو يحتوى على مواد مسرطنة.
اما صبغات الشعر و مساحيق التجميل فقنابل موقوتة.

[Rupinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book full of wonders of modern chemistry. The book extolls the virtues of hundreds of tireless scientists who ushered in the modern age by bringing us various boons of science. Examples of products discussed in the book include antiseptics, lipsticks, antidepressants, chewing gum, Viagra (!), Lithium therapy, vitamins. The theme of Vanity, Vitality and Virility runs through the first half of the book, and has a chapter devoted to each of them.

Author needs to be lauded for his courageous effort to remove Chemiphobia and dispelling hundreds of myths and misconceptions related to chemicals and their use in everyday life. The book will lead you to appreciate the wonderful Chemistry in the products that you use everyday.

Some of the things that I didn't like about the book - lack of diagrams/structures of chemicals discussed, too much disconnected trivia about chemicals, and the prose running dry (= boring) at several points.

All in all, a good book for a person interested in knowing the chemistry behind our modern world, which would not be modern without it.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emsley sets out to show the benefits of chemicals to modern society, and in particular addresses common useful chemicals and drugs. The style is a little tough - it's hard to tell if he's addressing laypeople or undergraduates - but reasonably engaging. I enjoyed his refutation of specific anti-chemical claims, but found his more general cheerleading of the chemical industry to be less convincing, and I do not consider myself a "chemisceptic" or a "chemiphobic" (these are his words: being a plain old skeptic is enough for me.) He states that he strives to be objective, but he seems to have a bias against both The Media and those dratted Environmental Groups that he ought to have fought harder to keep out of his writing, as it weakens his message about being careful with statistical claims and valuing research done by industry groups.

[Fernando del Alamo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vanidad, Vitalidad y Virilidad es el título de este libro en castellano. En él, el autor da un repaso por diferentes productos químicos que utilizamos de forma habitual y del que desconocemos la razón química (la mayoría de los mortales, claro) por la que son como son. También explica historias de cómo algunas sustancias han llegado a ser medicamentos o cómo se han ido tranformando hasta lo que son hoy, desde la goma de mascar hasta el Viagra (del que explica que se supo de él por un efecto secundario).

Es un libro un tanto técnico y no me atrevo a recomendarlo a todo el mundo, sino a quien sepa un poco de formulación química y tenga conocimientos de los polímeros y demás. Es un libro de divulgación, pero más a gente algo entendida que no a profanos totales en la materia.

Si te gusta la química, te gustará este libro.

[dejah_thoris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad book, but there's definitely more chemistry and chemical formulas in this book than in his book about phosphorus. I also HATED having to flip back and forth to the glossary to look up bolded terms because he uses them so frequently (3-5 a section) and most of the additional information is something the reader would benefit from learning while reading anyway. So, if there is a future edition, I recommend removing the glossary and including that information within the text itself when the term first appears then refer to that page in future sections. Aside from that annoyance, I learned lots about common chemistry and not to fear anything in the p.p.m. or p.p.b. or p.p.t. range.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to know more about the chemistry of common products you use, I would recommend this book to you. It does a good job of explaining the relevant chemistry in ways everyone can understand. For example, what are trans fats, saturated fats, unsaturaged fats? This will provide clear answers. Plus, I feel it important for people to have a better understanding of the products we use (bleach, for example) and why these chemicals, although some view in a negative way, are very important to the health of society and fight of disease.

[Irish · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely book that educates the reader on how cosmetics are made and some of the history behind them. It goes over other subjects too per chapter so the reader can choose to look at the chemistry of another topic if cosmetic science does not appeal to them. These include: nutrition germ warfare virility and psychology among other things. There is a glossary of scientific terms in the back of this book wich helped.
All in all I would read this book again.

[Yok Pichchapa · Rating 5 out of 5]

That lipstick used to be made from this pigment which was a reddish-purple dye called fucus, also made from plant material.
And that some women used to apply cinnabar, which was the intensely red pigment that painters used, it was not recommended because it was a poisonous mercury oxide.

[Mkovarik · Rating 1 out of 5]

A few interesting science facts, but some of it is very dry and other parts sound like they were written by a company to shill their product.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This the second of Emsley's books about popluar chemistry I've read. His writing is often frustrating, but my interest in the subject matter always carries me through.

[Fer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting book, although it is less informative than it might first appear. I liked its final analysis on the origins of chemophobia.

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

wrigley bought the rights to make viagra gum!!