Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
Napoleon's Buttons is the fascinating account of seventeen groups of molecules that have greatly influenced the course of history. These molecules provided the impetus for early exploration, and made possible the voyages of discovery that ensued. The molecules resulted in grand feats of engineering and spurred advances in medicine and law; they determined what we now eat, drink, and wear. A change as small as the position of an atom can lead to enormous alterations in the properties of a substance-which, in turn, can result in great historical shifts.
With lively prose and an eye for colorful and unusual details, Le Couteur and Burreson offer a novel way to understand the shaping of civilization and the workings of our contemporary world.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
Good read
Customer Rating:
This book is very interesting and informative about things that are not common knowledge. A background in organic chemistry might make it even more interesting, but I learned a lot.
starts strong, finishes not as strong, a great book
Customer Rating:
I picked this book up at a local bookstore merely because the cover looked interesting and I'm a fan of science history.
Overall, I think it's a great book that really changed my understanding of molecules, how they are constructed, and how similar molecules often have similar effects.
I give this book a 4-star rating if only because it holds such wondrous promise in the beginning, 10 to 15 pages devoted to one molecule each for the first half of the book. The second half seems like an entirely different book, or a dumping ground for all the molecules that didn't warrant a lengthy article. The final chapters end up covering 4 or 5 molecules in one chapter, when each could rightly deserve its own history.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the popular history of chemistry.
Chemistry ushers in the modern world
Customer Rating:
Perhaps the one thing I took from this book was how little consideration we give to the incredible importance of the chemical field in shaping the modern world. It is safe to say that without a knowledge of atomic structure, we would still be sleeping on dirt floors, wearing "natural" materials (or rags if we were not royalty), eating a boring diet of underdeveloped and probablty rancid food..in other words, we would still be in the Middle Ages.
These 17 molecules are, of course, a subjective list. But it is one that makes sense, is grouped well and covers most of the bases of the industrial age - synthetic clothes, synthetic materials, medicines, fuel, explosives, the art of food. The authors describe the molecular family, offer a schematic of the molecular structure then relate the history and what they consider the changes the moleculer has wrought.
They point out many misconceptions: Evil "preservatives" in food are mostly vitamin C. Or the common belief that "natural" substances are superior to artificial ones. This stems from an ancient belief that living things possessed a mystical vital spirit. "Real" vanilla and artificial vanilla have exactly the same structure but the difference in taste arises from impurities in the "real" McCoy.
These 17 molecules (and chemisty in general) is such an integral part of our lives that they have disappeared into the scenery. From birth control to anasthesia to wine, cotton, silk, gold, paint, rubber - it's a wondrous story that deserved telling. My Grade - A+
Owned it, read it, loved it, gifted it.
Customer Rating:
I already owned this book and read it a while ago. My freshman chemistry professor struck me as the perfect person to enjoy this book, and I bought a copy as a gift. I would recommend this book to anyone with a interest in science, history, or a very interesting read.
Book Critique
Customer Rating:
The topic of Napoleon's Buttons was the concept of how chemistry affected major historical events like malaria, the black plague, the Russian Invasion by Napoleon, or even the drug industry. The intended audience of this book is the chemist or historian in all of us. The author does a superb job of not using too much advanced language, and therefore could be intended for all audiences. As stated above, the author uses these different points to give people a chance to learn a side about history that is not taught in most books or in the classroom. This book teaches the reader how the smallest things in life--molecules--can make the biggest difference in history. The author shows this very well by using different points in history to describe this point, as well as using easy language and pictures that everyone can understand. This book was very well written. The author managed to get across his point in very few words. The book was about 360 pages, and a portion of that were pictures. The pictures actually helped the clarity of the book by giving people multiple ways of absorbing the information. The author does not consider many other points of view. That said, the topic this book covers does not require other points, so overall it was fine. One of my favorite parts of the book was the introduction. While it was just the basis of how the book would be written, it did give a very interesting story about the tin buttons on Napoleon's soldiers' jackets during the Russian Invasion. The reason this is my favorite section was because this was very relevant due to the fact that we just finished a unit on this invasion in history. The author was very concise and used images well where it was needed. While there was generally no complex language, there were points when I was lost. A notes section was my only issue with the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning. There is much that anyone can learn from this book, and the language is not a hindrance. This was a very good read which held a lot of knowledge. It is due to that that I feel it is good for this assignment.
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