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Book, Software, and Web Site Reviews |
Department of Laboratory Medicine, University-Hospital of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy
The neurologist Oliver Sacks has stated that "Chemistry is perhaps the most intricate, most fascinating, and certainly most romantic history of all the sciences". There is no single publication that exhaustively summarizes and reconstructs the history of chemistry. However, by piecing together different publications and information from different sources, we understand its milestones and recognize the leading figures in the development of this science. Arthur Greenberg’s book, The Art of Chemistry, is similar in style to his A Chemical History Tour (2000) and, as stated in the preface, presents the "wonderful artwork employed over the centuries to illustrate chemical apparatus as well as our various metaphors for the nature and structures of matter". Thus, 188 figures, most of an extraordinary artistic value, are used to illuminate 72 essays, and a recurring theme is our very human need to visualize, and to understand, the fundamental nature of matter.
Although the primary reason for buying this book is its artistic content and artwork, the forward motion to explain the transformation of myths, superstitions, and their application to the arts and medicine into modern science as we know it will captivate readers. For example, although alchemy is now considered an exercise in naiveté, if not downright fraud, it represented an important human attempt to understand Nature’s unity and to express it metaphorically. This is a very useful lesson if we are to improve our understanding of the complexity of the issues involved and to relate our knowledge to the state of the art. Science is developing day by day, and our knowledge changes over time, sometimes very rapidly. The practical "take home" message, therefore, is that we have to keep our knowledge and skills continuously updated to assure quality in clinical laboratory practice as well as in medicine.
Rather than being an ordered, or orderly, history of chemistry, the book contains a series of essays and is an "idiosyncratic tour of many heretofore unvisited historical sites as well as a few return visits yielding fresh insights". The essays are organized into eight, roughly chronologic, sections. The first focuses on the imagery of the spiritual and mythologic roots of chemistry: gods and goddesses, winged dragons, witches, the phoenix, passionate birds of prey, the feared basilisk, and the ouroboros, a serpent that constantly devours itself as it regenerates. The concept flows from the molting of a snake to form a bright new skin, whereas the circle represents unity and continuity. Greenberg’s hypothesis is that the ouroboros might have inspired Auguste Kekulé in imaging the benzene ring.
The second and third sections of the book treat the technologic aspects of early chemistry. Available archeologic evidence suggests that distillation may have been performed as early as 5000 years ago. Books on distillation enjoyed considerable popularity during the 16th and 17th centuries, and the apparatuses presented demonstrate the development and evolution of this technique. A very interesting topic is the description of Marie Meudrac, the first woman to publish a book on chemistry. Her work was based on the three alchemical principles of sulfur, mercury, and salt, and her book presented clear discussions concerning useful chemical operations. Apparently, Meudrac kept chemical apparatuses mysteriously hidden by her exquisite curtain, as shown in her book’s frontispiece.
The fourth section focuses on the period between the mid-1600s and mid-1700s, when chemistry began to emerge as a science. Here we learn of the contributions of Boyle, Hooke, Mayow, and Becher in solving the riddles of combustion and respiration, as well as introducing the first theory of chemistry: phlogiston. The fifth, and longest, section of the book is devoted to the chemical revolution that occurred during the late 18th century. Here many figures are from the fabulous 35-volume folio encyclopedia by Denis Diderot, the philosopher, and Jean Le Rond d’Alambert. The most stimulating part of this chapter is the demonstration that Lavoisier was both the father of modern chemistry as well as one of the most influential economists of the 18th century. The contributions of Benjamin Franklin to chemistry, on the other hand, are only briefly and hastily covered here.
Later, Dalton’s atomic theory is introduced as the culmination of the chemical revolution. Five essays in this section are devoted to chemistry in America in the early 19th century. Philadelphia, the birthplace of chemistry in the US, has roots in the Scottish Enlightenment, with the University of Edinburgh playing a particularly important role. David Hume and Adam Smith spent a considerable part of their lives in Edinburgh, providing this environment with an important stimulus. In 1797, the first Chair of Chemistry in America was awarded to Dr. Benjamin Rush at the University of Pennsylvania. Rush was a cosigner of the Declaration of Independence, stressing the link between science, desire for freedom, and political commitment.
Section VII presents the development of specialization in chemistry, namely the birth of organic chemistry and introduction of the Periodic Law. The final section deals with some modern topics, assuring readers an appreciation of current developments such as nanotechnology. In this section, Greenberg acknowledges the value of a powerful book written by Primo Levi, an Italian chemist who, in The Periodic Table (1996), used 21 elements as chapter titles to make a symbolic exploration of his experience, memories, and dreams as an Italian-born Jew in World War II. In the epilogue, Greenberg explains his "affiliation" to Padua, my city and University, through the seminal figure of Werner Rolfinck, a distinguished German scientist and physician born in 1599 in Hamburg. Rolfinck completed his degree in medicine in Padua under the supervision of Adriaan van den Spiegel, who in turn was trained in Padua by Girolamo Fabrici and Giulio Casseri. Thus the chemical genealogy runs through almost the entire 16th century in Padua and then fades.
If we consider the apparatus of clinical laboratories 100 years ago, when Otto Folin worked at Harvard, the link with laboratory equipment contained in this book emerges. Observing the robotized and automated instruments of today’s clinical laboratories, we must remember our roots and the foundations of the incredible technologic development that has taken place. Only by returning to the past can we forecast and design the future of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine.
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