Mendeleyev's Dream: The Quest For the Elements

Product Information

A very accessible, non-fiction telling of the epic journey and transmutation of the collective human intellect through the ages. From ancient philosophy, through medieval alchemy to the splitting of the atom, this is the true story of the birth of chemistry and the role of one man's dream. The author narrates the origins of chemistry from Ancient Greece to the present time in an almost vivid way that makes the story highly interesting and very informative.

Complement Mendeleyev’s Dream with Margaret Mead’s existentially revelatory dream about the meaning of life and John Steinbeck’s prophetic dream about how the commercial media are killing creative culture, then revisit the science of what the brain actually does while we sleep. In this readable but flawed book, prolific author Strathern (Hawking and Black Holes; Crick, Watson and DNA; etc. The author adds some nice touches like Goethe interest in the field and how at that time general culture was not dissociated from science (as it usually happens nowadays). In this elegant and entertaining book, the award-winning novelist and expositor of difficult ideas, Paul Strathern unravels the history of chemistry through the dramatic quest for the elements. Strathern chronicles the history of the development of modern chemistry for the general audience, covering important figures and discoveries that deserve more attention than we tend to give them in history and science classes (almost none).i’ve laughed, audibly gasped, and felt like i was going crazy along with all of the famous and infamous geniuses of the centuries. I'm reading this book to learn about science: I didn't want to know about the sex lives of famous scientists. While it was a scattered approach to the history of chemistry and science as a whole, Strathern does a good job telling the story of so many of the brilliant scientists before and including Dmitri Mendeleyev. Strathern conjures up from the dusty past, and richly fleshes out for us, the long line of extraordinary characters, their lives, influences, and contributions that eventually produced modern chemistry that has so profoundly shaped the modern world.

It was surprising to discover that Mendeleyev’s biography and the intriguing story of his periodic table discovery were confined to just the last two chapters. Strathern does an excellent job revitalizing the drama of chemistry's volatile mix of ideas and substances. Strathern does an excellent job revitalizing the drama of chemistry’s volatile mix of ideas and substances. Seller has stated it will dispatch the item within 1 working day upon receipt of cleared payment - opens in a new window or tab . In this elegant, erudite, and entertaining book, Paul Strathern unravels the quixotic history of chemistry through the quest for the elements.This, however, does not detract from the amazing story behind the distillation of modern chemistry out of the quagmire of beliefs and false starts - era after era - finally culminating in Mendeleyev's periodic table of the elements and the birth of modern chemistry.