Elegant Solutions

Devising and performing a scientific experiment is an art, and it is common to hear scientists talk about the 'beauty' of an experiment. What does this mean in chemistry, the experimental science par excellence? And what are the most beautiful chemical experiments of all time? This book offers ten suggestions for where beauty might reside in experimental chemistry. In some cases the beauty lies in the clarity of conception; sometimes it is a feature of the instrumental design. But for chemistry, there can also be a unique beauty in the way atoms are put together to make new molecules, substances not known in nature. The ten experiments described here offer a window into the way that chemists think and work, and how what they do affects the rest of science and the wider world. This book aims to stimulate the reader to think anew about some of the relationships and differences between science and art, and to challenge some of the common notions about particular 'famous experiments'. Elegant Solutions: Ten Beautiful Experiments in Chemistry is accessible to all readers, including those without a scientific background and can provide an unusual point of entry into some of the basic concepts of chemistry. Phillip Ball is a renowned, prolific, award winning science writer.

ISBN 0854046747   Pages 220 ISBN13 9780854046744 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Royal Society of Chemistry   Weight (grammes) 580 Imprint Royal Society of Chemistry   Published in Cambridge Format Hardback   Height (mm) 228 Publication date 01 Aug 2005   Width (mm) 152 Library of Congress 2006494658   Spine width (mm) 17 DEWEY 541.34   Academic level Undergraduate DEWEY edition DC22

		Introduction : what is an experiment? : what is beauty?		1
Ch. 1		How does your garden grow? : Van Helmont's willow tree and the beauty of quantification		11
Ch. 2		An element compounded : Cavendish's water and the beauty of detail		22
Ch. 3		New light : the Curies' radium and the beauty of patience		37
Ch. 4		Radiation explained : Rutherford's alpha particles and the beauty of elegance		54
Ch. 5		The elements came in one by one : Seaborgium's chemistry : small is beautiful		67
		Divertissement 1 : the chemical theatre		92
Ch. 6		Molecules take shape : Pasteur's crystals and the beauty of simplicity		101
		Divertissement 2 : myths and romances		119
Ch. 7		Life and how to make it : Urey and Miller's prebiotic chemistry and the beauty of imagination		124
Ch. 8		Not so noble : Bartlett's xenon chemistry and the beauty of simplemindedness		139
Ch. 9		Nature rebuilt : Woodward, vitamin B[subscript 12] and the beauty of economy		151
Ch. 10		Plato's molecules : Paquette's dodecahedrane and the beauty of design		175
		Coda : chemical aesthetics		191

One of Ball's objectives is to encourage us to think about what an experiment is and what role experiments play in the evolution of science. The whole book is full of vivid characters, pointed anecdote and insightful comment, and is a delight to read. It is accessible to any reasonably well-motivated non-chemist, and would make a fine present for such a person. -- Chemistry & Industry, 15th May 2006 (Martyn Berry) Chemistry and Industry It is rare for a book on chemistry to involve such feelings of awe as this one does. Elegant Solutions is an absolute delight, completely fulfilling Armstrong's words about the chemist being full of feeling. Wherever you work in chemistry, this book will have something to help you, to set you thinking, and to make you proud of your professional calling. Make sure you get a copy. -- Education in Chemistry, March 2006 (John Nicholson) Education in Chemistry I highly recommend Ball's book, which makes much of chemistry. Accessible to the nonchemist. -- Bulletin for the History of Chemistry, Vol 31, Number 1 (2006) (Leo B Slater) Bulletin for the History of Chemistry This book is particularly strong in that it is readily accessible by a general readership. It provokes you to think about how aesthetic values are related to experimental virtues. -- Joachim Schummer, International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry This is a delightful (beautiful?) book that deserves a wide audience...The book contains ten chapters that do more than describe individual experiments; they put it in the context of contemporary thought and attitudes and the characters of the chemists themselves. It should be read by A-level students to put their learning in context and by undergraduates to examine the experimental process...an excellent addition to Phillip Ball's growing list of popular science titles. -- Physical Sciences Educational Reviews, Volume 8, Issue 2, October 2007 (Roy Lowry) Reviews (Formally Physical Sciences Educational Reviews) NO LONGER RUNNING One of Ball's objectives is to encourage us to think about what an experiment is and what role experiments play in the evolution of science. The whole book is full of vivid characters, pointed anecdote and insightful comment, and is a delight to read. It is accessible to any reasonably well-motivated non-chemist, and would make a fine present for such a person. It is rare for a book on chemistry to involve such feelings of awe as this one does. Elegant Solutions is an absolute delight, completely fulfilling Armstrong's words about the chemist being full of feeling. Wherever you work in chemistry, this book will have something to help you, to set you thinking, and to make you proud of your professional calling. Make sure you get a copy. I highly recommend Ball's book, which makes much of chemistry. Accessible to the nonchemist. This book is particularly strong in that it is readily accessible by a general readership. It provokes you to think about how aesthetic values are related to experimental virtues. This is a delightful (beautiful?) book that deserves a wide audience...The book contains ten chapters that do more than describe individual experiments; they put it in the context of contemporary thought and attitudes and the characters of the chemists themselves. It should be read by A-level students to put their learning in context and by undergraduates to examine the experimental process...an excellent addition to Phillip Ball's growing list of popular science titles.

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