John Emsley. Better looking, better living, better loving. How Chemistry can help you achieve life's...
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132 Book Review Published online in Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.com) DOI 10.1002/aoc.1467 Book Review JOHN EMSLEY Better looking, better living, better loving. How Chemistry can help you achieve life’s goals Wiley – VCH, May 2007, 237 pp. price 24.90 Euro; £18-99 (hardcover) ISBN-10 3-527-31863-1; ISBN-13 978-3-527-31863-6 Yes the title is a bit over the top, but this is an important and useful book. In clear and simple language the author explains the role of chemistry and chemical products in many aspects of everyday life. It is in a real sense an antidote to the ‘no chemicals in my life’ lobby. The book is, in the author’s words, ‘for those who would like to know more about some of the things that they encounter in their everyday life and which are produced by the chemical and pharmaceutical industries’. Dr Emsley’s aim is also to ‘explain what these are and why they work as they do’. He is also concerned to discuss products suggested to have some element of risk and gives the arguments on both sides. Areas covered are comprehensive and include cosmetics, drugs and medical advances, personal care products, chemistry and diet, minor metals and their uses, chemistry in the home and art and colour chemistry. The book is presented in a style that the lay person can easily understand. Some books written by eminent scientists have this as an objective, but few achieve this laudable aim as well as Dr Emsley. In the opinion of this reviewer, the book can be usefully and enjoyably read by people with little or no chemical education. There is a useful glossary and almost no chemical formulae (it is an interesting question why the chemical nomenclature system, invented for simplicity and clarity, appears to be one of the greatest barriers for lay people wanting to know more about chemistry). This book is a triumph of clear communication and is full of interesting information. Three classes of reader should benefit from and enjoy this book: academic chemists who want to know more about the outreach of the subject, teachers and lecturers who want to enrich their classes with interesting applications of the topic and (perhaps most importantly) concerned lay people with worries about chemicals in their houses, food and bodies. The problem might be that this latter group could be the people least likely to read this book as in many cases minds are already made up! The book will explain and clarify many of the ‘problems’ associated with chemistry. Highly recommended generally but particularly for those whose worries about chemistry lead them (unnecessarily) to limit the variety and well-being of their own lives. Peter Craig De Montfort University, Leicester, UK Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2009, 23, 132 Copyright c 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Transcript of John Emsley. Better looking, better living, better loving. How Chemistry can help you achieve life's...
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Book ReviewPublished online in Wiley Interscience
(www.interscience.com) DOI 10.1002/aoc.1467
Book Review
JOHN EMSLEY
Better looking, better living, better loving. How Chemistry canhelp you achieve life’s goals
Wiley–VCH, May 2007, 237 pp.
price 24.90 Euro; £18-99 (hardcover)ISBN-10 3-527-31863-1; ISBN-13 978-3-527-31863-6
Yes the title is a bit over the top, but this is an important and usefulbook. In clear and simple language the author explains the roleof chemistry and chemical products in many aspects of everydaylife. It is in a real sense an antidote to the ‘no chemicals in my life’lobby.
The book is, in the author’s words, ‘for those who would liketo know more about some of the things that they encounter intheir everyday life and which are produced by the chemical andpharmaceutical industries’. Dr Emsley’s aim is also to ‘explain whatthese are and why they work as they do’. He is also concernedto discuss products suggested to have some element of risk andgives the arguments on both sides.
Areas covered are comprehensive and include cosmetics, drugsand medical advances, personal care products, chemistry and diet,minor metals and their uses, chemistry in the home and art andcolour chemistry. The book is presented in a style that the layperson can easily understand. Some books written by eminentscientists have this as an objective, but few achieve this laudable
aim as well as Dr Emsley. In the opinion of this reviewer, thebook can be usefully and enjoyably read by people with little orno chemical education. There is a useful glossary and almost nochemical formulae (it is an interesting question why the chemicalnomenclature system, invented for simplicity and clarity, appearsto be one of the greatest barriers for lay people wanting toknow more about chemistry). This book is a triumph of clearcommunication and is full of interesting information.
Three classes of reader should benefit from and enjoy this book:academic chemists who want to know more about the outreachof the subject, teachers and lecturers who want to enrich theirclasses with interesting applications of the topic and (perhaps mostimportantly) concerned lay people with worries about chemicalsin their houses, food and bodies. The problem might be that thislatter group could be the people least likely to read this book as inmany cases minds are already made up!
The book will explain and clarify many of the ‘problems’associated with chemistry. Highly recommended generally butparticularly for those whose worries about chemistry lead them(unnecessarily) to limit the variety and well-being of their ownlives.
Peter CraigDe Montfort University,
Leicester, UK
Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2009, 23, 132 Copyright c© 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
