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Title: Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World by Simon Garfield ISBN: 0-393-02005-3 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: April, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.59 (17 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Nothing purple about this prose
Comment: Simon Garfield has written a fascinating book about the history of something we take utterly for granted, synthetic dyes, how they came about, and how they changed the world of invention. The book focuses on the story of William Perkin, who, as a young man accidentally invents a new kind of dye that does not fade or age the way natural dyes do. From that point on, his challenge is to find a place for his invention in society, and Garfield chronicles admirably the struggles Perkin faced and the impact his struggle had on the field of chemistry, which as a result of this new dye, changes from a field of intellectual scientific research to a field of commercial potential. Garfield's writing is engaging and absorbing, and this is a wonderfully illuminating book.
Rating: 3
Summary: Okay. But I really didn't get it.
Comment: I really wanted to like this book. And, yes, it has a fascinating tale to tell. But there was something lacking in the writing that me entirely unable to 'get' what the writer was trying to say. It IS an interesting story about the origins of dyes, about the effect of dyes on other industries, the industrial surge of technology of the age, and so on. But I couldn't ever quite figure out what made the chemical composition about this particular mauve so unique and important, and what about it was pushing the world into the future. I'm not usually this lost when I read, so, officially, I'm blaming the author! Sorry Simon.
Rating: 5
Summary: origins of heterocyclic chemistry
Comment: This is a fantastic accounting of a too little glorified period in the development of organic chemistry. The story will be inspiring to anyone who has an interest in chemistry and/or business. The latter because the story demonstrates the importance of recognizing and capitalizing on an unexpected invention (vs. more target-oriented discovery).
Unlike, most other popular science-related books that this is likely to be lumped with, it is enjoyably written, well researched and full of fascinating facts.
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Title: Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay ISBN: 0345444302 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Blue: The History of a Color. by Michel Pastoureau ISBN: 0691090505 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments by Ber Francois/Guineau Delamare ISBN: 0810928728 Publisher: Harry N. Abrams Pub. Date: 01 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Devil's Cloth by Michel Pastoureau, Jody Gladding ISBN: 0231123663 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 July, 2001 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Bright Earth: Art and the Invention of Color by Philip Ball ISBN: 0226036286 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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