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Title: Magick, Mayhem, and Mavericks: The Spirited History of Physical Chemistry by Cathy Cobb ISBN: 1-57392-976-X Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: November, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3 (8 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: University Student Review
Comment: I have never written a book review before, but in light of a recent less-than-generous review of Magick, Mayhem, and Mavericks, I feel compelled to offer my own response to this unconventional history of an unconventional science. A history of physical chemistry must draw from the history of physics and mathematics as well as chemistry, and Magick accomplishes this task while managing to keep the story entertaining and lay-reader friendly. Dr. Cobb did not write an erudite, exhaustive treatise on the subject, nor did she claim to. Dr. Cobb's aim-to introduce the readers to interesting personalities and explore the human side of science-was accomplished as promised, and her goal of explaining difficult concepts with analogy and in everyday language was achieved in an enjoyable and readable style.
Rating: 1
Summary: A huge disappointment
Comment: Having recently finished the excellent "Lunar Men", Jenny Uglow's masterpiece about Erasmus Darwin and his friends, I was looking forward to read MMM. I was hoping it would increase my understanding of physical chemistry history. I found it wanting and peppered with mistakes. See below for a few examples but I suspect there are more in the chapters dealing with material less familiar to me. The root of the problem can be found in the "notes" section: there isn't a single reference to an original work from the people described in the main text. The whole book is constructed using material from other 20st century authors. That's OK if you're writing a high school paper, it is not if you're writing a scholarly book.
Some mistakes are likely due to lack of proofreading: "egg yoke" or Lavoisier "isolating air's two elements oxygen and hydrogen".
Others are more troubling and indicate a lack of understanding of history: Watt did not simply improve the steam engine Newcomen (and others) designed. Newcomen's engine relied on the atmospheric pressure to generate work in addition to steam pressure. Hot steam in the cylinder was cooled by water to create a vacuum. Watt's engine eliminated the atmospheric pressure as a work generating force. Galvani believed in animal electricity, he did not "use electricity to make frog legs twitch". The atomists did not use the term "equivalent" to hide their belief in the atom, if fact the "equivalent" proponents were pitted against the "atomists" in a bitter battle. Early balloonists did not understand the role of the temperature in hot air ballooning. The Mongolfier brothers were looking for an "electrical emanation" that would allow a balloon to rise the same way small pieces of cloth can be lifted towards an electrified rod. They settled on a burning mixture of damp wool and straw as fuel. It took the systematic work of the Swiss de Saussure (not Gay-Lussac) to show that it was the "rarefaction of the air" which lifted the balloon.
And the list goes on. I stop here and point at a final annoyance: pictures without caption or references. Fortunately, in MMM most of them had no relation to the text anyway and seem to be included just because Cobb liked the way they looked. the same can be said for the weird symbols that are repeated throughout the book. At first I thought they were a clever reference to symbols used in Croll's 1609 "Basilica chymica", in Geoffoy's 1718 "table des affinites" or in Dalton's 1810 "New system of chemical philosophy". They weren't and if anyone can tell me what they mean, I'd be grateful.
To finish on a semi-positive note: Cobb pointed at contributions from women scientists, marking a welcome departure from earlier publications by other authors. Of course, she succeeded in misrepresenting Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze Lavoisier and in ignoring Lucia Galeazzi who played a massive role in the discovery of animal electricity.
Rating: 2
Summary: Two whacks of your Latin teacher's ruler
Comment: It's actually "reductio ad absurdum," as any devoted high school Latin student should know. Too bad this isn't the only mistake in the book, since Cobb tries very hard to present stimulating anecdotes. Unfortunately, she neglects the legions of dedicated physical chemists in academia and industry who have contributed the vast majority of advancements in the field by thoughtful, systematic experimentation.
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Title: Creations of Fire: Chemistry's Lively History from Alchemy to the Atomic Age by Cathy Cobb, Harold Goldwhite ISBN: 073820594X Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: 15 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Substance Use and Abuse : Sociological Perspectives by Victor N. Shaw ISBN: 0275971392 Publisher: Praeger Publishers Pub. Date: 30 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $83.95 |
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Title: Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History by Penny M, Ph.D Le Couteur, Jay Ph.D Burreson, Penny Le Couteur ISBN: 1585422207 Publisher: J. P. Tarcher Pub. Date: 24 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Digital Soul: Intelligent Machines and Human Values by Thomas M. Georges ISBN: 0813340578 Publisher: Westview Press Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Einstein (Life & Times) by Peter D. Smith ISBN: 1904341152 Publisher: Haus Publishing Pub. Date: August, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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