Better Looking, Better Living, Better Loving - Explaining the things we use now - and news from the future

Welcome to a tour of some of the recent advances in chemistry, taking in the cosmetic factory, the pharmacy, the grooming salon, the diet clinic, the power plant, the domestic cleaning company, and the art gallery along the way. Award-winning popular science writer John Emsley is our guide as he addresses questions of grooming, health, food, and sex. The trip is for all those of us wanting to know more about the impact of chemical products on our everyday lives.Each chapter begins with a fictional news item from the future speculating on the possible benefits that might develop from further approaches to research, and each chapter ends by addressing an issue of concern related to the topics discussed. These include whether homeopathic medicines really work, date rape drugs, how the toxic chemical acrylamide got into our food, and whether great artists were affected by the pigments they used.With his informal style, linking well-founded chemicals knowledge to fun situations, the author presents the information in a way such that the layperson can easily understand the arguments, weighing up the risks and benefits for each product concerned.Includes a glossary containing all the technical terms used for non-specialists.

Sommario

CHAPTER 1 - Better Looking (I): Hair, eyes, teeth, nailsNews item from the future: Toujour Jeune sales top 10 billion!Crowning glory (hair dyes)Thinning on top (hair restorers)I can see clearly now (contact lenses)A gleaming smile (tooth whiteners)Nailed (nail extensions)Issues: Are natural ingredients for cosmetics better than those made by the chemical industry?CHAPTER 2 - Better living (II): Medical advancesNews item from the future: Ms World in $5M product-placement row!Skin diseases (acne, eczema, and psoriasis)An agile or fragile old age? (arthritis drugs)Carbohydrates as cures (new drugs)Anaesthetics (new gases)Issue: Do homeopathic medicines really work?CHAPTER 3 - Better loving: the not-so-dirty weekendNews item from the future: Armpits advance thoughts of romance!Smelly chemistry (body odours)Wash all my cares away (shower gels)It´s the pits, man (antiperspirants and deodorants)Something for the weekend, sir? (condoms)We just got married away mum (the morning-after pill)Issue: The abuse of chemistry for sex crime purposes: the date rape drugs.CHAPTER 4 - Better living (II): Improving our dietNews item from the future: Yet more land goes back to NatureCarbohydrates (simple saccharides)Manna from heaven (trehalose)Low I2 means low IQ (iodized salt)Functional foods (sitostanol ester)Crap food? Feeding the fifty billion (prebiotics and probiotics)Hot, hot, hot (chilli and cumin)Issue: Does the chemical acrylamide in fried foods constitute a cancer risk?CHAPTER 5 - Better living (III): Minor metals for major advancesNews item from the future: New village with zero energy billsSolar panels provide photovoltaic (PV) power (silicon and cadmium)Glass is green (silicon dioxide)The magic of titanium (titanium metal)The future´s blue (gallium nitride)Issue: Is the world running out of the rare metals we need to make solar panels?CHAPTER 6 - Better living (IV): Chemistry in the homeNews item from the future: Laundry tablets go green all overWash all my troubles away (surfactants etc.)Fabric softeners (cationic surfactants)All washed up! (polyphosphate and zinc acetate)Malodours and air fresheners (triethylene glycol)Issue: Might we be the last generation effortlessly to enjoy clean clothes and crockery?CHAPTER 7 - The Better Looking (II): The art of the chemistNews item from the future: Stolen paintings hoard discoveredColour (lakes and pigments)Analysis (methods for analysing paintings)Conservation and restoration (lead sulfide)Frauds and fakes (drying oils)Finding the forgeries (pigment analysis)Issue: Were great artists affected by the pigments they used?GLOSSARYBIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX

Info autore

John Emsley lehrte viele Jahre Chemie am King's College in London, bevor er seine zweite Karriere als Wissenschaftsjournalist startete. Emsley ist als Buchautor und Verfasser von über 500 populärwissenschaftlichen Beiträgen für Zeitungen, Magazine, Funk und Fernsehen bekannt. Sein schriftstellerisches und journalistisches Schaffen wurde mehrfach ausgezeichnet, unter anderem 1995 mit dem Rhone-Poulenc-Preis für "Parfum, Portwein, PVC... Chemie im Alltag" und dem Literaturpreis der Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (2003).

Riassunto

Welcome to a tour of some of the recent advances in chemistry, taking in the cosmetic factory, the pharmacy, the grooming salon, the diet clinic, the power plant, the domestic cleaning company, and the art gallery along the way. Award-winning popular science writer John Emsley is our guide as he addresses questions of grooming, health, food, and sex. The trip is for all those of us wanting to know more about the impact of chemical products on our everyday lives.
Each chapter begins with a fictional news item from the future speculating on the possible benefits that might develop from further approaches to research, and each chapter ends by addressing an issue of concern related to the topics discussed. These include whether homeopathic medicines really work, date rape drugs, how the toxic chemical acrylamide got into our food, and whether great artists were affected by the pigments they used.
With his informal style, linking well-founded chemicals knowledge to fun situations, the author presents the information in a way such that the layperson can easily understand the arguments, weighing up the risks and benefits for each product concerned.
Includes a glossary containing all the technical terms used for non-specialists.

Relazione

"...it was approachable and lively without being flippant, and, most importantly, it was easily understandable. The anecdotes and examples of chemistry in action were enjoyable and occasionally amusing."Chemistry World, August 2007

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: John Emsley
• Editore: Wiley-VCH
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Pubblicazione: 01.01.2007
• EAN: 9783527318636
• ISBN: 978-3-527-31863-6
• Pagine: 237
• Dimensioni: 146 mm x 219 mm x 25 mm
• Peso: 468 g
• Categorie: Saggistica > Natura, tecnica > Scienze naturali; Chemie, Allgemeines, Wissenschaft, chemistry, Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmazeutische u. Medizinische Chemie, Allg. Chemie, Allg. Naturwissenschaft, General Science