I remember the hue and cry over phosphates, and then how the debate quietly faded away. For example the debate about the environmental damage allegedly caused by phosphorus in laundry detergent, and how subsequently it was discovered was that the culprits were the heavy metals, oils and insecticides that had killed the zooplankton that eat the algae blooms. The most interesting aspects of phosphorus were the ones that relate to daily life. It has some interesting anecdotes like the history of the Swedish match king, but these have no lasting bearing on the 'story,' and as I finished reading each anecdote, I couldn't help but thinking, so what? Well, that covers the first hundred pages. Early medicinal claims have all been debunked. Oh, sorry I dozed off for a moment there- a method for its manufacture, mainly using vast quantities of human urine. Damit kann der Nichtfachmann sich eine Meinung bilden und oeffentliche Diskussionen kompetent bewerten.The first hundred pages address the history of the alchemists and their attempts to make phosphorus, in a breathless recounting of professional jealousy and completing claims to have discovered…. Das Buch veranschaulicht chemische Fragen und Phaenomene von der Ernaehrung bis zum Treibhauseffekt. Die Argumentation ist stets sachlich Risiken und Gefahren werden in Relation zum jeweiligen Nutzen bestimmter Stoffe oder Technologien dargestellt. Die Zusammenhaenge werden einfach und locker beschrieben, so dass der Laie sie muehelos nachvollziehen kann.

John Emsley vermittelt fundiertes Hintergrundwissen zu Chemikalien, mit denen wir taeglich zu tun haben. oder ob sie uns suspekt sind, wie PVC, Nitrat oder Kohlendioxid, sie gehoeren zu unserem Alltag. Was haben diese Dinge gemeinsam? Richtig, es sind Gemische chemischer Substanzen! Ob wir sie als Genuss empfinden. 5, ein Honigbroetchen zum Fruehstueck, das Bier zum Abendessen und, wenn es ein Glas zuviel war, eine Kopfschmerztablette am naechsten Morgen. : Chemie im Alltag (Paperback)īy Emsley, John Translated by Kellersohn, ThomasĮin Hauch Chanel No. Shining with wonderful nuggets-from murders-by-phosphorus to a match factory strike from the firebombing of Hamburg to the deadly compounds derived from phosphorus today-The 13th Element weaves together a rich tableau of brilliant and oddball characters, social upheavals, and bizarre events.

It may even be the cause of will-o'-the wisps and spontaneous human combustion! Now John Emsley has written an enthralling account of this eerily luminescent element. The incredible ''glowing'' history of the ''Devil's element ''phosphorus Discovered by alchemists, prescribed by apothecaries, exploited by ninth-century industrialists, and abused by twentieth-century combatants, the chemical element phosphorus has fascinated us for more than th.

The 13th Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus (Hardback)

The 13th Element by John Emsley