Within months of the start of the First World War, Germany began
to run out of the raw materials it needed to make explosives. As
Germany faced imminent defeat, chemists such as Fritz Haber and
Carl Bosch came to the rescue with Nobel Prize winning discoveries
that overcame the shortages and enabled the country to continue in
the war. Similarly, Britain could not have sustained its war effort
for four years had it not been for chemists like Chaim Weizmann who
was later to become the first president of the State of Israel.
Michael Freemantle tells the stories of these and many other
chemists and explains how their work underpinned and shaped what
became known as The Chemists War. He reveals:
how chemistry contributed to the care of the sick and wounded
and to the health and safety of troops;
how coal not only powered the war but was also an important source
of the chemicals needed for the manufacture of explosives, dyes,
medicines and antiseptics;
how Britain s production of propellants relied on the slaughter of
tens of thousands of whales;
how a precious metal played a critical role in the war;
how poisonous chemicals were used as weapons of mass destruction
for the first time in the history of warfare and how chemists
developed gas masks for protection against these weapons;
how the British naval blockade of Germany imperilled agricultural
production in the United States.
The book will appeal to the general reader as well as the many
scientists and historians interested in the Great War.
Michael Freemantle is a science writer who has written numerous
books and articles on chemistry, the history of science and related
topics."
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