This book challenges the perception of chemistry as too difficult to bother with and too clinical to be any fun. Cathy Cobb and Monty L. Fetterolf, both professional chemists and experienced educators, introduce readers to the magic, elegance, and, yes, joy of chemistry. From the fascination of fall foliage and fireworks, to the functioning of smoke detectors and computers, to the fundamentals of digestion (as when good pizza goes bad ), the authors illustrate the concepts of chemistry in terms of everyday experience, using familiar materials.
The authors begin with a bang--a colorful bottle rocket assembled from common objects you find in the garage--and then present the principles of chemistry using household chemicals and friendly, nontechnical language. They guide the reader through the basics of atomic structure, the nature of molecular bonds, and the vibrant universe of chemical reactions. Using analogy and example to illuminate essential concepts such as thermodynamics, photochemistry, electrochemistry, and chemical equilibrium, they explain the whys and wherefores of chemical reactions. Hands-on demonstrations, selected for their ease of execution and relevance, illustrate basic principles, and lively commentaries emphasize the fun and fascination of learning about chemistry.
This delightful and richly informative book amply proves that chemistry can appeal to our intuition, logic, and--if we're willing to get down and dirty--our sense of enjoyment too.

Science popularizer Cathy Cobb takes a unique approach to explaining the concepts of physical chemistry by telling the story of the geniuses and eccentrics who made groundbreaking discoveries in this fascinating field that bridges chemistry, physics, and mathematics. The result is entertaining and illuminating.
Her tale is about the colorful varieties of human character as well as the struggles to understand the workings of the material world. Through true stories of rebels, recluses, heroes, and rogues, she helps the reader to discover how one idea built upon another and how an elegant discipline arose out of centuries of difficult trial and error.
Starting with the ancient Greeks, Cobb takes the reader on a sweeping tour of history. She shows how an understanding of basic chemical properties gradually arose out of ancient Greeks mathematics, Muslim science, medieval omagick, o and the healing arts. Her tour continues through the scientific revolution, the emergence of physical chemistry as an independent discipline, and up to the present. Today, physical chemists contribute to the fields of chemical physiology, chemical oscillations and waves, quantum mechanics, and the curious and promising field of nanotechnology.
This absorbing, eloquently written history of science is loaded with intuitive imagery, everyday analogies, and a colorful cast of characters who are guaranteed to entertain as well as edify.

The history of the people behind the greatest discoveries in chemistry. In this book, Cathy Cobb and Harold Goldwhite celebrate not only chemistry's theories and breakthroughs but also the times and personalities that shaped this science and brought it to life. Throughout the book, the reader will meet the hedonists and swindlers, monks and heretics, and men and women labouring in garages and over kitchen sinks who expanded our understanding of the elements and discovered such new substances as plastic, rubber and aspirin. This book should expand our vision of the meaning of chemistry and reveals the oddballs and academics who have helped shape our world.