Elegant Solutions. Ten Beautiful Experiments in Chemistry
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Author(s): P. Ball
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
ISBN: 0854046747
Format: hardback
212pp
Price: £19.95
Review Date: 14 October 2005
Review: Here Philip Ball describes his choice of the ten most beautiful experiments in chemistry. These are experiments that are shaped by human attributes: invention, elegance, perseverance, imagination and ingenuity. He begins with the experiment by van Helmont, a 17th century physician. Van Helmont successfully grew a willow tree for five years, nourishing it only with water and concluded that all matter is made from water. Other experiments include Marie Curie’s research on radiation; Rutherford’s identification of alpha particles; Pasteur’s investigations of the shapes of crystals; Urey & Miller’s generation of the basic forms of life through a crude mixture of simple gases; Bartlett’s investigations into inert gases; and Paquette’s creation of a dodecahedrane molecule.