Your Chemical World
In today’s world we rely on many different facets to achieve what we normally don’t even give a second thought. As I am sitting here typing this paper I am simultaneously using the culmination of numerous chemical breakthroughs. The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a group of over 150,000 chemists, both academic and industrial. “Your Chemical World,” a book that the ACS has published, is a biography of sorts, where in the uses and need for a chemical world are shown in an easy-to-understand way. Although chemistry would seem to be just a recently invented and used scientific field, chemistry has been an integral part of our lives for a long time. Our early ancestors, unable to even write, figured out that certain substances could be used for painting, hence the archaic cave paintings found in Southern Europe. Today we use chemistry to build our houses, to drive to work everyday, even toasting your toast in the morning. Because chemistry is our link to the hidden world of the earth’s terrestrial fruits like Silicon or Iron our hands will be forever bound to chemistry.
The book starts off with our beginning and the unlikely usage of chemistry in pre-historic times. Our ancestors were more then likely concerned primarily with staying alive. Certain things are needed to do that, like food, shelter, energy, and drink. Once those needs were meet our Neanderthal brethren made some archaicaly beautiful cave paintings. In doing so they applied chemistry in a whole new way, to benefit their lives. In time chemistry became an integral part of society, today we have used it to stretch our lives out by more then forty percent of what it would have been in the start of the century by the use of medicine. Later on in recordable history chemistry was implemented through rusty trial and error methods which allowed many things to be created such as Bronze in 3600 BC or glass in 2500 BC. But it wasn’t until the age of Greek philosophers that the question of these materials components, or made them exist. After many theories by many different people a man named Leucippus came up with the idea that all things were made up of indivisible, small particles. Although we now know that that was the correct theory the age of alchemy started and didn’t slow down until after medieval times. The next remarkable step was taken by Robert Boyle a British chemist who defined and coined the term “elements” as “pure substance, which resists all ordinary attempts at decomposition.
Roscher, Nina M., and Cavanaugh, Margaret A. (1987). "Academic Women Chemists in the 20th Century: Past, Present, Projections." Journal of Chemical Education 64:823-827.
The introduction of the book is very intriguing, making readers want to read more. It is in fact one of my favorite parts of the book, telling how Kean’s love for the periodic table and its elements started. It then jumps into giving useful facts and information that I was oblivious to. The geography of the elements is told, where they are located and the importance of their
elder and it now seems that the break in his bond with his mother has
This chemistry book report is focus on a book called “Napoleon's buttons: How 17 molecules changed history” by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson. The publisher of this book is Tarcher Putnam, the book was published in Canada on 2003 with 17 chapters (hey the number match the title of the book!) and a total of 378 pages. The genre of this book is nonfiction. “Napoleon's Buttons” contain a fascinating story of seventeen groups of molecules that have greatly changed the course of history and continuing affect the world we live in today. It also reveal the astonishing chemical connection among some unrelated events, for example: Chemistry caused New Amsterdamers to be renamed New Yorkers and one little accident of detonating cotton apron in a minor housekeeping mishap lead to the development of modern explosives and the founding of the movie industry.
Chemistry has been around for a very long time. Chemistry is the branch of physical science that studies composition, properties, energy, and behavior of matter. It is said that chemistry has been around since prehistoric times. This was in the form of everyday objects like pottery, cosmetics and perfumes, and extracting metals from ores. Chemistry is based on the discovery and study of elements. Some elements were known to ancient man, but most were discovered by chemists and alchemists. Some say that chemistry started in the early Stone Age when man made fire. Chemistry is the study of chemical composition and properties of matter and the reactions of that matter. The study of any living thing involves chemistry.
To begin with, the authors, Larry Gonick and Craig Criddle, as I alluded to earlier, have written this book to consist of varying subjects and topics all underneath the umbrella that is chemistry. The twelve key subjects covered are hidden ingredients (basically properties and elements), matter becoming electric and their relation to electrons, togetherness and atomic structure, chemical reactions, heat of reaction, matter in a state (solid, liquid, gas) , solutions, reaction rate and equilibrium, acid basics, chemical thermodynamics, electrochemistry, organic chemistry, and using logarithms. Overall each subject is covered equally in depth and some subjects build upon each other while some don’t. There isn’t a specific author’s purpose rather than to educate the reader. However the subjects that constantly return and are tied in with each chapter are the history of chemistry and how chemical principles were discovered. These repeating subjects also show us applications of chemistry in the real world and the importance of chemistry in our lives. In general the book trudges through subjects...
Smith, Roland. Conquering Chemsitry: HSC course. 4th ed. Vol. 1. N/A: Cengage Learning Australia, 2010. 74-90. 1 vols. Print.
Ever since I began studying science and mathematics at all levels of educations I have always had an interest in the production of useful materials. In the growing turmoil of today; a world full of global warming and diminishing resources, questions often arise in my mind such as, "can we make a more efficient, more durable and a renewable resource that will overshadow fossil fuels? and have less of an impact on our environment?" Up to now, I have not found a solution to these questions and answering these questions is a personal aspiration of mine which I aim to fulfil by achieving a degree in Chemical engineering and eventually I will contribute to the field in my own unique way. The debate surrounding sustainable energy fascinates me, having recently learned from personal research I have understood what an authoritative role chemists and chemical engineers play in the industry at the present time and how, by working as a team, they contribute to an improved future for the whole world. However, one of the main reasons that has single-mindedly driven me this far to want to study chemical engineering is a book I have read, “Beyond the Molecular Frontier: Challenges for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering” While reading this book, I had solidified my understandings of what chemical engineering is all about. Also, one of the main processes mentioned was polymerisation and is something I already study in A-level chemistry, it is something that not only interests me, but is a personal career aspiration of mine. Reading this book gave me a determination to be the person who helps improve the future of the industry and provide an answer to the questions I always ask myself by studying this degree.
There are many ways to examine the subject of alchemy, including alchemy as a source of symbolism, psychology, and mysticism. It has also been an influence on the world view of various writers, artist, and musicians. The focus of this report is alchemy as a pre-chemistry, which gave a new impulse towards the preparation of medicinal remedies and also was a major influence on today's scientific investigations.Alchemy is an ancient art, practiced in the Middle Ages. The fundamental concept of alchemy stemmed from Aristotle's doctrine that all things tend to reach perfection.
Alchemy’s Goals When alchemy is mentioned, people immediately think about magic and potions. They associate alchemy with the witchcraft and wizards of the 12th century. People do not realize how much the experiments that the alchemists were doing started modern chemistry. Almost all alchemists had the goal of changing one element into another, more valuable element. Most of the time this was trying to turn lead into gold.
Dalton’s idea is that all things are made of small bits of matter, these bits of matter where too small to be seen even with a microscope. Scientists began to think these small bits of matter were responsible for chemical changes. They thought that when these bits of matter combined, a chemical change took place. Dalton assumed that there was a special pattern in the elements and was partly responsible for the periodic table. Dalton in 1787 started to keep a journal.
Read, John. Through Alchemy to Chemistry: A Procession of Ideas & Personalities. London: G. Bell, 1957.
Though many people fail to realize it, chemistry is a subject essential to everyday life, due to the fact that it is the branch of science that deals with the identification of the substances of which matter is composed. But what we must understand is that everything in the universe is composed of matter, hence chemistry is necessary in learning more about the world and universe that we live in. There are many careers and fields affiliated with chemistry that people pursue to learn more about the composition of the universe, but for now, let us examine the logistics of three of these careers. These three careers involving chemistry are geochemistry, environmental chemistry, and chemical engineering.
Chemical engineering, a prominent and growing career, requires a detailed understanding of the how and why chemical processes work and also how they can be further improved. To develop new improvised methods for these processes to function more useful and economical, a chemical engineer uses theories and laws of chemistry. They are, however, often referred to as the "universal engineer" because they must not only have a broad knowledge of chemistry and physics but also of mechanical and electrical engineering.
The growing relevance of Chemical Engineering in today’s world, from energy & oil industries to pharmaceuticals & biotechnology, and a keen desire for applying this knowledge in interrelated spheres motivates me to pursue a Master’s degree in this field. My interest in science goes back to the time when I was in school. We had a young and enthusiastic teacher who took us on field trips and visits to science fairs and museums. This nascent interest has only burgeoned through my years in school and high school, as I have learnt more about the subject. In the long run, I see myself as a part of a leading research group, either as a faculty member or in the R&D department of an organisation contributing my bit to the field of Chemical Engineering. As a research scientist, I hope to make a difference in this field and learn more through the innovative challenges.