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9781616149154

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A fresh and engaging look at forensic chemistry. Witty stories frame explanations and real experiments. - Roald Hoffman, Nobel Laureate, Cornell University (on Crime Scene Chemistry ) An accessible and largely accurate tour de force... Stylish, easy-to-read.... Highly recommended. - Choice (on Magick, Mayhem, and Mavericks ) Gives real insight into the breadth and beauty of physical chemistry.... A good read. - New Scientist (on Magick, Mayhem, and Mavericks )

Twenty-first-century safety standards are mixed with fourteenth-century experiments in a breezy exposition. The discussion of 'proof by authority' not only illuminates the sources of the philosophers' stone but also suggests that similar thinking is active in modern politics and religion. This is the first account of alchemy I have seen that I would characterize as both light and enlightening reading. The chemical experiments may not be as flashy as they would have been centuries (or even decades) ago, but they're colorful enough to be preferable to most currently available home chemistry sets. The description of isolating sal ammoniac from natural sources will leave the reader in stitches if not in stenches. --Alexander Scheeline, emeritus professor of chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The authors have removed alchemy from the realm of magic to show the actual chemistry behind it, and include experiments the reader can do at home. --John A. Pojman, PhD, professor of chemistry, Louisiana State University The Chemistry of Alchemy gives the chemist's perspective, in nontechnical language, to the core history of alchemy and its importance to modern chemistry. Selected works illustrating key concepts from alchemy are reproduced in carefully designed experiments throughout the book. The alchemists' quest for gold was not in vain, as they contributed and refined many scientific concepts we have today. --Stephen L. Crump, PhD, Savannah River National Laboratory

Twenty-first-century safety standards are mixed with fourteenth-century experiments in a breezy exposition. The discussion of 'proof by authority' not only illuminates the sources of the philosophers' stone but also suggests that similar thinking is active in modern politics and religion. This is the first account of alchemy I have seen that I would characterize as both light and enlightening reading. The chemical experiments may not be as flashy as they would have been centuries (or even decades) ago, but they're colorful enough to be preferable to most currently available home chemistry sets. The description of isolating sal ammoniac from natural sources will leave the reader in stitches if not in stenches. --Alexander Scheeline, emeritus professor of chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The authors have removed alchemy from the realm of magic to show the actual chemistry behind it, and include experiments the reader can do at home. --John A. Pojman, PhD, professor of chemistry, Louisiana State University The Chemistry of Alchemy gives the chemist's perspective, in nontechnical language, to the core history of alchemy and its importance to modern chemistry. Selected works illustrating key concepts from alchemy are reproduced in carefully designed experiments throughout the book. The alchemists' quest for gold was not in vain, as they contributed and refined many scientific concepts we have today. --Stephen L. Crump, PhD, Savannah River National Laboratory

Author Information

Cathy Cobb is the author of The Joy of Chemistry (with Monty L. Fetterolf); Crime Scene Chemistry for the Armchair Sleuth (with Monty L. Fetterolf and Jack G. Goldsmith); Magick, Mayhem, and Mavericks- The Spirited History of Physical Chemistry; and Creations of Fire- Chemistry's Lively History from Alchemy to the Atomic Age (with Harold Goldwhite). She is an instructor of chemistry, physics, and calculus at Mead Hall School in Aiken, South Carolina. Monty L. Fetterolf is the coauthor with Cathy Cobb of The Joy of Chemistry and with Cathy Cobb and Jack G. Goldsmith of Crime Scene Chemistry for the Armchair Sleuth. He is a professor of chemistry and the department chair of the Department of Chemistry and Physics at the University of South Carolina at Aiken. Harold Goldwhite, emeritus professor of chemistry at California State University, Los Angeles, is the author of eight textbooks on chemistry, and Creations of Fire (with Cathy Cobb).

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