What would you say are the 10 most important and “beautiful” chemical experiments ever done? In Elegant Solutions, veteran science writer Philip Ball (1–3) makes his choices. The first is the 17th century alchemist Jan Baptist von Helmont’s measurements of the weight of a willow tree as it grew in a pot, an investigation that I would not expect to find on the list of most chemists. Not only is this not often considered to be chemistry, but von Helmont interpreted the results as evidence for the vital force of water, rather than the participation of the atmosphere. Still, the measurement of mass over time was the key to its choice for this book. Ball explains his criteria for elegance in an excellent introduction, “What is an Experiment? What is Beauty?”. Along with two Divertissements (The Chemical Theatre and Myths and Romances) and a Coda on the pure aesthetics of the laboratory, Ball reveals a romantic perspective on the history of science. Beauty and romance are not often raised in this context, and I find it welcome and illuminating.
Elegant Solutions will be of value to chemical educators who want to go beyond the textbooks, to provide both historical perspectives and context for great experiments. Ball takes an ecumenical approach to chemistry, including in the book essentially physical measurements such as the precise work of Henry Cavendish that proves water is not an element (Chapter 2), and Louis Pasteur’s first resolution of chiral crystals (Chapter 6) as well as thoroughly chemical topics such as Woodward’s synthesis of vitamin B12 (Chapter 9), Leo Paquette’s work on organic molecules that mimic the structure of Platonic solids (Chapter 10), Urey and Miller’s experiments on prebiotic chemistry (Chapter 7), and Bartlett’s demonstration that the inert gases are not so inert after all (Chapter 8). A surprising number of the chapters have to do with radioactive elements, including Seaborg’s synthesis and the chemical characterization of new elements (Chapter 5), the discovery of the nature of alpha radiation by Ernest Rutherford (Chapter 4), and Marie Curie’s isolation of radium and polonium (Chapter 3).
The eclectic list of experiments that are described in Elegant Solutions would have been chosen by no one but Philip Ball, but his talent for description and his ability to place science in perspective make this a very entertaining and useful compilation.
Literature Cited
Ball, Philip. Life’s Matrix: A Biography of Water; University of California Press: Berkeley, CA, 2001.
Ball, Philip. Bright Earth: Art and the Invention of Color; University of Chicago Press: Chicago, IL, 2003.
Ball, Philip. Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another; Farrar, Straus and Giroux: NY, 2004.
The "Chemistry Teacher Connection" (CTC) is especially for high school chemistry teachers. For only $40/year, it offers an online-only subscription to CLIC along with membership in the Division of Chemical Education, normally $65/year. CTC subscribers receive access to all articles and supplements from 1996 through the current issue.
Through special arrangement with the ACS, JCE High School CLIC is now able to provide subscribers with online access to Chemical & Engineering News articles that have been selected specifically for secondary science instructors and their students.
Occasionally, collections of JCE back issues become available for donation to individual teachers, schools, or libraries. JCE matches collections with interested recipients. Recipients pay shipping costs or pick up the collection.
For journals in other fields of chemistry visit ACS Publications.
Citation
Always in the