Description
Book SynopsisChemists have created superconducting ceramics for brain scanners, designed liquid crystal flat screens for televisions and watch displays, and made fabrics that change color while you wear them. This book lets the lay reader into the world of modern chemistry.
Trade ReviewWinner of the 1994 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Chemistry, Association of American Publishers "In this very readable and enjoyable book, Ball [offers] a whirlwind guided tour through some of the most exciting topics in modern chemistry, molecular physics, and materials science... Lucidly written ... with an acute awareness of recent advances and an excellent understanding of their intrinsic scientific content."--Physics World "A tour de force of popular science writing."--John Postgate, The Times Literary Supplement "This book is like a clean fresh breeze, and puts the image of chemistry back into proper perspective... [It] should be used ... to help convey to students ... enthusiasm for modern research."--Rudolph Fahnenstich, Angewandte Chemie "It covers almost every possible recent development in chemistry in just the right amount of detail... The old disciplines of organic, inorganic and physical chemistry of the stuffy textbooks are ploughed over and a new patchwork of fields created to fill their place."--David Bradley, New Scientist
Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroducton: Engineering the Elements3Ch. 1How It All Fits Together: The architecture of molecules13Ch. 2Bringing Down the Barriers: Getting chemical reactions to go54Ch. 3Caught in the Act: Watching atoms dance83Ch. 4Impossible Order: When atoms meet geometry111Ch. 5Perfect Hosts and Welcome Guests: Molecules that recognize each other and build themselves145Ch. 6Metals from Molecules: Electronics goes organic186Ch. 7A Soft and Sticky World: The self-organizing magic of colloid chemistry216Ch. 8Chemical Beginnings: How chemistry came to life259Ch. 9Far from Stable: Fractals, chaos, and complexity in chemistry290Ch. 10Transforming the Globe: The crises of atmospheric chemistry323Bibliography351Index365
