Prometheans in the Lab: Chemistry in the Making.SHARON BERTSCH MCGRAYNE Profiles of nine chemists and their pervasive though generally overlooked achievements reveal the impact of chemistry on our everyday lives. McGrayne tells the stories behind the advent of soap, clothing dye, fertilizer, nylon and polyester, lead-free gasoline, refrigeration refrigeration, process for drawing heat from substances to lower their temperature, often for purposes of preservation. Refrigeration in its modern, portable form also depends on insulating materials that are thin yet effective. , DDT DDT or 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1,-trichloroethane, chlorinated hydrocarbon compound used as an insecticide. First introduced during the 1940s, it killed insects that spread disease and feed on crops. , and inexpensive sugar so readers appreciate how these inventions shape our lives in both good and bad ways. For instance, Thomas Midgely invented tetraethyl lead tetraethyl lead (tĕt'rəĕth`əl), (C2H5)4Pb, viscous, colorless, poisonous liquid. It is an organometallic compound prepared by reacting ethyl chloride with a sodium-lead alloy. , which became an important ingredient of cheap, powerful gasoline. But the chemical caused psychosis psychosis (sīkō`sĭs), in psychiatry, a broad category of mental disorder encompassing the most serious emotional disturbances, often rendering the individual incapable of staying in contact with reality. in factory workers who made it, and it damaged the environment. In this regard, McGrayne profiles Clair Patterson, who discovered that leaded gasoline was polluting the planet and spearheaded efforts to curtail the use of tetraethyl lead. Originally published in hardcover in 2001. McGraw, 2002, 243 p., paperback, $14.95. |
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