[Tormod]

I read a book last year which I think was pretty marvelous. It is titled "Mendeleyev's Dream: The quest for the Elements" and is written by Paul Strathern. It's a very good book about the history of how the different elements were isolated and how the table of elements came about thanks to a marvellous brainwave by Mendeleyev after much, much work.

It is of course also a book crammed full of alchemy, strange medicines, magic, and whatnot - in other words, an excellent popular science book. Highly recommended!

Here is a link to the book at our science bookstore.

[Jay-qu]

never heard of it - but I will look for it next time I'm at the bookshop

[Michaelangelica]

Sound great! Thankyou.
Love the history of ideas
Maybe you should post this in "What are you reading" as well?

[Boerseun]

Sheesh, T - took almost two years for the first replies to come in!

This thread is a survivor!

[Tormod]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

Maybe you should post this in "What are you reading" as well?

This was posted before that section even existed...

But this book is still one of the better books I've read on the history of chemistry (and science).

It's here:
Hypography's bookstore

[Racoon]

Originally Posted by Boerseun

Sheesh, T - took almost two years for the first replies to come in!

This thread is a survivor!

And 1,500 views!

I'll check it out as soon as I can. Brush up on my chemistry. I need to borrow someone's credit card though!

I Read the review, and if Tormod glossed it, then it should be good.

[Jay-qu]

I was guessing it had gone unnoticed to the more recent members (it had eluded me) so I gave it a bump Its amazing it got so many views but no replies

[HydrogenBond]

Speaking of chemical dreams, wasn't the discovery of the strusture of benzene and aromatic carbon rings due to a dream. If I remember Kekule was trying to figure out this structure when he had a dream, I think it was a snake biting its tail. When he awoke the structure of benezene and the basis for aromatic chemistry was born.

[Tormod]

Yes. It's a great story, and probably true as well.

[Mercedes Benzene]

I once read a passage from this book online. It looked absolutely amazing! I hope to find a copy of it sometime soon.

By the way, benzene is one of the greatest organo-chemical substances