The New Chemistry edited by Nina Hall, Cambridge, 拢30, ISBN
0521452244
CHEMISTRY has a forlorn reputation, almost beating economics for the title of
鈥渢he dismal science鈥�. Despite great efforts by chemists in industry and
engineering, pollution and environmental damage still dog the popular
imagination as the original sin of the chemicals sector. But there are glimmers
of hope. Ten years ago, if you鈥檇 asked schoolchildren if chemicals were good or
bad, the answer would have been 鈥渂ad鈥�, probably almost unanimously. Nowadays,
I鈥檇 expect children鈥檚 answers to be much more subtle. But have adults鈥� views
changed? When it comes to chemistry, most could do with a guide.
Ask a bunch of otherwise well-informed non-chemists what exactly they think
is going on in the field. The answer will probably be 鈥渘ot much鈥�. The New
Chemistry is the book to set them right. Chemistry is indeed a very mature
subject, but there鈥檚 plenty of new work, and whatever the science you studied
you鈥檒l appreciate this excellent report. For chemists, it should feature
prominently on the coffee table, in office or home. It helps that editor Nina
Hall has assembled a glittering array of authors to flesh out the current
excitements. There is, in fact, so much happening that the contents are too
diverse to list in full.
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The New Chemistry kicks off with the late Glenn Seaborg, and Walter
Loveland of Oregon State University, on the twenty or so transuranic elements.
This is as new as new chemistry can get: entirely novel elements to play with,
and frontiers of atomic theory to explore, described by prominent pioneers.
Chemistry has been quietly transformed by computer power, too. We can model
and visualise molecules and processes鈥攁nd, as John Murrell of the
University of Sussex describes, deal rigorously with chemical bonding as part of
atomic theory. Of course, most general readers would need a lot of further
reading to grasp this deeply mathematical area. But it鈥檚 worth the trouble.
Beyond modelling, chemists can now see what鈥檚 really going on with their
molecules in ways that would have astounded their colleagues only a couple of
decades ago. Science writer Jim Baggot describes progress in high-resolution
photochemistry. He concentrates on the work of Ahmed Zewail of Caltech in
understanding bond breaking and making in real time. (I suspect this may have
been written before Zewail鈥檚 1999 Nobel Prize.)
We have new and refined ways of making chemical reactions happen, too. Kyoto
University鈥檚 Takahiro Shono describes synthesis driven by electrical potentials.
David Baghurst and Michael Mingos, both lately of Imperial College, London
ponder the use of microwaves, and Paul Lickiss鈥攁lso of
Imperial鈥攖ackles sonochemistry, reactions driven by sound energy.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg. You can read about medicines from
nature, and explore what pharmaceuticals are. Or you could head for the
mountainous heights: armed with a mathematical mind, you can tackle the oddities
of chemistry far from equilibrium presented by Ilya Prigogine of the Solvay
Institutes in Brussels and colleagues. And at the end, you鈥檒l find the
beginning: chemist-historian Colin Russell鈥檚 thoughtful appraisal of the public
image of chemistry.
And overall? The book is beautifully produced. I was irritated that some
material was clearly written a few years ago, and by the uneven amount of space
given to equally important topics. It鈥檚 good value for money. You get several
Nobel winners for your 拢30. Recommended as good background material for
chemists and the scientifically literate with chemical interests.