Accidents happen, cynics might say, but safety experts insist that accidents don’t happen by themselves. More likely, they are caused by somebody who could have acted differently and thus averted the accident. Even if they are the result of an unlikely coincidence of several inconspicuous contributing factors, there are likely to be several switches that could have been flicked the other way and stopped disaster from happening. Read the book review of the Ethics of Chemistry by Michael Gross.
The myth of the vampire is centuries old. This creature was variously described as a blood-sucking fairy, snake-like with the head and torso of a woman or more often as a shape-changing humanoid creature. Most important and terrifying was its predilection for human blood and the fact that it was un-dead. Read John Mann's book review of Vampirology.
Wiley’s new Handbook of Pyrrolidone and Caprolactam Based Materials –available as a six-volume print set and online edition – details the broad human benefits of the materials, many of which are from the chemist’s viewpoint.
Here the author, orthopaedic surgeon Roy Meals, offers a very readable overview of the various roles played by bones both currently and in the past.
This book, aimed at the non-specialist, aims to explain ‘the real science behind the cosmetics we use’, and in the scene-setting introductory chapter it explains the meaning of organic and inorganic in a scientific sense.
In our quest for sustainability, we’ve forgotten phosphorus. This is what worries two specialists in the complementary fields of soil and water. Writing in an engaging style, transatlantic authors Jim Elser and Phil Haygarth remind us that this ‘Cinderella’ element, essential to life in so many ways – ‘phosphates hold our genes up’, they write – comes from finite resources, which are being squandered.
The ideas discussed are essentially a distillation of various publications by the authors and their co-workers over the past 12 years in which they have sought to elevate biology to par status with the physical sciences. Read the book review in C&I Magazine Issue 10 2021.
James Kennedy represents a brave attempt to make sense of a largely futile debate about good and bad chemicals. It would probably be better if we chemists made more efforts to explain the importance of chemistry and chemicals in the world around us rather than describe them as good or bad. After all there is much to be proud about!
As the world is still fighting a pandemic as well as a wave of disinformation about scientific issues such as vaccines, the importance of science ethics does not need introduction or explanation. Read the book review of Good Chemistry.
Helm reiterates that it is now time to get serious about combating climate change. The actions that need to be taken at the personal, local, national, and global levels to avoid the looming climate crisis are spelled out in detail. Read the book review.