Caveman Chemistry

[Hesper]

Following on the trails provided by the book "The Knowledge" (found on this thread here) I've been meaning to dig into one of the books referenced by that author; Caveman Chemistry. I'm finally digging into it and I've got to say it's a really fun read. The author takes artistic license with his book so that it often comes across as borderline mystical/alchemical, but he uses basic chemistry concepts to help the reader understand the infrastructure of civilization from "Caveman to Chemist". This means fire making, tool making, the structure of crsytals, making soap, brewing mead, and much more. There are tons of projects included in the book too, and the walkthroughs are fairly straight-forward.

From the blurb on Amazon.com:

Half a million years ago our ancestors learned to make fire from scratch. They crafted intricate tools from stone and brewed mind-altering elixirs from honey. Their descendants transformed clay into pottery, wool into clothing, and ashes into cleansers. In ceramic crucibles they won metal from rock, the metals lead to colored glazes and glass. Buildings of brick and mortar enshrined books of parchment and paper. Kings and queens demanded ever more colorful clothing and accessories in order to out-class clod-hoppers and call-girls. Kingdoms rose and fell by the power of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal. And the demands of everyday folk for glass and paper and soap stimulated the first round of chemical industrialization. From sulfuric acid to sodium carbonate. From aniline dyes to analgesic drugs. From blasting powder to fertilizers and plastics. In a phrase, From Caveman to Chemist. Your guides on this journey are the four alchemical elements; Fire, Earth, Air and Water. These archetypical characters deliver first-hand accounts of the births of their respective technologies. The spirit of Fire, for example, was born in the first creature to cultivate the flame. This spirit passed from one person to another, from one generation to another, from one millennium to another, arriving at last in the pages of this book. The spirit of Earth taught folks to make tools of stone, the spirit of Air imparted knowledge of units and the spirit of Water began with the invention of spirits. Having traveled the world from age to age, who can say where they will find their next home? Perhaps they will find one in you.

Like I said, he definitely gets "inspirational", but the book is filled with very useful information and easy to follow projects. He is also the author of "Scientific Soapmaking: The Chemistry of the Cold Process" :

Until now, there were just two kinds of books on soapmaking. Books for the commodity soap industry emphasized the economical production of soap by the ton and were written for those with a background in chemistry and chemical engineering. Books for the emerging craft industry emphasized the production of high-quality soap by the pound and were aimed at those familiar with the format of cookbooks. Makers of handcrafted soap often wish they had paid more attention in chemistry class so that the information of the commodity soap books would be accessible to them. Scientific Soapmaking answers that call by bridging the gap between the technical and craft literatures. It explains the chemistry of fats, oils, and soaps, and it teaches sophisticated analytical techniques that can be carried out using equipment and materials familiar to makers of handcrafted soap. Presented in a college textbook format, Scientific Soapmaking guides students and individual soapmakers alike to formulate questions about soap and design experiments to answer those questions scientifically.

 

[MusicMan]

hmmm, I wonder if it includes the use of (human) urine in the leather tanning industry?
You have to wonder how some of these processes are discovered.
It sounds like an interesting read, for a geek like me.