John Emsley

This book is about elements that kill Mercury arsenic antimony lead and thallium can be lethal as many a poisoner knew too well Emsley explores the gruesome history of these elements and those who have succumbed to them in a fascinating narrative that weaves together stories of true crime enduring historical mysteries tragic accidents and the science behind it all The colourful cast includes ancient alchemists kings leaders a pope several great musicians and a motley crew of murderers Among the intriguing accounts is that of the 17th century poet Sir Thomas Overbury who survived four attempts to poison him with mercury but died when given the poison in enema form under whose direction remains uncertain Here too is detailed the celebrated case of Florence Maybrick convicted of poisoning her violent husband James with arsenic but widely believed at the time to be innocent The question of her guilt is still disputed Threaded through the book alongside the history is the growing understanding of chemistry and the effects of different chemical substances on the human body Thousands suffered the ill effects of poisonous vapours from mercury lead and arsenic before the dangers were realized Hatters went mad because of mercury poisoning and hund

John Emsley's Nature's Building Bocks was published in paperback in 2003. In this readable, informative, and fascinating guide to the elements are entries on each of the 100-odd chemical elements, arranged alphabetically from actinium to zirconium. Each entry comprises an explanation of where the element's name comes from, followed by Body element (the role it plays in living things), Element of history (how and when it was discovered), Economic element (what it is used for), Environmental element (where it occurs, how much), Chemical element (facts, figures, and narrative), and Element of surprise (an amazing, little-known fact). Since publication of the first edition there have been a number of developments. Three new chemical elements have been named and validated: darmstadtium, roetgenium, and copernicium and the section on 'transfermium elements' has now been incorporated into the main part of the book. Economic uses of elements have grown, and some quite rare elements such as Scandium are now economically important, along with updates to elements such as gold due to new roles in industry. Fully revised and updated for 2010, this browsable compendium holds a wealth of useful information.

Este ensayo explica la naturaleza y el comportamiento de unos cuarenta ingredientes que desempeñan funciones importantes en cada aspecto de la vida moderna. John Emsley trata de demostrar en qué medida los productos modernos ayudan a mejorar nuestras vidas y responde a cuestiones de interes general relacionadas con el colesterol, el sexo, la alimentacion, el Prozac, el cancer, los cosmeticos...