Rating: 
Summary: Better Living Through Chemistry
Review: Did tin buttons that crumbled in the cold stop Napoleon's army? Or was it scurvy from lack of vitamin-C? Or lack of antibiotics for the wounded? Throughout history, there have been substances that have changed the world. The authors have chosen 17 types of molecules that have altered the course of nations, societies and cultures. Each chapter centers on one of the molecules, and it's very interesting that many of the molecules are interconnected.
The authors take us on a fascinating journey through history and chemistry - starting with piperine, the stuff that puts the 'hot' in peppers and ending with the molecules that have conquered malaria. Both natural and synthetic substances are studied. The impact of natural substances like salt, caffeine, and olive oil reaches far past daily life and into the fate of nations. The search for synthetic substitutes has led to diverse products such as nylon, artificial sweeteners, the Pill, and Styrofoam. The impacts of several live-saving substances like vitamin-C and antibiotics are explored. Some compounds, such as DDT and Freon, that were originally seen as near-miracles have proven to be rather disastrous to the environment. Napoleon's Buttons explores the consequences for better and for worse, sometimes all in the same substance.
The book starts with a very friendly overview of chemistry diagrams and terms. The authors provide a multitude of diagrams that show how various substances are similar and different. It's truly amazing how a tiny change in structure can completely alter the properties of a molecule. I think the diagrams are fascinating, but if you're not that interested in the actual chemistry, you can easily ignore them and concentrate on the stories that illustrate the effect of each substance. Le Couteur and Burreson entertain as well as educate with their well-chosen selection of anecdotes. Their writing is very understandable for the casual reader, but includes enough detail to satisfy someone with a stronger background in science.
I don't usually comment on the look of the text, but I thought it was just outstanding in this book. Both the text and the diagrams are exceptionally clean and easy to read. The information is very well organized - it's easy to read each chapter as a self contained unit, but there's enough of a framework tying it all together to make it a coherent whole.
Rating:
Summary: Great diagrams. Very informative and educational!
Review: I disagree with the reviewer that states there are too many diagrams in this book. Anyone with the slightest science background will be fascinated and enlightened by the diagrams and pictures which go a long towards explaining the authors' points.A good diagram is much more interesting and effective than 5+ pages of "prose". Yuck. The authors have it right and the reviewer is just wrong.
Rating:
Summary: excellent read
Review: I picked this up in a store and bought it on a whim... Halfway through I finally let myself take a break and put it down. Before I'd finished it I bought another copy for my grandfather (chemical engineer) and I know he'll love it. Very interesting and easy to follow, no matter what your level of knowledge (I had some chemsitry in college, nothing since). It ties chemistry in to the real world rather nicely, drawing connections I never knew about. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A delightful mixture of history and chemistry
Review: In seventeen chapters, the authors discuss the effects that certain substances - molecules - have had on history. In addition, the effects of these molecules on the human body and the environment, as appropriate, are also very clearly presented. The chemical reactions that are indicated are clearly explained, as are the many diagrams of molecular structure. The authors, two chemists, write clearly and at the general reader level. The information that they present is truly fascinating - there is much to learn here in a most enjoyable way! If this book were required reading in all education programs, the nation's population would benefit immensely - people would not only gain a better understanding of how the world works but also how certain aspects of history have evolved. This book is definitely a credit to popular science writing. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History
Review: Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules changed History written by Penny LeCouteur and Jay Burreson is a wonderful little tome of seventeen chapters that shows the reader how 17 molecules changed history. "Napoleon's Buttons" takes the reader on a world-wind tour de force about what Columbus could not have foreseen from the results of his search for piperine, Magellan was unaware of the long-term effects of his quest for isoeugenol, and Schonbein would have been astonished that the nitrocellulose he made from his wife's apron was the start of of great industries as diverse as explosives and textiles. Numerous chemical discoveries were, by far, some of the best serendipity and luck has often been cited as crucial to many important findings, but the ability of the discoverers to realize that something unusual has happened... and to question why it occured and how it could be useful... is of greater importance. Perkin could not have anticipated that his experiment would eventually lead to not only to a hugh synthetic dye industry, but also to the development of antibiotics and pharmaceuticals. "Napoleon's Buttons" takes a look at Marker, Nobel, Chardonnet, Carothers, Lister, Baekeland, Goodyear, Hoffmann, Leblanc, the Solvay brothers, Harrison, Midgley, and others who have stories about their discoveries in the chemical industry making for some very interesting anecdotal stories. "Napoleon's Buttons" has 17 chapters, making for some interesting reading, especially if you have a science background, you'll find this book enlightening, if for nothing else but the history of chemistry or better yet the chemistry in world history. This is an easy book to read and it has plenty of basic chemical structures that the authors use to explaine their points. Kind of like Organic Chemistry 101 but much simpler and well illustrated. "Napoleon's Buttons" shows us how unsuspected molecules have changed our world, for better or worse and how this affect hisory as we know it. "Napoleon's Buttons" is a delightful read and is wonderfully readable book interwoven with events of history and how they have changed the course of human history to tranform society. This is a book that makes learning basic chemistry fascinating. I gave this book a solid five stars for the reasons stated above and you'll enjoy reading about the way human society both paid the price and reeped the benefits. You'll find this book easy to rad and the authors do explain things enough so evan the layperson can follow along and get the jest of the story. I would recommend reading this book if you are taking any chemistry course.
Rating: 
Summary: For want of a double bond
Review: Someone once said, "Biology names things. Chemistry tells you how they work." In Napoleon's Button's, LeCouteur and Burreson take that premise to a much higher level. They not only tell you how the molecules work, they explain the impact these molecules have had on human history, economics, and geopolitics. They consider what might have happened if the molecules in question had been discovered, understood, or used by someone else. For example, the effects of ascorbic acid deficiency, and its treatment, were known in China as early as the fifth century. Norse explorers drank a brew made of "scurvy grass" during their voyages across the North Atlantic. However, scurvy killed more European sailors between 1470 and 1770 than all other causes, despite reports on prevention and cure as early as the mid-1500's. Magellan lost over 90% of his crew during the circumnavigation of the globe in 1519-1522. Only 18 sailors returned to Spain with the spices that had prompted the journey. Magellan himself was killed in the Philippines during a stop necessitated by the weakened condition of his remaining crew. The authors ask the reader to imagine the present geopolitics if the Age of Discovery had included adequate stores of lemon juice. "If the Portuguese, the first European explorers to travel these long distances had understood the secret of ascorbic acid, they might have explored the Pacific Ocean centuries before James Cook." The Dutch, also, might have held claims to large portions of the South Pacific. They conclude, "The British . . . would have been left with a much smaller empire and much less influence in the world, even to this day." Even 20th century adventurers have fallen to the effects of ascorbic acid deficiency. The Amundsen/Scott race to the South Pole was decided by the Brits' lack of vitamin C. "Only eleven miles from a food and fuel depot they found themselves too exhausted to continue." Sixteen other molecules, or classes of molecules, including cellulose, morphine, isoprene, and salt, are given similar turns under the magnifying glass. The authors walk the line between chemistry and anecdote. For the former chem. majors there are formulae and descriptions--cis and trans, alpha and beta. For history buffs, the human stories stand without in-depth study of the chemical structures. The prose is lively and often amusing. The chapters are divided in such a way the book can be put down and picked up easily, if the reader can resist the temptation of "just one more molecule." Now I'm trying to decide if I should first hand off my copy to my dad or my high school-age daughter. Or--maybe my daughter's teacher . . . . As much as we humans might like to think our intellect raises us above the natural world, this book reminds us, we are our biology--and our chemistry.
Rating:
Summary: For want of a double bond
Review: Someone once said, "Biology names things. Chemistry tells you how they work." In Napoleon's Button's, LeCouteur and Burreson take that premise to a much higher level. They not only tell you how the molecules work, they explain the impact these molecules have had on human history, economics, and geopolitics. They consider what might have happened if the molecules in question had been discovered, understood, or used by someone else. For example, the effects of ascorbic acid deficiency, and its treatment, were known in China as early as the fifth century. Norse explorers drank a brew made of "scurvy grass" during their voyages across the North Atlantic. However, scurvy killed more European sailors between 1470 and 1770 than all other causes, despite reports on prevention and cure as early as the mid-1500's. Magellan lost over 90% of his crew during the circumnavigation of the globe in 1519-1522. Only 18 sailors returned to Spain with the spices that had prompted the journey. Magellan himself was killed in the Philippines during a stop necessitated by the weakened condition of his remaining crew. The authors ask the reader to imagine the present geopolitics if the Age of Discovery had included adequate stores of lemon juice. "If the Portuguese, the first European explorers to travel these long distances had understood the secret of ascorbic acid, they might have explored the Pacific Ocean centuries before James Cook." The Dutch, also, might have held claims to large portions of the South Pacific. They conclude, "The British . . . would have been left with a much smaller empire and much less influence in the world, even to this day." Even 20th century adventurers have fallen to the effects of ascorbic acid deficiency. The Amundsen/Scott race to the South Pole was decided by the Brits' lack of vitamin C. "Only eleven miles from a food and fuel depot they found themselves too exhausted to continue." Sixteen other molecules, or classes of molecules, including cellulose, morphine, isoprene, and salt, are given similar turns under the magnifying glass. The authors walk the line between chemistry and anecdote. For the former chem. majors there are formulae and descriptions--cis and trans, alpha and beta. For history buffs, the human stories stand without in-depth study of the chemical structures. The prose is lively and often amusing. The chapters are divided in such a way the book can be put down and picked up easily, if the reader can resist the temptation of "just one more molecule." Now I'm trying to decide if I should first hand off my copy to my dad or my high school-age daughter. Or--maybe my daughter's teacher . . . . As much as we humans might like to think our intellect raises us above the natural world, this book reminds us, we are our biology--and our chemistry.
Rating:
Summary: A delightful mixture of history and chemistry
Review: The success of Napoleon's buttons is that it has made chemistry and history enjoyable at the same time. As a chemist I found that many of the stories of chemical invention familiar as was some other necessary introductory chemcial lessons. The narration is often quite engaging but at other times the book is somewhat text-like and obviously researched. Overall, these are minor short-comings and the book serves well as both a good read and a review many important developments in history and in chemistry.
Rating:
Summary: Well written and engaging book on chemical history.
Review: The success of Napoleon's buttons is that it has made chemistry and history enjoyable at the same time. As a chemist I found that many of the stories of chemical invention familiar as was some other necessary introductory chemcial lessons. The narration is often quite engaging but at other times the book is somewhat text-like and obviously researched. Overall, these are minor short-comings and the book serves well as both a good read and a review many important developments in history and in chemistry.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Many Diagrams Not Enough Prose
Review: The title grabbed my interest, and at the outset I found some of the early prose and the premise interesting. Unfortunately, the reader gets inundated with diagrams of chemistry compounds, to the extent they dominate the book. Futhermore, much of the explanation is devoted to explaining the molecules but not the history. Too many diagrams, not enough prose.
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