TY - BOOK ID - 78641872 TI - Curious tales from chemistry : the last alchemist in Paris, and other episodes PY - 2020 SN - 0191916889 0198743920 019163705X 9780191637056 129996673X 9781299966734 9780191637063 0191637068 9780199661091 019966109X PB - Oxford : Oxford University Press, DB - UniCat KW - Chemistry KW - Discoveries in science KW - Chemical elements KW - Elements, Chemical KW - History. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:78641872 AB - This is a book about discovery and disaster, exploitation and invention, warfare and science - and the relationship between human beings and the chemical elements that make up our planet. Lars OÌhrstroÌm introduces us to a variety of elements from S to Pb through tales of ordinary and extraordinary people from around the globe. We meet African dictators controlling vital supplies of uranium; 18th-century explorers searching out sources of precious metals; industrial spies stealing the secrets of steel-making. We find out why the Hindenburg airship was tragically filled with hydrogen, not helium; why nail-varnish remover played a key part in World War I; and the real story behind the legend of tin buttons and the downfall of Napoleon. ER -