Chasing molecules ... and Vitamin C

During the course of this week I have finished both Chasing Molecules and an RSC monograph - Vitamin C - its Chemistry and Biochemistry (Davies, Austin and Partridge).

Whilst Chasing Molecules has prompted me to think more carefully about the leaching of pollutants from plastics, I found the book somewhat frustrating; as a scientist I didn't feel I was being presented with real evidence - just a sort of trust-me-I've-read-the-reports. However, the book is clearly written for the educated layman rather than a trained scientist this is probably an unfair criticism, and it is extensively referenced so I could look these studies up if I had time and appropriate library access. Overall, I thought that it was well-written and well-informed, if perhaps a little paranoid.

The book on vitamin C was a delight and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone wishing to know more about ascorbic acid. Undergraduate-level chemistry is probably needed to make the most of the text, particularly the latter sections on redox chemistry and complex formation, but the early chapters covering the discovery, isolation and structure determination of ascorbic acid, as well as scurvy as a medical condition, would be accessible to the general reader.

Reading update

The trouble with term-time is that I'm often so tired that reading is quite difficult to sustain. Not reading, like not listening to music, tends to make me unhappy. The last five weeks have been quite hectic, yet I have managed to make a little progress with a few books.

Thomas Hardy: A Laodicean was a gripping read, rather different from other Thomas Hardy novels that I've encountered. The notes in my copy suggest that the central character (George Somerset) was, in part, modelled on Hardy's own life. Unusually, this novel has a happy ending, although it is tempered with some sadness. I think it is perhaps the Hardy novel that Austen fans would most enjoy.

F. W. Taylor's Planetary Atmospheres started well, but I've found myself rather bogged down in the mathematics of the Physics. I'm persevering, though, because between the equations there is a great deal of interesting descriptive material. I do feel I've developed a better understanding of atmospheric temperature gradients and the section I've now come to is much more chemical than physical.

Elizabeth Grossman: Chasing Molecules was something that I picked up in Foyles in early January. It describes the dangerous chemicals used in modern materials as well as giving a view of the promise of Green Chemistry. The chemical industry comes in for some pretty hard criticism and she seems to assume that if a study is industry-funded it must  be biased. However, it has made me think a little more about the materials with which I'm in contact and reminded me that chemical exposure is not only found in laboratories. I will write more about this book when I've finished it (I'm currently about half-way through).