Chain Reaction: How Chemistry Shapes Us and Our World

Uchegbu (Fundamentals of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience), chemist and president of Wolfson College, Cambridge, reveals how chemistry underpins everyday life in this oversimplified account. “Without chemistry everything would simply not be,” she writes, explaining there are 118 known elements (including aluminum, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen) and everything on Earth—from a fried egg to air—is the result of bonds forging and breaking between them. She describes the chemistry behind the making of everyday substances, like mayonnaise (weak bonds between oil, water, and egg yolk allow for a smooth yellow mixture) and hair-straightening chemicals (sodium hydroxide breaks the curl-inducing bonds along the hair shaft to loosen the curl). The chemistry of clothing is also elucidated, including efforts to find more environmentally friendly ways to dye jeans blue. She underscores the prevalence of chemistry through personal anecdotes, explaining, for example, how medication soothed her blistering skin during a sun allergy flare-up by blocking a substance called histamine in the body. Elsewhere, she uses the death of her father as a jumping-off point to demonstrate how chemicals can be used to delay decomposition. While her stories are intriguing, the science is relayed with an abundance of analogies and lacks specifics. This is best suited for those new to the subject. (May)