Reviews for Applied Chemistry

The average rating for Applied Chemistry based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-11-03 00:00:00 Nicholas Peacock This book offers a social history of chemistry in Britain during the period of the chemical revolution. It focuses on Priestley and Davy, but Golinski is less interested in the details of their scientific work than in their attitudes towards the place of science in society and their methods gaining support for their work. Priestley's 'Enlightenment' attitude saw science as an enterprise that anyone could participate in. He advocated keeping ones apparatus simple and sharing information widely. Davy advocated a more centralized form of science that emphasized expertise and sophisticated techniques. If you find this grossly oversimplified version of Golinski's book of interest, I think you will enjoy his book. In the end he wants to argue for looking at the history of science in terms of scientific practices rather than [or in addition to] looking just at scientific ideas. I found it a challenging idea that he presents masterfully.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-04-16 00:00:00 Jeffrey Horwood I hated organic chem, but this book wasn't bad for the topic.