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Book Reviews 72 Bull. Hist. Chem., VOLUME 27, Number 1 (2002) BOOK REVIEWS Scaling Up: The Institution of Chemical Engineers and James F. Donnelly has contributed an excellent the Rise of a New Profession. Colin Divall and Sean F. chapter on the early history of chemical engineering Johnston, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The before the First World War. The authors show how the Netherlands, 2000, 347 pp., £83 (£50 to IChemE mem- development of university courses in chemical engineer- bers). ing (often taught by chemists) influenced the growth of the profession. They also show the effect of the two Chemical engineering, as a profession, has tradi- world wars on the development of the profession and tionally found itself at the intersection of chemistry and its acceptance by both government and industry. They engineering (especially mechanical engineering in its discuss the influence of these two entities on the forma- early history). Balancing itself between these two has tion and expansion of IChemE. The authors cover the not always been an easy task. As a result, the role of rapid growth of the chemical and petrochemical indus- the chemical engineer has not always been clearly un- tries following the Second World War and how this derstood. Indeed. George E. Davis, considered by many helped to promote both the profession and IChemE. as one of the “founding fathers” of chemical engineer- They show the relationship between the institution and ing, stated in the very beginning of his seminal work, A other chemical and engineering organizations and how Handbook of Chemical Engineering (1901), “The func- these relationships impacted, both positively and nega- tions of the Chemical Engineer are very generally mis- tively, its development. understood.” Excerpts from this work are included in the authors’ book. Scaling Up is an excellent history of the chemical engineering profession in Britain and the development This misunderstanding, along with a strong resis- and growth of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. It tance of industrial chemists to relinquish any of their is well laid out and the text is generally easy to read. “turf” to this new profession, created significant chal- The authors use a number of acronyms, many of which lenges to the development of chemical engineering. The are not readily recognizable to someone from the U.S., authors have effectively covered the problems of this but they define each at first use and include a list for burgeoning profession as it struggled for acceptance in ready reference. Unfortunately, there are very few il- Britain. They have done an excellent job of meshing lustrations and no photographs. the history of the profession with the history of its pro- fessional society in Britain, the Institution of Chemical Overall, it is a highly recommended book for any- Engineers (IChemE). Both aspects are covered in suf- one interested in the history of chemical engineering. ficient detail to provide a complete story but not in such The price is a little high, but worth it for those who re- excess detail as to make it burdensome for the reader. ally want to learn how it all began. Stanley I. Proctor, Proctor Consulting Services, Chesterfield, MO 63017. Bull. Hist. Chem., VOLUME 27, Number 1 (2002) 73 Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color that Changed In the Easter vacation of 1856 the teenaged William the World. Simon Garfield, W. W. Norton & Com- Perkin, inspired by a suggestion put out by his boss, pany, New York, 2001. 222 pp, Cloth (Typeset), $ 23.95. August Wilhelm Hofmann, head of the Royal College of Chemistry in London, attempted to synthesize the The days when accounts of the romance and his- important natural drug quinine from allytoluidine. tory of chemical industry attracted a large readership Perkin’s experiment failed, but his efforts were not in among the public are long gone. It has become increas- vain. On repeating the reaction with aniline, he obtained ingly difficult to find any powerful nostalgic pull. En- a solution that dyed silk a beautiful purple. Believing thusiasm has been replaced by cynicism, chemistry is that he had stumbled across a useful commercial colorant no longer the leading science, and industrial organic (and why not, since some of the most successful were chemistry has often reinvented itself as the life-sciences made from all manner of waste, including bird excre- industry. Those publications on the development of ment), Perkin decided to file a patent for the process. chemical industry that do appear nowadays tend to be Though he had little idea of what the market was worth, self-serving corporate promotional exercises, or short- he gained the confidence of his father and brother run, low-readership, over-priced academic tomes (gen- George, who together erected a small factory in a re- erally prepared from camera-ready copy). In the mean- mote part of northwest London called Greenford Green. time, many of the great chemical firms that dominated By the end of 1858 they were in the business of manu- the 20th-century scene and developed the products on facturing from coal-tar benzene what was originally which modern society relies have lost their identities, called Tyrian purple, but that in 1859 acquired the name generally through takeovers, mergers, bankruptcy, and mauve from the fashionable ladies of London. It was dismemberment, particularly the process known as “spin the beginning of synthetic dyestuffs and, by extension, off.” the modern organic chemical industry. While we cannot expect much in the way of lam- This odyssey is divided into two main sections, In- entation for lost corporate names, it is a sad state of af- vention and Exploitation. The first deals with the dis- fairs when, at a time of great technological and business covery and manufacture of mauve and the second with change, the achievements and contributions of chemi- where it led. The account of Perkin’s early work is ac- cal industry as part of the “old economy” are hardly cessible in both style and content, providing a fresh in- known outside of industry and a handful of historians. terpretation for the historian, and an ideal conceptual But, perhaps, all is not lost. A new genre of industrial framework for the lay reader through joining the mo- histories may well be on the way—well-researched, ment of discovery with celebratory events in 1906 and balanced, readable, and exciting. The authors are award- 1956. Mauve fired the hearts and imaginations of gen- winning journalists and science writers. And, in their erations of chemists. Perkin, however, retired from the fascination with history and quest for accuracy, they rely business in 1873 after making a second fortune with on original sources, interviews, and—most heartening— synthetic alizarin. He realized then that the Germans the academic scholarships of both historians and practi- had cornered the science, the technology, and the mar- tioners of chemistry. kets. Mauve is one of the first of the new breed. Its au- Garfield’s biographical details are based on his own thor, Simon Garfield, is recipient of the prestigious thorough research, as well as the many accounts that Somerset Maugham Prize. His beautifully produced have appeared in the United Kingdom and the United small-format volume charmingly informs the layperson States. The gallery of greats that get into the story in- that there is a direct lineage from William Perkin’s much- clude individuals such as Caro, Duisberg, von Baeyer, heralded discovery of the first aniline dye to such cor- Graebe, and Liebermann, and all major firms that have porations as BASF, Bayer, Hoechst, ICI, Du Pont, Ciba, dabbled in synthetic dyestuffs. Garfield leads us through and Geigy. While this is the theme, and there is plenty the myriad connections between the 19th-century coal- of detail of the early years, there are frequent and dis- tar colors and the 20th century successors, particularly, arming changes of focus, though always linked, one way salvarsan, prontosil, the sulfonamides, and Bakelite. He or another, by the color mauve or the range of human goes on to the present, when phthalocyanine colorants, activities that it helped to spawn. a British invention of the 1930s, are employed in cancer Garfield’s main story is perhaps too well-known to therapy, natural dyes are being reinvestigated as inks readers of this journal to justify more than a reminder. for computer printers, and, of course, the fashion world 74 Bull. Hist. Chem., VOLUME 27, Number 1 (2002) continues to expect its colors on demand. He does not The nature of journalism is often to make things forget environmental problems and difficulties with toxic more important than they are, or might really be. While byproducts encountered and produced by the industry, there may be good reason to criticize or condemn this starting with the 1860 fuchsin process that employed approach, it is certainly an effective tool, as used here, arsenic acid as an oxidant. in drawing the public’s attention to what we are trying to tell each other in our muted tones. That is one of The great achievement of this book is that Garfield several reasons why this book should also be read by has taken a story that has been endlessly rewritten for serious historians. Anthony S. Travis, Sidney M. different audiences and at different times, and refash- Edelstein Center for the History of Science, Technol- ioned it into a form that will appeal strongly to modern- ogy, and Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusa- day readers—not just students and teachers of science, lem, Jerusalem ISRAEL 91904. but anyone interested in the origins of our modern world. Linus Pauling: Scientist and Peacemaker. Clifford Mead it contains snippets of writing both by and about Pauling.
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