Giant molecules: From nylon to nanotubes

Abstract

Walter Gratzer, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, 2009, 254 pp., ISBN 978-0-19-955002-9 (Hard Cover), $24.95 Laura Lowe Furge*, * 1200 Academy Street, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49080. Did you know that the word “ion” came from the Greek word for “a wanderer”? Or that the expression “racemic mixture” was derived from Louis Pasteur's seminal experiments with racemic acid—a by-product of the fermentation process with Latin root in racemus, a grape? Or that the first permanent hair waves were produced using bovine urine or NaOH and heat? Walter Gratzer's new book is full of such interesting historical insights into the fields of organic and polymer chemistry. True to the author's claim in the foreword, “Giant Molecules: From Nylon to Nanotubes” is written for a lay audience. However, the brief descriptions of personalities, seminal experiments and debates in the field of polymer chemistry over roughly the past two centuries would make this book a great source of added insights for those teaching organic chemistry or biochemistry. Though the subtitle leads the reader to believe the book is going to focus on synthetic polymers, this is misleading as over half of the book is dedicated to protein, carbohydrate, and nucleic acid polymers. Indeed, the chapter on proteins gives overviews of protein secondary structure (from the story of Linus Pauling cutting out paper models and rolling them together) to structural motifs to discussion of prions and everything in between with helpful figures and diagrams (there are over 40 figures in the text). The same is true in the chapters on carbohydrates and nucleic acids. Pages are narrow, so though it is 254 pages in length, the pages read quickly and flow well. Mixed in with presentation of the naturally occurring polymers are chapters on synthetic polymers—plastics, coatings, superconductors, to microarrays and nanotubes. Throughout these sections again the author includes the personal stories or often forgotten histories of the nomenclature in polymer chemistry. For instance, there is a brief introduction to the creator of nylon, Wallace Carothers, who was both genius and depressive and ultimately took his own life with cyanide poisoning. Or the folklore of the plastics industry beginning when a laboratory cat knocked formaldehyde into its milk bowl. Each year the Chemistry Department at my institution gives a prize to the top few first year chemistry students. A book such as “Giant Molecules” would make an excellent choice for such a prize—or for any student about to begin the study of carbon chemistry or for one that simply enjoys the history of great scientific discoveries.