[books] Caveman Chemistry

[chadu]

When I come across a book that I think would appeal to four of my friends, all of whom have different interests and insights, I think it's worth posting about.

(cjpetherick, ericrowe, princeofcairo, and whswhs, I'm looking at you.)

The book I'm talking about is Caveman Chemistry: 28 Projects, from the Creation of Fire to the Production of Plastics, by Kevin M. Dunn

Comments

[reverancepavane]

My book of choice for being hurled into the distant past has always been the Rubber Bible, otherwise and less colloquially known as the latest edition of the CRC Handbook of Physics and Chemistry.
[Although, in truth, a good guide to the flora of the time would probably be of more use for me, since that is a seriously big hole in my survival expertise. Or even better, take one of my herbalist friends with me. The ones who know how to analyse the possible utility and danger of all that green stuff, both medically, as food, and as shelter.]
But I'd happily exchange it all for a good metal knife. Until you've been forced to improvise you don't understand how vital a survival tool this is (my favourite tale is of an Amazon tribesman being given an iron machete and happily going on a rampage destroying jungle with it because he finally can).
[Then again, while I haven't mastered any of the skill sets mentioned, I've worked with people who have, and who have taught me the rudiments and some useful tricks.]
The good thing about these sorts of books is that they introduce physics and chemistry in ways that can be experienced easily by people rather than just as abstract knowledge. One of my favourite all-time physics papers (in a serious refereed journal no less), was on how to cook a Black Forest cake. Any paper which concludes with "and all that remains is to eat the experiment" is my sort of science experiment.

[reverancepavane]

Oh, and you might enjoy the BBC show Rough Science (particularly the first series; later series get less "rough" and more technologically sophisticated).
And now you've gotten me curious as to the best way of building a dung heap...