FROM ALCHEMY TO ATOMIC BOMBS. History of Chemistry, Metallurgy, and Civilization

Fathi Habashi, Laval University, Quebec City, Canada

Abstract

The book tells the story of the beginnings of chemistry and the extraction of metals from their ores, how these disciplines were reformed, developed, and became basic and applied sciences. In association with physicists, engineers, and technicians, chemists and metallurgists built the most terrible weapons of mass destruction. The book is in 365 pages with 220 illustrations, 30 of them in color. Table of Contents: 1. Mythology 2. The Four Elements 3. Alchemy 4. The Alchemists 5. Reform in Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Metallurgy 6. Discovery of Electricity 7. Classification of the Elements 8. The Modern Physics: Discovery of X-Rays 9. Radioactivity: Chemistry and Physics United 10. Uranium Fission 11. Atomic Bombs