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Review: Someone once said, "Biology names things. Chemistry tells you how they work." In Napoleon's Button's, LeCouteur and Burreson take that premise to a much higher level. They not only tell you how the molecules work, they explain the impact these molecules have had on human history, economics, and geopolitics. They consider what might have happened if the molecules in question had been discovered, understood, or used by someone else. For example, the effects of ascorbic acid deficiency, and its treatment, were known in China as early as the fifth century. Norse explorers drank a brew made of "scurvy grass" during their voyages across the North Atlantic. However, scurvy killed more European sailors between 1470 and 1770 than all other causes, despite reports on prevention and cure as early as the mid-1500's. Magellan lost over 90% of his crew during the circumnavigation of the globe in 1519-1522. Only 18 sailors returned to Spain with the spices that had prompted the journey. Magellan himself was killed in the Philippines during a stop necessitated by the weakened condition of his remaining crew. The authors ask the reader to imagine the present geopolitics if the Age of Discovery had included adequate stores of lemon juice. "If the Portuguese, the first European explorers to travel these long distances had understood the secret of ascorbic acid, they might have explored the Pacific Ocean centuries before James Cook." The Dutch, also, might have held claims to large portions of the South Pacific. They conclude, "The British . . . would have been left with a much smaller empire and much less influence in the world, even to this day." Even 20th century adventurers have fallen to the effects of ascorbic acid deficiency. The Amundsen/Scott race to the South Pole was decided by the Brits' lack of vitamin C. "Only eleven miles from a food and fuel depot they found themselves too exhausted to continue." Sixteen other molecules, or classes of molecules, including cellulose, morphine, isoprene, and salt, are given similar turns under the magnifying glass. The authors walk the line between chemistry and anecdote. For the former chem. majors there are formulae and descriptions--cis and trans, alpha and beta. For history buffs, the human stories stand without in-depth study of the chemical structures. The prose is lively and often amusing. The chapters are divided in such a way the book can be put down and picked up easily, if the reader can resist the temptation of "just one more molecule." Now I'm trying to decide if I should first hand off my copy to my dad or my high school-age daughter. Or--maybe my daughter's teacher . . . . As much as we humans might like to think our intellect raises us above the natural world, this book reminds us, we are our biology--and our chemistry.
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