Dated, but good.

This is a series of lectures demonstrating the chemical processes that are involved in burning a candle (and combustion in general). There are digressions into atmospheric composition, metallurgy, and metabolism. ( )

ed. by William Crookes

You know when you get that burning idea that says, "Oh, Lordy, I wish I had been there for those science lectures?"

Well, HERE YOU GO.

Honestly, though, this is 1861 with the actual Michael Faraday of the Faraday cages for dispersing EM currents, although he doesn't go into any of that here. These classroom lectures DO come with some really great chemical breakdowns of everything surrounding a candle all the way to some really cool metallurgy experiments, from combustion to purification, all the way to platinum.

I was particularly impressed with the means and methods he shows us how to determine the weight of elements and how to determine so much more. It's all perfectly understandable building blocks but putting them all together in this way is damn creative and fascinating. I mean, It's SCIENCE, Baby!

Never mind the oldschool measurement systems, it's still clear and everything is fairly easily convertible. I keep thinking that this would be a fantastic book to have with us if we should ever fall into another dark age. It's a perfect stepping stone to regaining lost knowledge once we slip back into the bronze age. It even gives us chemical batteries, explosives, and suction cups! All the things we absolutely need in the bathroom! :)

It's not quite as delightful a science text as some of our more modern authors, but street cred and great explanations go a LONG way. I totally recommend this for chemistry nerds. ( )

from Dad

My copy is No 11 in the Kings Treasuries of Literature series. An interesting approach to explaining the phenomenon of combustion. I enjoyed reading it and I'm sure some late 19th Century and early 20th Century science teachers would have used it in the classroom. This book begins with a short bio of Michael Faraday by a Marischal College professor and ends with a memoir of him by a friend who obviously valued him very much. It seems that Faraday was a very inquisitive person who was driven to investigate all manner of natural phenomena with a view to explaining them so that we could all understand them. He would have been an interesting dinner guest. ( )