Vanity, Vitality, and Virility: The Science behind the Products You Love to Buy

By John Emsley

Book Overview

Vanity, Vitality, and Virility is essentially a collection of 'portraits' loosely arranged into 'galleries' that bring together related themes. While it will not advise you what to do if you want to improve your looks, your health, your peace of mind, or your sex life, it does explain the science behind many of the products that claim to be able to do just that. It looks at a range of products and ingredients that impinge on our everyday life and explains in plain language how 30 commonly encountered chemicals work, and how and why we use them. Chapter one, Vanity - no more wrinkles? has an entry on alpha-hydroxy acids. Advertisers call them 'natural fruit acids' but they are products of the chemical industry. They can improve the skin by penetrating the outer layer and stimulating the growth of new skin. But do they really remove wrinkles? Chapter two, Vitality - food for thought, tackles dietary fats: trans fats, essential fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6 fats), conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which some say is a necessary preventive against breast cancer despite coming only from animal fats. Chapter three, Virility, Sterility, and Viagra, has a section on 'more and better sex': what natural substances act as aphrodisiacs and can chemists improve upon them? There are substances that can enhance sexual performance and heighten orgasm. How to they work, and are they safe? Chapter four, Germ warfare, contains a section on Hypochlorite: so-called chlorine bleach. It doesn't actually contain chlorine but hypochlorite, and it is this that gives it the power to 'kill all germs stone dead'. But there have been campaigns to ban it because it produces other chemicals when added to water. Chapter five, It's all in the mind, deals with depression and anti-depressants: Prozac, Lithium (used to treat manic depression: the odd thing is that lithium shouldn't work, but does), and Aluminium, once wrongly convicted of causing Alzheimer's Disease. Chapter six, Polymers in unlikely guises, ranges from super-absorbent polymers (SAPs) used in tampons and nappies, to 'whispering asphalt' which modifies bitumen by adding polymers, resulting in road surfaces which are quieter and which produce less spray.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192805096
• ISBN13: 9780192805096
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.4" x 1.0" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Great Reading

This is the third book that I've read by John Emsley. The author keeps the story moving by supporting statements within the text rather than distracting footnotes. Anyone interested in his daily exposure to the world of chemistry will enjoy this book. The book is not technical, but it is an excellent source of references should one want to dig deeper into any of the title topics.

Wonderful Overview of Chemistry in Our Daily Lives

In Vanity, Vitality, Virility, Emsley describes the chemistry behind certain products that we depend on in our daily lives. These products range from lipstick to Viagra to Prozac. Each snapshot of a certain chemical offers a quick summary of how the product works, its benefits and its harms. Emsley is excellent at piecing together a coherent train of thought on certain chemicals and their history. The book reads well and is written for the popular audience as Emsley makes sure that the vocabulary and theory is brought down to a level in which general chemistry students can understand. However, he does not water it down so much as to discourage chemistry professionals from reading his book. He makes a point not to substitute certain chemical formula for its more common name, in the hope that his readers may not be intimidated by the language chemistry uses. To conclude his book, Emsley describes the current plight of scientific education and makes an attempt at diagnosing its problems. He also seeks out possible solutions and pleads for students to study chemistry. Overall, the book is highly interesting as it aids us in the understanding of chemical applications, which is often neglected in chemistry classes. I believe that the book clears up certain image problems with the chemistry profession in general and increases general interest in chemistry study.

Interesting and highly readable

Emsley is a chemist with writing abilities. He presents what could be dry, scientific material as interesting and fun to read. It's a quick read, yet full of information. I suspect he could have written a book of 500+ pages on the chemicals behind household (bleach), beauty (lipstick, wrinkle creams), health (Viagra, Prozac) and everyday items (chewing gum) we take for granted. I would have loved even more!