1st Edition
The Chemical Century Molecular Manipulation and Its Impact on the 20th Century
This fascinating new volume provides a comprehensive yet concise overview of the chemical aspects of some of the major innovations and changes that occurred during the 20th century, relating chemical structures and properties to real-life applications. Developed for a course taught by the author for several years at UVA, the author covers the important and consequential developments in chemistry and explains their everyday, real-life applications. These include such topics as consumer products, fossil fuel use, polymers, agriculture, food production, nutrition, explosives, and drugs. The section Molecular Biology and Its Applications includes examples of the application of biotechnology and genetic engineering.
POWER FROM MOLECULES
Explosives and Propellants: Power to Breach Mountains, Wage War, and Visit the Moon
Structures of Explosives and Propellants
Production of Explosives and Propellants
Military Applications of Explosives and Propellants
Rocket Engines for Space Exploration
Other Uses of Explosives and Propellants
Explosives and Terrorism
Hydrocarbons as Fuels and Petrochemicals: Shaping the Past; Dominating the Present; Complicating the Future
Petroleum Refining and Processing
Alternative Sources of Liquid Fuels
Petrochemicals
Environmental Consequences of Hydrocarbon Fuel Usage
Economical, Political, and Ethical Aspects of Fossil Fuel Usage
MAKING THINGS WE USE
The Chemical Industry: An Overview
Prior to WWI
From WWI to WWII
WWII to 1975
975 –2000
The International Chemical Industry at the End of the Century
Origins of the Pharmaceutical Industry
Halogenated Hydrocarbons: Persistence, Toxicity, and Problems
Volatile Chlorinated Solvents and Intermediates
DDT and Other Persistent Halogenated Compounds
Chlorofluorocarbons and Related Compounds
Polymers: Making New Materials
The Nature of Polymers
Chemically Modified Natural Polymers
Synthetic Polymers
Fabrication of Polymers
Flammability of Fibers, Films and Plastics
Recycling of Polymers
Household and Personal Care Products: Cleaning Up and Looking Good
Surfactant Types
Household Cleaning Products
Personal Care Products
Skin Care
Cosmetics
Advertising of Household and Personal Care Products
Environmental Effects and Regulation
Silicones: From Contact Lenses to Pavement Sealants
Preparation and Properties of Silicones
Applications of Silicones
Biomedical Applications of Silicones
Environmental Issues
CHEMISTRY AND FOOD
Chemistry and Agriculture: Helping Feed the World
Fertilizers
Herbicides
Insecticides
Environmental and Ecological Effects of Food Production
Chemistry, Food and the Modern Diet: What’s in Food Besides Food?
Some Common Food Ingredients
Sugars and Low-Caloric Sweeteners
Fats and Oils
Coffee Decaffeination
Chemical Basis of Fruit Ripening
Economics and Politics of Food Processing
Examples of Processed Foods
Metabolic Syndrome, Cardiovascular Disease and Type 2 Diabetes
Vitamins and Nutrition
Vitamin Deficiency Diseases and the Discovery of the Vitamins
The Use and Value of Vitamin Supplements
Dietary Supplements
Nutritional Consequences of Food Production and Processing
MOLECULES FOR THE TREATMENT OF ILLNESS
Drug Discovery, Development, and Distribution
The Origins of Chemotherapy
Beginnings of the Modern Pharmaceutical Industry
Drug Discovery and Development
Regulation, Research, Politics and Public Relations
The Pharmaceutical Industry
Antibiotics: The Battle with the Microbes
¿-Lactams
Aminoglycosides and Other Anti-Tuberculosis Drugs
Other Classes of Antibiotics
Issues for the Future of Antibiotics
Analgesic, Anti-Inflammatory, Anti-Pyretic, and Anesthetic Drugs: Dealing with Pain, Inflammation, and Fever
Aspirin
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS)
Selective Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitors (Coxibs)
Acetanilides, Including Phenacetin and Acetaminophen
Other Analgesic and Anti-Pyretic Drugs
Morphine and Related Opiates
Cocaine and Related Structures
General Anesthetics
Antihypertensive Drugs: Controlling Blood Pressure
The Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System
Drugs for Treatment of Hypertension
Steroids: Arthritis, Fertility, Heart Attacks, and Home Run Records
Structure of Steroids
Corticosteroids and Arthritis
Steroids in Fertility Control
Cardiovascular Effects of Steroids
Steroid Analogs in Cancer Treatment
Steroid Abuse in Sports
Endocrine Disruptors; Inadvertent Fertility Modification?
Diabetes and Anti-Diabetic Therapy: Control of Glucose
The Discovery and Clinical Introduction of Insulin
Production and Administration of Insulin
Diagnosis and Characteristics of Diabetes
Drugs Used In Treatment of Type-2 Diabetes
Drugs For Treatment of Neurological and Psychological Conditions
Early History of Psychoactive Drugs
Hypnotics
Anti-Epilepsy Drugs
Anti-Psychotic Drugs (Neuroleptics)
Anti-Anxiety Drugs
Anti-Depressants
Use and Abuse of Amphetamine and Its Derivatives
Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
Social Consequences and Controversies in Treatment of Neurological and Psychological Conditions
Anti-Malarial and Other Anti-Parasitic Drugs
Malaria: Etiology, Pathology, Prevention and Treatment
Trypanosomiasis
Leishamaniasis
Schistosomiasis
Lymphatic Filariasis
Other Helminthic Infections
Onchocerciasis
Response to the AIDS Pandemic
Drugs for Treatment of AIDS
Economic Aspects of AIDS Treatment
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND ITS APPLICATIONS.
DNA Structure, Sequencing, Synthesis, and Modification: Making Biology Molecular
Structure of DNA and the Genetic Code
DNA Sequencing
Synthesis of DNA
Manipulation, Modification and Analysis of DNA
Sequencing the Human Genome
Applications of Biotechnology: Biology Doing Chemistry
Examples of Small Molecules Produced by Biotechnology
Biotechnology in Agriculture
Genetically Engineered Products for Medicine
Index
Biography
Richard C. Sundberg, PhD, is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Virginia and has been teaching for 50 years. He was a Fulbright Scholar (France) in 1978–79, and he was honored as a Distinguished Alumni by the University of Minnesota in 2001. He has published about 100 research papers and five monographs in the area of heterocyclic organic compounds and has directed 25 PhD theses. His past books include Advanced Organic Chemistry (all editions) (co-authored with Francis A. Carey), Springer; Indoles, Best Synthetic Methods, Academic Press, 1996; and The Chemistry of Indoles, Academic Press, 1970.
"Professor Richard Sundberg, who is well known as an author of both a widely used advanced organic chemistry text and two indole chemistry monographs, has now published The Chemical Century for the educated general public. With minimal chemical jargon and few organic chemical structures, Sundberg has woven a fascinating story of chemistry over the past 150 years. From early chemical dyes and explosives, to the structures of DNA and proteins, and to today’s medicines and pesticides, Sundberg covers an array of ubiquitous chemical topics that are regularly featured in news media and on the Internet. Importantly, his book goes far in dissipating ‘chemophobia’—the irrational fear of chemicals that has plagued the general public for decades.The Chemical Century should be on the reading list of anyone interested in learning about chemicals, both good and evil."
—Dr. Gordon W. Gribble, The Dartmouth Professor of Chemistry, Hanover, New Hampshire
"Professor Sundberg is well known as an educator and as co-author of the two-volume, multi-edition Advanced Organic Chemistry, a mainstay in chemistry graduate education for 40 years. He now has turned his pedagogical talents to the history of mankind from the 1800s until today through the lens of the contributions of chemistry. Readers need little chemical knowledge in order to inhale a sense of chemical research, product development, and commercialization in the 20thcentury. Sundberg nimbly weaves the themes of power (such as in the form of explosives and fuels), the manufacture of everyday things, food, drug discovery, biotechnology, and molecular biology into a story that we, our parents, and our grandparents have experienced firsthand—mankind’s advances during the past 100 years."
—Jeffrey I. Seeman, Department of Chemistry, University of Richmond¿
"This masterful book relates the impact of chemical discovery and invention on the broad scope of twentieth-century history: upheaval in war, government and society; human and ecological health; industry and commerce; the rise and fall of nations and the quality of everyday human life. Chemical structures and equations provide depth for chemists and serve as illustrations for the more casual reader. The book’s organization and the table of contents make it easy to select particular topics of interest. The Chemical Century is a unique and valuable work: both a clearly written history of the science and a history of the century from a chemical point of view. Derived from classroom lectures at the University of Virginia, this book illustrates Dr. Sundberg’s love of teaching and his never-ending search for causation. Discovery leads to invention. Invention enables discovery as we progressed through the Chemical Century."
— Peter Bukowick, Chief Operating Officer (retired), Alliant Techsystems
