The two faces of chemistry
The two faces of chemistry
复制标题
化学的两个面孔
作者：
L. Caglioti
通过化学改善生活的承诺并不总是兑现。化学技术被用来生产青霉素和炸药，青霉素可能有有害的副作用，而炸药有有益的用途。入侵有助于减轻世界饥饿，同时也破坏了全球生态系统。许多石化产品使生活变得更容易，也更危险。《化学的两面》提出了一个平衡的观点，权衡了整个现代化合物及其副产品的资产和危险，包括食品添加剂、“天然”食品、化肥、农药、药物和其他药物、化妆品、肥皂和洗涤剂、塑料、人造橡胶、氟碳化合物和含铅汽油。卡格里奥蒂是一位有机化学家，他在大众媒体上发表了大量文章，不仅让没有技术背景的读者清楚地理解了所有这些材料，而且还捕捉到了伴随新产品开发的戏剧性事件，以及往往在多年后才发现它们可能导致毁灭性结果的启示。在每一个案例中--例如，在他对“糖精的混乱”和“避孕药”的描述中--他仔细地筛选了所有积累起来的争议层次，以便对风险进行公正的评估和评估。这本书的覆盖范围是世界各地，但大部分数据来自那些密集使用化学品的国家：美国、西欧和日本。作家兼化学家普里莫·莱维在他的前言中说：“在统计数据和技术数据的下面，有充分的理由，这本书中流淌着一股智慧、教育意图和道德的沉默之流。虽然它并不试图规定解决办法，但它本身的性质告诉我们如何最好地找到解决办法。Luciano Caglioti是罗马大学的有机化学教授。
The promise of better living through chemistry has not always been kept. Chemical techniques were used to produce both penicillin and dynamite, penicillin can have harmful side effects while dynamite has beneficial uses. Insecticides have helped alleviate world hunger while they have disrupted global ecosystems. Numerous petrochemicals have made life both easier and more hazardous."The Two Faces of Chemistry" presents a balanced view, weighing the assets and dangers of the whole range of modern chemical compounds and their byproducts, including food additives, "natural" foods, fertilizers, pesticides, drugs and other medications, cosmetics, soaps and detergents, plastics, artificial rubber, fluorocarbons, and leaded gasoline. Caglioti, an organic chemist who has written widely in the popular press, not only makes all this material clear and understandable to readers without technical background but also captures the drama that accompanied the development of new products and the revelation, often years later, that they could lead to devastating results. In each case - for example, in his accounts of "the saccharin mess" and "the Pill" - he carefully sifts through all the accumulated layers of controversy in order to arrive at an unbiased evaluation and assessment of risk.The book's coverage is worldwide, but most of the data is taken from those countries that use chemicals intensively: the United States, Western Europe, and Japan.The writer and chemist Primo Levi, states in his Foreword that "underneath the statistics and technical data, which with good reason are plentiful, there flows through this book a silent current of wisdom, educational intent, and morality. While it does not attempt to dictate solutions, by its very character it teaches us how best to go about finding them."Luciano Caglioti is Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Rome.