Ball: Stories of the Invisible

From Scienticity

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Philip Ball, Stories of the Invisible : A Guided Tour of Molecules. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2001. 204 pages.

Ball wrote this small volume as a companion to his book The Ingredients. in a similar spirit he writes stories about molecules and their place in our lives – figuratively and literally – as a way to enlighten indirectly about molecular chemistry. He takes a particular interest in the big molecules that keep living things alive and are the subject of organic chemistry, so there's a good infusion of molecular biology, too. As he says in his preface:

But, secondly, chemistry is not simply a thing to be tamed and commandeered into service. It is also what makes a man or woman, and the rest of nature too. The negative connotations of 'chemical' and 'synthetic' are hard now to shrug off; but 'molecules' have not yet acquired such colours. And it is by understanding our own molecular nature that we can perhaps begin to appreciate what chemistry has to offer, as well as perceiving why it is that some substances (natural and artificial) poison us and some cure us.

This is why I risk disapproval from come chemists by writing a guide to molecules that focuses to a large extent on the molecules of life—on biochemistry. What I have tried to show is that the molecular processes that govern our own bodies are not so different from those that chemists—I would prefer to say molecular scientists—are seeking to create. Indeed, the boundaries are becoming blurred: we are already using natural molecules in technology, as well as using synthetic molecules to preserve what we deem 'natural'.

As in the volume about the elements, these are interesting and illuminating stories with molecules as their themes that link together to create a deeper appreciation for the reader than mere exposition would provide. I found this volume slightly less engaging than its predecessor; it didn't seem to have the same spark of enthusiasm. That could as easily have been my problem since this ground was less familiar to me initially. Nevertheless, I still applaud Ball's smooth, direct writing that avoids silly metaphors for scientific concepts, and I can recommend the book highly.

-- Notes by JNS