Every Molecule Matters

By: Simon Cotton

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Paperback | 9 September 2025 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
318 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.39 x 15.6 x 1.7

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Every Molecule Matters is a successor to the author's earlier Every Molecule Tells a Story and tells the story of a wide range of molecules.

These range from the familiar odours that enhance the pleasure of eating (and the spices that add piquancy) to the vitamins vital to our survival, as well as the ways in which insects and plants use chemicals to protect themselves. There's controversy surrounding the compounds of chlorine, which encompass life-supporting anaesthetics and natural antibiotics, as well as insecticides like DDT, which saved innumerable lives but became an environmental cause celebre. Through the addictive power of nicotine, smoking tobacco transformed from a curiosity imported from the Americas into a megapound industry that has caused significant human illness and death. And how safe is vaping? Discover the painkillers that have become drugs of abuse, and smile at the smelly sulfur compounds that serve as unpleasant human odorants (and defence molecules for skunks), control natural cycles in the environment or act as flavourings in wine. You will discover them all here.

This book showcases the structures of hundreds of compounds used by humans, animals and plants. Some are beneficial; some are not. Find out here why you should be better informed about them.

This collection of molecules includes human issues, such as the chemistry of vaping, and drugs of abuse, including 'spice', nitazenes and fentanyl
'Chemistry of Everyday' includes vitamins and the molecules that give foods their aromas and appetizing appeal
The chemistry of nature - how plants and insects use chemicals to defend themselves against potential predators, whether humans, birds, animals or other insects
Organohalogen compounds, encompassing the atmosphere-damaging CFCs and their replacements, and the chlorine compounds that are important medicines (e.g. vancomycin)
Using isotopes, from archaeologists faced by mysteries of ancient Rome and silver from Spanish conquistadors, to tracking down the origin of South American cocaine and solving the 'Scissor Sister' murder case

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