Mauve : How One Man Invented a Colour That Changed the World - Softcover

Garfield, Simon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571209173 ISBN 13: 9780571209170

Publisher: W.W. Norton, 2001

Synopsis

In his bestselling and widely praised Mauve, Simon Garfield tells the story of the forgotten scientific pioneer William Perkin, a man whose father didn't want him to become a chemist, and whose chemistry professor didn't want him to wreck his career in pursuit of a colour. By the age of 18, however, Perkin had made a discovery that would make him the richest chemist in Britain. 'Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, the book is more than just a biography of Perkin. Garfield weaves the past with the present as he tells us just how Perkin's discovery changed the world; New Scientist

About this title

Review:

In 1856, while trying to synthesize artificial quinine, 18-year-old chemistry student William Perkin instead produced a murky residue. Fifty years later, he described the event: he "was about to throw a certain residue away when I thought it might be interesting. The solution of it resulted in a strangely beautiful color." Perkin had stumbled across the world's first aniline dye, a color that became known as mauve.

"So what?" you might say. "A teenager invented a new color." As Simon Garfield admirably points out in Mauve, the color really did change the world. Before Perkin's discovery all the dyes and paints were colored by roots, leaves, insects, or, in the case of purple, mollusks. As a result, colors were inconsistent and unpredictably strong, often fading or washing out. Perkin found a dye that would always produce a uniform shade--and he pointed the way to other synthetic colors, thus revolutionizing the world of both dyemaking and fashion. Mauve became all the rage. Queen Victoria wore it to her daughter's wedding in 1858, and the highly influential Empress Eugénie decided the color matched her eyes. Soon, the streets of London erupted in what one wag called the "mauve measles."

Mauve had a much wider impact as well. By finding a commercial use for his discovery--much to the dismay of his teacher, the great August Hofmann, who believed there needed to be a separation between "pure" and "applied" science--Perkin inspired others to follow in his footsteps: "Ten years after Perkin's discovery of mauve, organic chemistry was perceived as being exciting, profitable, and of great practical use." The influx of bright young men all hoping to earn their fortunes through industrial applications of chemistry later brought significant advances in the fields of medicine, perfume, photography, and even explosives. Through it all, Garfield tells his story in clever, witty prose, turning this odd little tale into a very entertaining read. --Sunny Delaney

About the Author:

Simon Garfield was born in 1960. He is the author of Expensive Habits: The Dark Side of the Industry, The End of Innocence: Britain in the Time of AIDS, which was awarded the Somerset Maugham Prize, The Wrestling, The Nation's Favourite: The True Adventures of Radio 1, Mauve, The Last Journey of William Huskisson, The Error World and the Mass Observation trilogy Our Hidden Lives, Private Battles and We Are At War. Mini: the True and Secret History of the Making of a Motor Car was published in 2009.

About this edition

• Publisher: W.W. Norton
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0571209173
• ISBN 13: 9780571209170
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240
• Illustrator: Illus. With Photos