The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another
Ainissa Ramirez
In Alchemy and Life, scientist and popularizer of science Ainissa Ramirez lists eight inventions—clocks, steel rails, copper communication cables, photographic film, electric lamps, hard drives, laboratory glassware, and silicon chips—and shows how they have affected the human experience. Ramirez talks about the woman who "sold time," about the inventor who inspired Edison, about the entrepreneurial enthusiast whose discovery led the way to the creation of the computer. She describes, among other things, how the pursuit of precision determined our sleep patterns, how the railroads commercialized the Christmas holidays, how the forced brevity of telegrams affected Hemingway's literary style, and how a young chemist exposed the practice of using Polaroid cameras for passportization and racial segregation under apartheid in South Africa. These vivid, compelling stories offer an unexpected look at our relationship with technology. By building a chronology of each invention and its consequences - expected and unforeseen, Ramirez shows not only how inventors changed the properties of materials, but also how these materials shaped culture.
