Napoleon's Buttons

17 Molecules That Changed History

By: Penny Le Couteur, Jay Burreson

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Napoleon's Buttons is the fascinating account of 17 groups of molecules that have greatly influenced the course of history. These molecules provided the impetus for early exploration and made possible the voyages of discovery that ensued. The molecules resulted in grand feats of engineering and spurred advances in medicine and law; they determined what we now eat, drink, and wear. A change as small as the position of an atom can lead to enormous alterations in the properties of a substance - which, in turn, can result in great historical shifts.

With lively prose and an eye for colorful and unusual details, Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson offer a novel way to understand the shaping of civilization and the workings of our contemporary world.

©2003 Micron Geological Ltd and Jay Burreson (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Well-conceived, well-done popular science." ( Booklist)

Not what I expected

Still a very interesting read. I am better for it. Highly recommend to fill in what really matters in history. It ain't what they tell you. It is much more interesting.

Needs to be required reading for science majors

Once you get passed the very mechanical sounding narration, this book is an absolute gem. I would recommend it to anyone who loves learning about the world around them as well as those who are in college studying science. This book really helps to make chemistry more approachable and memorable.

Best Chemistry popular book

I have listened to two other great chemistry books (The Disappearing Spoon and uncle Tungsten), and this one is the best. The Disappearing Spoon is the most complete, with more elements and much more about the creation of the Periodical Table, and Uncle Tungsten is much more personal and anecdotal. But Napoleon's Button had the greatest descriptions and historical context to the chosen molecules. The importance of each molecule explained and the role it played in human history is clear and very well explained.

Amazing

The stories were easy to understand, I loved the narrative, clear, and easily understandable, thank you

Informative and fascinating

Unlike the previous reviewer I found this to be a more interesting book than ???The Disappearing Spoon???. Both are very good books, but I did learn a lot more from this book. A lot of knowledge is imparted through interesting stories with good narration. The authors do, perhaps, get a little more into the slavery issue than the book requires, but it is brief and in no way detracted from the chemical stories for me. It is not like they were preaching. I liked the book enough to listen again to get what I probably missed due to listening while driving. I highly recommend this book.

thoughtful and impressive

If you could sum up Napoleon's Buttons in three words, what would they be?

Great read, fabulous info, good narrative, history we never get in school.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Napoleon's Buttons?

The tin button fell apart under severe winter condition causing Napoleon's defeat - how simple.

Any additional comments?

Not recommended read for simpletons devoid of education in sciences, history and deprived of intellectual curiosity, I believe.

Interesting Trivia

Would you listen to Napoleon's Buttons again? Why?

Not really...so many books, so little time. I did find it interesting; however, I wish my knowledge of chemistry were more extensive.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked how history turned on some interesting chemical discoveries.

What does Laural Merlington bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She is a very engaging and expressive narrator.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If I were on a long road trip as a passenger, Yes. Otherwise, I like to listen to one lecture per day.

Any additional comments?

A person with a solid chemistry background would really enjoy this book.

Hit and miss

The book made some interesting connections however it suffered from hopping around. At the end of each chapter there would be a clean up section where they would briefly mention various other detail it's from history regarding the subject matter. I was not a fan of these as it was an extension of the hopping around issue. I had just come from reading Liquid Rules and the subjects flowed much better. I was not a huge fan of the narration though it was ok.

Wish one of the authors would have read this book

Napoleon's Buttons is a well written book for a popular audience about the influence of organic chemistry and organic compounds on human history -- how rare is that! Like other books with similar content (e.g. The Disappearing Spoon), this book is structured to allow the listener stop and easily pick it up the flow later -- a good feature for commuters like me.

Regrettably, Laural Merlington's mispronunciation of countless chemical and other scientific terms really detracted from what was overall a fine performance. Example: She seemed to have a little trouble with her "a" sounds; she pronounced lactase "LACT ahhhz" -- fine if you're speaking French, but in English we use a long "a" as in "ace" -- and estradiol "es TRAY deeyol" -- I had to hear this word at least three times before I figured out what she was saying. (People familiar with this steroid say it "es trah DYE ol" -- because it is an estrogen steroid with two -OH groups on the steroid (i.e. a diol)). Another example: At one point during the discussion of antibiotics, she pronounced para-aminobenzoic acid "p amnio benzoic acid" at least six times in two consecutive paragraphs, even though she had said it correctly at a previous point. The upshot of all this criticism is that either the narrator or one of the other folks in the studio should have been a person with a scientific background, who would have known (and more important, would have cared) how to pronounce these words. It would have been ideal if one of the authors had narrated.

My one critique directed at the text itself is that the lengthy, preambular history of persecution of alleged witches in Chapter 12, on alkaloids, created an unnecessary delay on the way to the real content of this chapter: the historical connections to the compounds and their sources. This chapter would have stood up well on its own without the background information.

What a brilliant and refreshing book!

I made it through lots of chemistry, organic chemistry and pharmacology in college and medical school, and it served its purpose. This book brought a brilliant historical perspective to chemistry that rekindled my excitement for organic chemistry, history and life in general...well done and another 5 sequels were you left off would be fantastic.