Chemistry's Buttons

By Noah M.

Napoleon's Buttons is a book containing 17 instances in which molecules changed history. For example, the reason why pepper was so valuable during the medieval europe was because they couldn't grow it. It was so valuable that a pound of this dried berry could buy the freedom of a laborer from a nobleman. The book also brings up a theory as to why the Grande Armée failed to conquer Russia. The theory states that when exposed to low temperatures, tin crumbles into powder. In Napoleon's regiments, everything that soldiers wore were fastened with tin. The theory starts to make sense once the army got to Russia where the weather is terribly cold so if tin crumbled at low temperatures, the army's clothing would literally fall apart.

I liked how there were pictures of the molecules described because it helps the reader understand the way the molecules are made up. I also enjoyed how it didn't really use complicated vocabulary when talking about the chemicals and how they affect our body as well as the economy of the world at the time. However, I would've chosen a different name than "Napoleon's Buttons" because it takes a majority of the book before it focuses on Napoleon's buttons.

I would highly recommend Napoleon's Buttons to anyone into chemistry as well as history. It's a great read for people who have ever wondered why spices are so popular or where they come from or even how some things are formed.