![]() Antimony compounds have been known since ancient times and were powdered for use as medicine and cosmetics, often known by the Arabic name kohl. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb 2 S 3 ). Readers even casually interested in the history of chemistry would do well to pick up this energetic survey. Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from Latin: stibium) and atomic number 51. Wothers also gives a sense of how far the human study of elements has come, from the medieval belief that only seven metals existed, to 20th century work on radioactive elements. He enhances the science with short biographical sketches of the often colorful chemists responsible for significant discoveries, among them the controversial Joseph Priestly, forced to flee England after a mob burned down his house, and the extraordinarily shy Henry Cavendish, whose own servants were forbidden to see him. Acacia, Protection, psychic and spiritual enhancement, money, platonic love, and friendship. For example, the French coinage of oxygen won wide acceptance only after weathering harsh Anglophone skepticism-an Irish physician suggested its Greek root words might more correctly be translated as meaning “sharp chin”-and nitrogen was agreed upon only after flirtations with “alkaligen” and “phlogisticated air.” Wothers is also interested in the historic wrong turns taken by early chemists, such as their theory of a substance, phlogiston, present in all things flammable. Wothers, who clearly loves his topic, is adept at the basics-the uses, chemical properties, and discoveries of various elements-but he also delights in the many controversies that raged over naming. ![]() Antimony poisoning has resulted from drinking acidic fruit juices containing antimony oxide dissolved from the glaze of cheap enamelware containers. ![]() ![]() Such poisoning resembles arsenic poisoning. Wothers ( Chemical Structure and Reactivity: An Integrated Approach, coauthor), a Cambridge Teaching Fellow, debuts as a popular science writer with this thorough and well-researched exploration of how the elements were named. antimony poisoning, harmful effects upon body tissues and functions of ingesting or inhaling certain compounds of antimony. ![]()
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