Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World

Rating:
Summary: Real chemistry
Review: This book pushed so many of my buttons -- science history, painting, Victoriania, chains of coincidence and hidden causality -- that I had to love it. Best popular science book I've read in a while.

A diferent kind of reader might have been annoyed at the depth of detail, much of it trivia. I gobbled it up, though.

Rating:
Summary: origins of heterocyclic chemistry
Review: This is a fantastic accounting of a too little glorified period in the development of organic chemistry. The story will be inspiring to anyone who has an interest in chemistry and/or business. The latter because the story demonstrates the importance of recognizing and capitalizing on an unexpected invention (vs. more target-oriented discovery).

Unlike, most other popular science-related books that this is likely to be lumped with, it is enjoyably written, well researched and full of fascinating facts.