Gas! Gas! Quick, Boys!: How Chemistry Changed the First World War

by Michael Freemantle

Overview

Reveals for the first time the true extent of how chemistry rather than military strategy determined the shape, duration, and outcome of World War I

Chemistry was not only a destructive instrument of World War I, but also protected troops and healed the sick and wounded. From bombs to bullets, gas to anesthetic, khaki to camouflage, chemistry was truly the alchemy of the war. This history explores its dangers and its healing potential, revealing how the arms race was also a race for chemistry, to the extent that Germany's thirst for fertilizer to feed the creation of their shells nearly starved the nation. It answers question such as: What is cordite? What is lyddite? What is mustard gas? What is phosgene? What is gunmetal? This is a true picture of the horrors of the "Chemists' War."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780750953757
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	02/01/2014
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Michael Freemantle is a chemist. He is the former senior correspondent for Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly magazine of the American Chemical Society, and he has written numerous books on the history of chemistry, including An Introduction to Ionic Liquids.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

1 The Chemists' Wax 11

2 Shell Chemistry 27

3 Mills Bombs and other Grenades 51

4 The Highs and Lows of Explosives 59

5 The Metals of War 83

6 Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! 115

7 Dye or Die 151

8 Caring for the Wounded 159

9 Fighting Infection 169

10 Killing the Pain 199

11 The Double-edged Sword 211

Notes 215

Bibliography 232

Index 236

Editorial Reviews

Compelling overview of the chemical innovations and consequences on both sides of World War I... Highly recommended for science enthusiasts, students of World War I, and those wishing to more seamlessly connect science and history.” —Library Journal


"[A] solid, accessible survey."  —Publishers Weekly



"Powerful." —Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

Were it not for “advances in chemistry,” the First World War “would have been much shorter and the death toll substantially reduced,” argues Freemantle in this solid, accessible survey. The British science writer, who has a number of academic chemistry–centric titles under his belt, demonstrates how much of the technology used during WWI, including explosives, propellants, and grenades, depended on chemistry. But when most folks talk about chemistry in WWI, they think of gas warfare. It remains one of the great, horrific legacies of the War to End All Wars. Freemantle analyzes the spectrum of chemical agents and discusses the pros and cons of chemical warfare—gas caused relatively few casualties, but it devastated morale. Mustard gas, he insists, was “the worst of the chemical warfare agents used in the First World War... and at least the most effective” in terms of incapacitating soldiers. But Freemantle is quick to note that for all the suffering inflicted by chemical warfare, chemistry also brought about antiseptics, anesthetics, and disinfectants, each of which played a crucial role in battlefield care and beyond. War chemistry was indeed a sharp double-edged sword. Photos. (July)

Publishers Weekly

11/01/2013
The innovations and consequences of advances in chemistry employed during the war on both sides, from lethal gases to explosives, disinfectants, opiate pain killers, and beyond. (LJ 9/1/13)

Library Journal