The story of a poor but devout Galician Jew, Rob Yudel, who wanders the countryside with his companion, Nuta, during the early 19th century, in search of bridegrooms for his three daughters.

One of the outstanding and remarkable traits of Jews throughout their history, several thousand years old, has been their creativity in all fields, especially in science. They have participated in an impressive way in the questioning of values, the dismantling of dogmas, and the irruption of hidden forces. It can be stressed from the outset that the contributions of the Jews to science was out of proportion to the percentage of the population they represent. This remains true for the chemistry of the twentieth century. Through the life and work of twenty-three Nobel Prize winners in chemistry, the author gives us a fascinating story of these men, often exiles and of modest origins, whose science was their vocation and the sharing of knowledge their creed.

The vastly disproportionate number of Jewish Nobel Prize winners in science and medicine highlights their contributions to knowledge and human well-being.

Discusses the Nobel Institution in detail, telling about the award and its beginnings, what it means to win a Nobel Prize, the fields in which it is presented, who judges and how the prize is awarded, and more.

A humorous overview and history of the Nobel Prizes, generally, and the chemistry prize in particular; who won, and why.

A scientific response to the best-selling The Bell Curve which set off a hailstorm of controversy upon its publication in 1994. Much of the public reaction to the book was polemic and failed to analyse the details of the science and validity of the statistical arguments underlying the books conclusion. Here, at last, social scientists and statisticians reply to The Bell Curve and its conclusions about IQ, genetics and social outcomes.

This sweeping history reveals how the use of chemicals has saved lives, destroyed species, and radically changed our planet: “Remarkable . . . highly recommended.” —Choice In The Chemical Age, ecologist Frank A. von Hippel explores humanity’s long and uneasy coexistence with pests, and how the battles to exterminate them have shaped our modern world. He also tells the captivating story of the scientists who waged war on famine and disease with chemistry. Beginning with the potato blight tragedy of the 1840s, which led scientists on an urgent mission to prevent famine using pesticides, von Hippel traces the history of pesticide use to the 1960s, when Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring revealed that those same chemicals were insidiously damaging our health and driving species toward extinction. Telling the story in vivid detail, von Hippel showcases the thrills—and complex consequences—of scientific discovery. He describes the creation of chemicals used to kill pests—and people. And, finally, he shows how scientists turned those wartime chemicals on the landscape at a massive scale, prompting the vital environmental movement that continues today.

Jews make up 0.2% of the worlds' population, yet they have won over 20% of the Nobel prizes. When one considers that Jews weren't even admitted to the University in Britain until the 1820s, and were on a quota at some American Ivy League colleges until after the Second World War, their successes are truly remarkable. What is the reason for this disparity? Derek Taylor provides biographical chapters on all the prize-winning men and women, and an additional one on Alfred Nobel himself. These chapters include their backgrounds and the work for which they received the awards. In addition, Taylor provides the historical background to the development of scientific research.

This long-awaited biography of Fritz Haber, now abridged by the author and translated into English, illuminates the life of one of the most gifted yet controversial figures of the 20th century. Haber was a pioneer in electrochemistry and thermodynamics and won the Nobel Prize for his synthesis of ammonia, a process essential for both fertilizer and explosives. His dedication to work spurred his efforts to increase support for scientific study in Germany; yet it also helped cause the breakdown of his two marriages. His ardent patriotism led him to develop chemical weapons for World War I and to try to extract gold from seawater, to help pay for Germany's huge war reparations. Yet Haber, a Jew by birth, was exiled from his homeland in 1933 by the Nazi party and died shortly after.