I found this slightly-battered softcover at a local Savers thrift shop, and had to give it a try. I enjoy "biographies of things", and this look at the fiery element phosphorus sounds quite intriguing.

Later: Intriguing indeed, with a mix of historical details, alchemical anecdotes, phosphorus in popular culture, and serious science - plus the occasional disastrous side effect, as in the horrifying details of "phossy jaw", suffered by workers in match-making factories.

From the useful match to the devastating mustard gas of WWI to its use in fertilizers, phosphorus plays a lot of roles...

[For more good books about elements, see Uncle Tungsten and The Disappearing Spoon.]

I gave this to BCer eponine38 at the BookCrossing meetup in Brookline today, to fill a wish. Enjoy!

*** Released for the 2017 4 Elements release challenge. ***

Thank you so much, Gory!

Fascinating in-depth study of Phosphorus. Some of the chemistry in early chapters was too far above my head to understand fully, but I got the gist. 😊 I particularly liked the chapter on matchmaking (literally: matches used to start a fire, not the other kind of matchmaking lol) and the matchmakers’ strike.

Many pages marked; will briefly list the topics on those pages:
*Making matches as a work-from-home scheme; dangers thereof; phossy jaw caused by white phosphorus

*Different kinds of matches leading up to those used today
*Fire-bombing of Hamburg – fascinating and heartbreaking. And here I will add a (rather long) quote:
“Nature does strange things when there has been great devastation. Pepys marveled at the way red flowers sprang up all over the wasteland that was London after the Great Fire of 1666; the battlefields of Flanders were carpeted with miles and miles of poppies after the First World War; while, after the Second World War, the vast acres of bomb sites in London because luxuriant gardens of pink rose-bay willow herb, normally a rare wild flower of the English countryside. In Hamburg nature responded again with what was interpreted as a message of hope: in the autumn of 1943 the many lilac and chestnut trees of the city suddenly came into blossom as if it were spring.” Curious, and somewhat soothing.

*A trip down memory lane with the discussion of phosphates in laundry detergent. That was a big issue during my childhood.
*Phosphorus trichloride, used in Roundup Weed Killer, a timely and horrible topic
*Phosphates as food additives
*Phosphorus as a murder weapon
*Spontaneous Human combustion

The last two were especially interesting. Recommended!

Traveling in the Biographies of Things bookbox.

Taking from the Biographies of Things bookbox. Thanks!

After skimming through this one, I decided to wild release it at a Little Free Library.

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