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A review by siobhanward
Mauve by Simon Garfield
informative
medium-paced
3.5
If you enjoy reading about incredibly niche (but important) topics in science, then this is a book for you! Who knew that one colour was so central to scientific progress in the 19th and 20th centuries? This was a fun read but I definitely know I like niche subjects (including colours - The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair was another fun read), so I had fun.
I appreciated that Garfield was able to communicate the impact of Perkin's work without getting too deep into the chemistry of it. As someone with zero knowledge of chemistry I've definitely read books that were just too hard to follow, and I'm glad this wasn't one. My only real grief with the book was that there were definitely times when the timeline moved around and it was hard to follow exactly what was happening when. It was however really cool to read about early progress in DNA vaccines - considering some of what they were working on is starting to advance significantly with the creation of RNA vaccines. Wild how much progress science can make in a couple decades!
I appreciated that Garfield was able to communicate the impact of Perkin's work without getting too deep into the chemistry of it. As someone with zero knowledge of chemistry I've definitely read books that were just too hard to follow, and I'm glad this wasn't one. My only real grief with the book was that there were definitely times when the timeline moved around and it was hard to follow exactly what was happening when. It was however really cool to read about early progress in DNA vaccines - considering some of what they were working on is starting to advance significantly with the creation of RNA vaccines. Wild how much progress science can make in a couple decades!