{"product_id":"9780674301566-elixir-a-parisian-perfume-house-the-qu","title":"Elixir","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA Parisian Perfume House and the Quest for the Secret of Life\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on alchemical theory, Édouard Laugier and Auguste Laurent set out to find the vital essence of life through the craft of perfumes. While drawing the ire of enlightened Bohemian Paris, they discovered fundamental differences in the structures of naturally occurring and synthetic molecules, inaugurating a persistent scientific mystery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e Best History Book of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e Summer Reading Favorite\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“[V]ividly evokes cultural life in Bohemian Paris, the turbulence of the French Revolution and its aftermath, and the feuds that plagued rival scientists…Levitt’s social history, especially of perfume, is fascinating.” —\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A delightful history of science and scent at the dawn of the modern age.”  —\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Pulling from historical publications and personal writings, Theresa Levitt vividly explains why perfume—bathed in, lathered on, and orally consumed—had a chokehold on Parisian life.”  —Scientific American\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[A] fascinating account of the birth pangs of organic chemistry in 19th-century Paris…[Levitt] has caught well these dreaming, competitive, daring men in the act of living, each striving compulsively for the giddy, intoxicating bliss of insight into the making of the world.”  —\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUntil the 1800s, scientists believed that living matter possessed a spirit or essence that differentiated it from nonliving matter. But even as scientific consensus shifted toward the view that all matter shares the same building blocks, some were not convinced. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eElixir\u003c\/i\u003e tells the story of two dissenters—chemists who redrew the boundary between life and nonlife. In the 1830s, Édouard Laugier and Auguste Laurent worked at Laugier Père et Fils, the oldest perfume house in Paris. By day, they prepared the perfumery’s revitalizing elixirs and rejuvenating eaux. In their spare time, they hunted the vital force underlying life itself. Their ideas, roundly condemned by established chemists, led to the discovery of structural differences between naturally occurring molecules and their synthetic counterparts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eScientists still can’t explain this anomaly, but it may point to critical insights concerning the origins of life. Rich in sparks and smells, brimming with eccentric characters, experimental audacity, and the romance of the Bohemian salon, \u003ci\u003eElixir\u003c\/i\u003e gives a fascinating tour of the alchemical revelations that shaped nineteenth-century Paris—and the modern world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56396032573814,"sku":"9780674301566","price":16.78,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/stand_41145210_e42e97ee-6c5d-4cb5-bd9c-785376324e55.jpg?v=1778119908","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9780674301566-elixir-a-parisian-perfume-house-the-qu","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}