Mauve

[Thomas Morrison]

A new book just out:

"Mauve: How One Man Invented A Color That Changed The World"
Simon Garfield
W.W. Norton & Co., $23.95

Here's the blurb:

In 1856 William Perkin, an 18 year-old British chemist, tried to synthesize 
the antimalarial quinine from coal tar, a by-product of gas manufacture. 
Instead, his experiment yielded an inky dark residue. Intrigued, Perkin 
purified the substance, ultimately creating a light purple liquid. [...] 
Perkin had stumbled upon the first aneline-based dye. [...] Mauvine marked a 
new closeness between science and industry that has had a far-reaching 
impact. As Garfield chronicles, Perkin's success occurred at a time whan 
England was lagging behind much of Europe in scientific pursuits and was in 
the midst of considerable distrust between industry and researchers. 
Although the dyes were developed in Britian, they were soon pirated by 
others. Germany, with a history of cooperation between science and industry 
and a healthy tradition of research, was poised to exploit the field. 
Germany's growing dominance and the stress of patent disputes led Perkin to 
sell his chemical works in 1873. By the outbreak of WWI, 85 percent of 
artificial dyes used in Britain were imported, and authorites had to 
scramble to find supplies to dye the soldiers' uniforms.


Sounds like it could be an interesting read,
especially for Pynchon-minded folk.

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