Naughty & Nice Monsanto

K.D. Rainsford (Aspirin and the Salicylates, 1984) wrote ... "Late in 1912, Dr. Gaston Dubois of Monsanto visited an unnamed chemist at Brugg in Switzerland and purchased from him, for 2000 Swiss francs, a process for producing aspirin in one operation. This placed Monsanto in a very favourable p... Read More

Generation of Vipers

Philip Wylie shaped my life early on. Philip Wylie's Opus 21 was my Bible back in the early 1960s. Its full title was Opus 21: Descriptive Music for the Lower Kinsey Epoch of the Atomic Age, A Concerto for a One-Man Band, Six Arias for Soap Operas, Fugues, Anthems, & Barrelhouse, 1949. I hi... Read More

Sour From Sweet

According to The Western Druggist (May, 1887) ... "It is one of the marvels of chemistry that the sourest substance with which we are familiar is made from the sweetest." According to the same source ... "The value of vinegar as a condiment depends on the fact that acetic acid dissolves gel... Read More