The Diamond Makers
The Diamond Makers
$32.99
USDHumans have treasured diamonds for their exquisite beauty and unrivaled hardness for thousands of years. Deep within the earth, diamonds grow. Diamonds the size of footballs, the size of watermelons - billions of tons of diamonds wait for eternity a hundred miles beyond our reach. Spanning centuries of ground-breaking science, bitter rivalry, outright fraud, and self-delusion, The Diamond Makers is a compelling narrative centered around the brilliant, often eccentric, and controversial pioneers of high pressure research. This vivid blend of dramatic personal stories and extraordinary scientific advances - and devastating failures - brings alive the quest to create diamond. Scientists have harnessed crushing pressures and scorching temperatures to transform almost any carbon-rich material, from road tar to peanut butter, into the most prized of gems. The book reveals the human dimensions of research - the competition, bravery, jealousy, teamwork, and greed that ultimately led to today's billion-dollar diamond synthesis industry.
- Very well known popular science author, (two of his previous books have sales of 100,000 +)
- Combines dramatic personal stories and ground-breaking science into a compelling read
- A new improved edition of The New Alchemists (Times Books, 1993)
Reviews & endorsements
"Utterly absorbing...Hazen makes the story profoundly exciting, conveying the scientific passion of the researchers....It's a gem." The Washington Post
"Glittering prize....Read it and spread the word." New Scientist
"Hazen tells the very interesting and gripping story of the manufacture of artificial diamonds in this find book." Choice
"...illustrate[s] some of the best attributes of science writing..." Bloomsbury Review
"...a first-class, fascinatingly well written history of the exciting developments that led to the creation of diamonds even from peanut butter." Science Books & Films
"Robert Hazen's The Diamond Makers is a compelling, nontechnical narrative covering centuries of history related to diamond, centered mostly around brilliant, often eccentric and controversial pioneers of research at high pressures...The Diamond Makers is the first mahor publication to cover the whole period from the human point of view, while maintaining scientific integrity...Hazen gives a thorough and exciting account of the history of diamonds and the efforts to synthesize them...As one of the surviving diamond-makers, I an able to vouch for the thorough and open-minded interviews Hazen conducted." Physics Today
"this book will appeal to the interested layperson...It was immensely satisfying to be able to put their entire story on context and have it come alive through Hazen's book." American Mineralogist
"There is virtually no way that The Diamond Makers could miss being an excellent work of great interest to geologists, mineralogists, gemologists, and science historians as well as the layman who enjoys a good read...a fascinating book...The story of diamond synthesis research is so excitingly told that any lay-person, even relatively young ones, would have a hard time putting it down once started and by the time he or she gets to the last page they will have painlessly picked up a lot of science and, most important, have come to realize that science can be pretty exciting stuff." Earth Sciences History
Product details
August 1999Paperback
9780521654746
260 pages
229 × 153 × 15 mm
0.445kg
57 b/w illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Prologue
- 1. Mysteries
- 2. Attempts
- 3. The legacy of Percy Bridgman
- 4. Baltzar von Platen and the incredible diamond machine
- 5. The crystals of Loring Coes
- 6. Project Superpressure
- 7. Breakthrough
- 8. Secrets
- 9. Risky business
- 10. The rivals
- 11. The new diamond makers: diamond by explosion
- 12. The new diamond makers: diamonds from a vapor
- 13. The diamond breakers
- Epilogue.
