Chain Reaction: How Chemistry Shapes Us and Our World

By one of the world’s leading chemists, an entertaining and revealing tour of the chemical bonds that shape our everyday lives and provide the infrastructure for our chaotic world.

We all have a relationship with chemistry. Bonds between molecules, forged and broken in the blink of an eye, underpin everything from the food we eat and the clothes we wear to the ways we treat illnesses and construct our homes. It’s a relationship we nurture, whether we know it or not, and for leading chemist Ijeoma Uchegbu, it was serious from the beginning.

In Chain Reaction, Uchegbu shows us the world through a chemist’s eyes, revealing the intricate science we take for granted: how our body’s most fundamental chemical structure, our DNA, is estimated to be two meters long, resting tightly within each of our cells; how egg yolks are held together by weak chemical bonds that make them primed for emulsifying our salad dressings; and how the chemical makeup of PFAs, or “forever chemicals,” makes them so good at sticking around.

Along the way, we travel from Uchegbu’s home in London to Nigeria, where cooking experiments go awry in her family kitchen, and to Italy, where the chemically inert compounds that make up stained glass keep medieval windows shining. The careful interplay of bonds and molecules brings a sense of order and wonder to the chaos of our lives, she shows, and we don’t have to wear a lab coat or study solutions in beakers to appreciate it.

For readers of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and anyone who wanted to be like Elizabeth Zott in Lessons in Chemistry, Chain Reaction is a lively and intimate portrait of the wondrous and under-explored field that shapes our everyday lives.

"Ijeoma Uchegbu takes us on a captivating journey through the world of chemistry, revealing how chemical bonds shape not only the life around us but also the very fabric of our daily lives. Her fascination with molecules is infectious, and her joy in chemistry shines through every page. This book is an inspiration to following your passion and forming your own bonds with the world of science." - John-Arne Rottingen, CEO Wellcome Trust

"Since everything is made of atoms and chemistry is about how atoms fit together to make the world, what field of human knowledge could be more important and all-encompassing than chemistry. Nowhere have I seen chemistry described so lucidly, comprehensively and fun. Uchegbu’s passion and joy shines from every page." - Jim Al-Khalili, author of The World According to Physics

"I never thought that chemistry could be so fascinating and such fun. A brilliant book." - Baroness Manningham-Buller, Former Head of MI5 and former Chair of Wellcome

"This book will change how you see the world. An absorbing read which makes chemistry fascinating and fun, as well sparking hope through learning about the author’s moving life story." - Julia Gillard, 27th Prime Minister of Australia, Chair of Wellcome Board

"Life through the prism of chemistry, illustrated by Ijeoma’s life, is gripping and fascinating — from Egyptians to modern day, from Nigeria to Britain, and the chemistry of food and death. A great read!" - Professor Dame Sally Davies, Master of Trinity College, University of Cambridge, Former Chief Medical Officer, United Kingdom

"Uchegbu — Dame, inventor, nanoscientist and one of the most original minds in her field — has spent a career harnessing the invisible architecture of molecules to transform medicine. In Chain Reaction, she turns that same precise, warm intelligence to the chemistry that makes us who we are and shapes how we live. This is chemistry as memoir, metaphor, primer and love letter. It leaves you awestruck at how deftly we’ve bent chemistry to our will — and mindful of how urgently we must now use it to repair what we've broken." - Roger Highfield, Science Director of the Science Museum

"A research chemist based in London, [Uchegbu] presents the basic concepts of her discipline without referring to the diagrams and formulas many of us encountered in our high school chemistry classes. Instead, Uchegbu uses analogies such as a group of children on a playground—and a mischievous playmate with a tube of super glue—to illustrate different chemical bonds.... Snippets of autobiography add much to the accessibility of the book. And in addition to illustrating the ubiquity of chemical reactions in the world, they frequently comment on the way we relate to one another in society. Anyone interested in basic science but reluctant to wade into a maze of technical terminology will find this a congenial approach to a fascinating subject. An exuberant account of the role of chemistry in everyday life, with a wealth of down-to-earth examples." - Kirkus Reviews

"Intriguing." - Publishers Weekly