The 13th Element by John Emsley

I recently read The Thirteenth Element by John Emsley. This is a popular science book about the element phosphorus. I am a student in biology, and once in a while I like to read a popular science book that relates to what I am studying in a simpler way. I chose this book after randomly seeing it in the library. I was intrigued by its subtitle: "The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus".

The 13th Element starts off by describing how phosphorus was discovered by alchemists and used to impress people with its glowing appearance. The element was discovered in the 17th century when there was no chemistry, only alchemy; and according to this book, it was the discovery of phosphorus and the experiments performed with it that brought about the transition to chemistry. The book goes on to describe how until recently, phosphorus was thought by many to be a cure-all for health problems, when in fact, in its elemental form, it is extremely toxic. It is also highly flammable, and Emsley describes how it began to be used in the production of matches. He describes working conditions in the factories and the health problems the workers developed after being exposed to phosphorus. The main problem was phossy jaw, where the phosphorus would eat away at people's teeth and jawbones. Another aspect that Emsley covers is the use of phosphorus bombs during World War II. They were used to spread fire and devastate the cities that they were dropped on. Emsley goes on to decscribe several cases through the years where phosphorus was used as a poison in cases of murder. It could be discovered in an autopsy because the inside of the victims intestines would glow. Emsley also covers the use of phophates in detergents and fertilizers and its effect on the environment. The final chapter of the book discusses the possibility of spontaneous human combustion and how it could possibly be caused by the production of a gas that can come from the breakdown of phosphorus in the intestines.

I liked this book. I don't think it quite lived up to the excitement promised by its subtitle, but I did learn a lot about a substance that I knew very little about. I most enjoyed the sections in this book that went into the details of specific examples. For example, specific cases of phossy jaw or murder by phosphorus. I was extremely disturbed by the section on spontaneous human combustion, but in the end Emsley concludes that is most likely just a myth and the fires began from other causes. This is after giving specific examples of cases where there was no other known possible cause. That kind of made me paranoid that I'm going to burst into flames. One downside of this book is that in some places it seemed to get bogged down in statistics. In the chapters about match production, Emsley described in great detail the financial situations of all the companies producing phosphorus matches. Also in the chapter on World War II, he gave details on how many of each different type of bomb was used on each day. I found that these details were too extensive and unnecessary for what the book was trying to do, but perhaps they would be interesting to some people. Overall, this book gives a very thorough description of the uses and dangers of phosphorus.