Summary

Chapter 10: Elements are also used in medicines and drugs. Silver and copper, for example, have antiseptic properties, while vanadium is a spermicide. Gadolinium is used in MRIs has shown potential as a possible treatment for cancer. At the same time, the medicinal properties of elements are sometimes misapplied. One example of this is the story of Stan Jones, who gave himself argyria, a non-dangerous condition in which one's skin turns blue, from overdosing on silver in an attempt to strengthen his immune system. Kean then writes about how molecules can be either left- or right-handed, a discovery made by Louis Pasteur. Pasteur also proved definitively that life is built solely from the elements on the periodic table. It was in the 1930s that a microbiologist named Gerhard Domagk concluded how laboratory-made pharmaceuticals worked, with the help of scientists at the Pasteur...