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    Cover of The World of Carbon

    The World of Carbon

    Isaac Asimov · 1958

    An elementary guide to the structures of compounds of carbon including hydrogen and oxygen, and to the names of those compounds.

    Physics & Cosmology
    Open LibraryAmazon
    Stats for nerds
    3recommend
    5mentions
    3people
    2016–2022years
    100% recommend

    Mentions per year

    2016201720182019202020212022

    What Hacker News says

    1. ghastmasterNov 2022
      The World of Carbon by Isaac Asimov started my fascination with the sciences when I was a freshman in High School(grade 9). Chemicals in general just made more sense after reading. He is incredibly clear in his non fiction writing. Prior to reading that, none of my science classes in school had captured my attention.
      thread
    2. hwestiiiDec 2021
      When I was in HS, I found Asimov’s “World of Carbon” on a book shelf in my second trimester Chemistry class, read it, and then proceeded to ace Organic Chemistry when it was presented during third trimester.
      thread
    3. ghastmasterJan 2020
      My favorite is Isaac Asimov: "Published in 9 of the 10 Dewey Decimal System categories"

      His scientific writings for lay people are amazing(World of Carbon comes to mind). He could string everything together so well.

      thread
    4. mojoeDec 2018
      I run a small press focused on science fiction, and I'd like to start publishing some popular science texts as well. I really loved reading "The World of Carbon" by Isaac Asimov when I was younger -- it's a fantastic book on organic chemistry. It's been out of print for many decades, but it will be a while until it's in the public domain (published around 1960). I'd like to reprint the book with annotations, but the firm managing the literary portion of the Asimov estate (William Morris Endeavor) won't even acknowledge my queries about publishing rights. Does anyone here have any advice for me? If you don't have advice but are interested in this project I'd appreciate it if you could increase visibility of this post. Thanks!
      thread
    5. mojoeMar 2016
      Cool list! I don't think I've ever seen them all in one place before.

      I cannot stress enough what an incredible force for good Asimov had (and hopefully continues to have) on society. I remember reading "the World of Carbon" and not being able to put it down -- a non-fiction organic chemistry book! The high quality and sheer volume of work he output are each impressive on their own, but combined are astounding.

      thread

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