Elixir
A Parisian Perfume House and the Quest for the Secret of Life
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Narrated by:
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Esther Wane
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By:
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Theresa Levitt
About this listen
For centuries, scientists believed that living matter possessed a special quality—a spirit or essence—that differentiated it from nonliving matter. But by the nineteenth century, the scientific consensus was that the building blocks of one were identical to the building blocks of the other. Elixir tells the story of two young chemists who were not convinced, and how their work rewrote the boundary between life and nonlife.
In the 1830s, Édouard Laugier and Auguste Laurent were working in Laugier Pere et Fils, the oldest perfume house in Paris. By day they prepared the perfumery's revitalizing elixirs and rejuvenating eaux, drawing on alchemical traditions that equated a plant's vitality with its aroma. In their spare time they hunted the vital force that promised to reveal the secret to life itself. Their ideas, roundly condemned by established chemists, led to the discovery of structural differences between naturally occurring molecules and their synthetic counterparts, even when the molecules were chemically identical.
Scientists still can't explain this anomaly, but it may point to critical insights concerning the origins of life on Earth. Rich in sparks and smells, brimming with eccentric characters, experimental daring, and the romance of the Bohemian salon, Elixir is a fascinating cultural and scientific history.
©2023 Theresa Levitt (P)2023 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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The Los Angeles Times headline screamed: Rocket Scientist Killed in Pasadena Explosion. The man known as Jack Parsons, a maverick rocketeer who helped transform a derided sci-fi plotline into actuality, was at first mourned as a scientific prodigy. But reporters soon uncovered a more shocking story: Parsons had been a devotee of the city’s occult scene.
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Finally on Audible!
- By Jason N on 05-16-19
By: George Pendle
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Perfume
- The Alchemy of Scent
- By: Jean-Claude Ellena
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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To women the whole world over, perfume means glamour, and in the world of perfume, Jean-Claude Ellena is a superstar. In this one-of-a-kind book, the master himself takes you through the doors of his laboratory and explains the process of creating precious fragrances, revealing the key methods and recipes involved in this mysterious alchemy.
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great overview of an industry
- By Frauline on 09-04-18
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The Scientific Revolution: A Captivating Guide to the Emergence of Modern Science During the Early Modern Period, Including Stories of Thinkers Such as Isaac Newton and René Descartes
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Kevin Hung-Liang
- Length: 3 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Ancient cultures have been looking up at the stars for thousands of years, wondering about their place in the universe. What were those glowing spots in the black cover of night? Just how far away was the moon? These and other questions hounded humanity through the millennia until, finally, relative economic stability allowed for a number of people to examine their world more closely. Slowly, knowledge and understanding accumulated generation by generation until the conditions were ideal enough for a revolution to occur in thinking, experimentation, worldview, and natural philosophy.
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Dull and superficial
- By Leonardo Fagundes Fernandino on 12-05-19
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The Invention of Air
- By: Steven Johnson
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling author Steven Johnson recounts - in dazzling, multidisciplinary fashion - the story of the brilliant man who embodied the relationship between science, religion, and politics for America's Founding Fathers. The Invention of Air is a title of world-changing ideas wrapped around a compelling narrative, a story of genius and violence and friendship in the midst of sweeping historical change that provokes us to recast our understanding of the Founding Fathers.
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Good scientific history
- By Roger on 05-03-10
By: Steven Johnson
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Who Built That
- Awe-Inspiring Stories of American Tinkerpreneurs
- By: Michelle Malkin
- Narrated by: Michelle Malkin
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Firebrand conservative columnist, commentator, Internet entrepreneur, and number-one New York Times best-selling author Michelle Malkin tells the fascinating, little-known stories of the inventors who have contributed to American exceptionalism and technological progress.
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Marvelous
- By Susan on 05-27-15
By: Michelle Malkin
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Tesla vs Edison
- A Captivating Guide to the War of the Currents and the Life of Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Human history has seen many surprising and profound turning points. The ways that humans learned to use raw materials to create activity and resources set the stage for the most compelling and life-altering phase of the modern era, the Industrial Revolution. Born during this time on different continents but connected by similar interests, two men indelibly marked their generation and those that followed with their genius and foresight. This audiobook covers the war of currents and the individual lives of Tesla and Edison.
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Arduous
- By Hasbro on 10-22-18
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A History of the World in 6 Glasses
- By: Tom Standage
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout human history, certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola.
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Fun and Informative
- By Stoker on 09-09-11
By: Tom Standage
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Poisons
- From Hemlock to Botox and the Killer Bean Calabar
- By: Peter Macinnis
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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A wide-ranging and provocative look - teeming with little-known facts and engaging stories - at a subject of the direst interest. Poisons permeate our world. They are in the environment, the workplace, the home. They are in food, our favorite whiskey, medicine, well water. They have been used to cure disease as well as incapacitate and kill. They smooth wrinkles, block pain, stimulate, and enhance athletic ability. In this entertaining and fact-filled audiobook, science writer Peter Macinnis considers poisons in all their aspects. He recounts stories of the celebrated poisoners in history and literature....
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#MyNonFictionAddiction
- By IsleWait on 11-07-19
By: Peter Macinnis
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The Joy of Sweat
- The Strange Science of Perspiration
- By: Sarah Everts
- Narrated by: Sophie Amoss
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Sweating may be one of our weirdest biological functions, but it’s also one of our most vital and least understood. In The Joy of Sweat, Sarah Everts delves into its role in the body - and in human history. Everts’ entertaining investigation takes listeners around the world - from Moscow, where she participates in a dating event in which people sniff sweat in search of love, to New Jersey, where companies hire trained armpit sniffers to assess the efficacy of their anti-sweat products. Along the way, Everts traces humanity’s long quest to control sweat.
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Quirky topic, but engaging
- By K. Bachelor on 05-02-22
By: Sarah Everts
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Coffeeland
- One Man's Dark Empire and the Making of Our Favorite Drug
- By: Augustine Sedgewick
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Coffee is an indispensable part of daily life for billions of people around the world - one of the most valuable commodities in the history of global capitalism, the leading source of the world's most popular drug, and perhaps the most widespread word on the planet. Augustine Sedgewick's Coffeeland tells the hidden and surprising story of how this came to be, tracing coffee's 500-year transformation from a mysterious Muslim ritual into an everyday necessity.
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Unfortunately
- By Brian on 06-06-20
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Eye of the Beholder
- Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing
- By: Laura Snyder
- Narrated by: Tamara Marston
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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"See for yourself!" was the clarion call of the 1600s. Natural philosophers threw off the yoke of ancient authority, peered at nature with microscopes and telescopes, and ignited the scientific revolution. Artists investigated nature with lenses and created paintings filled with realistic effects of light and shadow. The hub of this optical innovation was the small Dutch city of Delft.
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Historical book about the evolution of optics through the eyes of two geniuses
- By Memi on 04-12-17
By: Laura Snyder
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Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field
- How Two Men Revolutionized Physics
- By: Nancy Forbes, Basil Mahon
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Two of the boldest and most creative scientists of all time were Michael Faraday (1791-1867) and James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879). This is the story of how these two men - separated in age by 40 years - discovered the existence of the electromagnetic field and devised a radically new theory which overturned the strictly mechanical view of the world that had prevailed since Newton's time.
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Amazing narration of an incredibly well told story
- By Paul de Jong on 03-01-21
By: Nancy Forbes, and others
What listeners say about Elixir
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Damian Konopka
- 11-08-23
Well narrated good story
If I could speak French I would have enjoyed this book more. But all of the history was a good listen.
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- Tia D.
- 12-26-23
Amazing, wish I could find more like it
Devoured this book in the space of several days. I’m currently shopping for a print copy so I can loan it out to every other person I know who are likewise fascinated by the intersection between history, technology, and scientific exploration.
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- Terri Tinkham
- 10-02-23
Misleading title
Too long; a rambling history that desperately needed a good editor.
Narrator excellent and her French was flawless.
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- Mark E. White
- 06-13-23
Thrilling History of Organic Chemistry
You need to know as little about organic chemistry, but very little.
The book is filled with vivid images of the chemists and the races to uncover secrets. Fortunes were made and lost selling ingredients for perfumes and medicine.
I thoroughly enjoyed it—and the welcome escape from our tawdry world where liars and demagogues dictate political agenda and drown out truth seekers.
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46 people found this helpful
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- Sally W. Ramsey
- 10-02-23
A lot to think about
I’m a chemist but this book brought up issues never broached in school. The mysteries remain Although now, we have asteroid dust. Hmm.
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- Bessie Mae
- 10-01-23
I Thought I Would Like It More Than I Did
It's chemistry. It's physics. It's history. It's boring. The title is somewhat misleading for the content. And the offhand mentions of scientists' cruelty to animals are just revolting. This book was not for me.
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- Gypsi
- 10-31-23
Loved This!
Levitt tells the history of the development of organic chemistry in 18th and 19th century France through biographies and anecdotes, with a strong grounding in historical context. The book is accessible to those (like me) with little or no chemistry background, the prose is well-written, and is a delightfully interesting and engaging read.
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- Steven P. Gross
- 10-15-23
Misleading Title
I have to add this book to the very short list of books I purchased and then just couldn't finish. I thought it might be about the current perfume industry, but it is really a chemistry book - and you would need some substantial background to appreciate it!
The narration was good, but the text is loaded with names and places that just don't mean anything to a contemporary US reader. I found it slow and boring, For me, life is just too short to spend time on this book. I wasn't learning anything, just listening to a background of words.
This might be terrific for the right reader but not for a non-chemist, general reader.
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- LORETTA LYNN
- 10-19-23
Painful, long drawn out.
A struggle most definitely to get through!!! Way too much and yet nothing of interest?
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