The Book Prize Index

Chemicals and Society: A Guide to the New Chemical Age

Hugh D. Crone

This book surveys the use, abuse and misuse of chemicals in our society. The disaster at Bhopal, the use of Agent Orange and chemical warfare in the Gulf all provide sobering, if sensational, examples of the potential dangers of chemicals, whilst the invidious accumulation of a wide range of chemicals in the environment is attracting increased publicity if not informed debate. Hugh Crone redresses this balance by providing a scientific yet accessible account of the benefits and risks of the increasing use of chemicals in society, whether they are used as drugs, food additives, herbicides or simply enter the environment as by-products of an industrial society. He describes how chemicals gain entry to the body and how their toxicity is assessed; particular examples are studied in detail to illustrate the complexities of the issues involved; other chapters consider chemical warfare and disarmament, the safe handling of chemicals and the problems of legislation and compensation.

ScienceScience · medium confidenceScience81 signalsLlm Classifier: Science -> ScienceOpen Library: Environmental Health -> Medicine & Public HealthOpen Library: Environmental aspects -> Nature & EnvironmentClimate, Weather & DisasterDisease, Epidemics & DrugsDrugs, Addiction & TreatmentOceans, Rivers & Water

Award History

1 wins · 1 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Phi Beta Kappa Book Awards: Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science1987WinnerOfficial source
View all award history (1)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  2. 02 Central places

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

    These suggestions did not meet the normal display threshold and are more likely to be wrong.

    • Bhopal55%
    • the Gulf40%

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.

    This suggestion did not meet the normal display threshold and is more likely to be wrong.

    The risks and benefits of chemicals in society can be understood through scientific, accessible accounts of how chemicals act, enter the body, and are assessed for toxicity, balancing dangers with their uses.

    Model confidence 52%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    45 / 100 academic

    Trade / academic crossover

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 77%.