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1-Page Summary of Napoleon’s Buttons

Overview

The flap of a butterfly’s wings in one place can cause a tsunami elsewhere. What if that were true for the entire world? If even the slightest change could alter history, what would happen to our current society and culture?

It may sound farfetched, but as we’ll see, even minute factors have had a massive impact on our history. This has been the result of inventions and modifications from a few people whose ideas came to revolutionize the way we interact with our world.

This passage explains three key points about citrus fruit, gin and tonic, and witchcraft. It says that citrus fruits were essential tools for explorers because they kept them healthy on long journeys; gin and tonic was once seen as a medication because it cured headaches; and witchcraft can still cure your headache.

Big Idea #1: Chemistry has had a major impact on the course of history.

What do you remember from your high school chemistry class? You probably learned about the periodic table and electrons, but it’s unlikely that you were taught anything about the impact of molecules on history.

Napoleon’s army lost a battle in Russia because of the buttons on their uniforms.

Napoleon’s army was very large when it went to war against Russia in 1812. By the end of that year, the number of soldiers had been reduced by half because they were killed in battle and died from starvation and cold.

There is a theory that explains the collapse of the army. It says that tin buttons were to blame for soldiers’ clothes falling apart when it got cold, and this made them unable to fight effectively.

Napoleon’s army was transformed into skeletons by tin disease, and the transformation could be explained by chemistry. Chemistry also explains why some of Napoleon’s soldiers were described as ghosts wrapped in hole-riddled carpets and cloaks. Furthermore, changes in molecular bonds can have dramatic consequences on material properties of molecules.

For example, cotton is made of cellulose and grows better in humid climates. The moisture helps the fibers stick together, making it less likely to split during weaving. As a result, northern England became an ideal place for the expansion of the cotton industry because rain improved production and turned this part of the country into an industrial powerhouse. With that came factories with bad working conditions which led to legislation improving working conditions.

Big Idea #2: New York would still be called New Amsterdam if it weren’t for a seventeenth-century battle over nutmeg.

There was a time when spices were so valuable that they could buy people’s freedom. In fact, there were many spices that led to exploration and wars. However, none was more popular than nutmeg.

For example, nutmeg was a spice that led to a conflict between the Dutch and English. The Dutch wanted to trade for Run Island, but they had trouble growing it in their country.

However, this island was under the control of the English, who had also recently taken over the Dutch colony on Manhattan Island. In retaliation, the Dutch attacked some ships that were carrying precious cargo belonging to England’s East India Company.

A war broke out after a treaty was signed. The Dutch got Run and the English took Manhattan Island, which at that time was an unassuming island. However, during this time, nutmeg had become a popular spice used for cooking because of its ability to preserve food and prevent disease like the Black Death.

Nutmeg has a distinctive smell, and people in the Middle Ages believed that it would protect them from disease. They wore pouches filled with nutmeg around their necks to ward off illness. Since the plague was carried by fleas on rats, people may have been right to wear those necklaces because they contained chemicals that deterred insects and rodents.