Elixir tells the story of two dissenters—chemists who redrew the boundary between life and nonlife. In the 1830s, Édouard Laugier and Auguste Laurent worked at Laugier Père et Fils, the oldest perfume house in Paris. By day, they prepared the perfumery’s revitalizing elixirs and rejuvenating eaux. In their spare time, they hunted the vital force underlying life itself. Their ideas, roundly condemned by established chemists, led to the discovery of structural differences between naturally occurring molecules and their synthetic counterparts.
Scientists still can’t explain this anomaly, but it may point to critical insights concerning the origins of life. Rich in sparks and smells, brimming with eccentric characters, experimental audacity, and the romance of the Bohemian salon, Elixir gives a fascinating tour of the alchemical revelations that shaped nineteenth-century Paris—and the modern world. Paperback, 320 pages.
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