Salt [[electronic resource] ] : grain of life / / by Pierre Laszlo ; translated by Mary Beth Mader

• Autore: Laszlo Pierre
• Pubblicazione: New York, : Columbia University Press, c2001
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (232 p.)
• Disciplina: 553.6/3
• Soggetto topico: Salt - History
• Altri autori: MaderMary Beth
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. [173]-193).
• Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- One. Salt-cured foods -- Two. Nomads -- Three. Harvesting -- Four. Abuse of Power -- Five. Biology -- Six. Other Science Insights -- Seven. Myths -- Conclusion. Ethics And Politics -- Afterword. The Union of Earth and Sea -- Notes
• Sommario/riassunto: For the sake of salt, Rome created a system of remuneration (from which we get the word "salary"), nomads domesticated the camel, the Low Countries revolted against their Spanish oppressors, and Gandhi marched against the tyranny of the British. Through the ages, salt has conferred status, preserved foods, and mingled in the blood, sweat, and tears of humanity. Today, chefs of haute cuisine covet it in its most exotic forms-underground salt deposits, Hawaiian black lava salt, glittery African crystals, and pink Peruvian salt from the sea carried in bricks on the backs of llamas.From proverbs to technical arguments, from anecdotes to examples of folklore, chemist and philosopher Pierre Laszlo takes us through the kingdom of "white gold." With "enthusiasm and freshness" (Le Monde) he mixes literary analysis, history, anthropology, biology, physics, economics, art history, political science, chemistry, ethnology, and linguistics to create a full body of knowledge about the everyday substance that rocked the world and brings zest to the ordinary. Laszlo explains the history behind Morton Salt's slogan "When it rains, it pours!" and looks into the plight of the salt miner, as well as spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance. Salt is a tour de force about a chemical compound that is one of the very foundations of civilization.
• Titolo autorizzato: Salt
• ISBN: 1-280-59823-9; 9786613628060; 0-231-51131-0
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910779046003321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II
• Serie: Arts and traditions of the table.