Sciencemadness Discussion Board

A writing idea

plante1999 - 15-12-2013 at 16:04

I just started writing a text about self reliance in home chemistry and wanted to know if people had interested in it. The PDF would be free for download, but donations would be welcomed as usual.

Here is an outline of the content of the book, take none that some words may seem miss used or odd, please advice me in that case.

The Glodeism, a treatise about self reliance in home chemistry

-Preface

Chapter 1: Motivations
1.1-Regulations
1.2-Costs/Availability
1.3-Personal reward
1.4-Variety of reagents
1.5-Self reliance

Chapter 2: Limiting aspects
2.1-Storage
2.2-Investment in equipment
2.3-Chemical engineering knowledge
2.4-Machining
2.5-Feed stock in bulk

Chapter 3: Considerations
3.1-Energy
3.2-Fuel
3.3-Water
3.4-Waste water
3.5-Economics and scale of the system


Chapter 4: Choice of feed stock
4.1-Mineral/Ore/rocks
4.2-Sea water
4.3-Biomass
4.4-Scrap
4.5-Basic heavy chemicals

Chapter 5: Equipment
5.1-Material of construction
5.2-Design
5.3-Catalysts
5.4-Ergonomics
5.5-Economics

Chapter 6: Storage
6.1-Liquid vs solid vs gas vs solution
6.2-Storage temperature
6.3-Unused chemicals
6.4-Ergonomics
6.5-Container

Chapter 7: Choice of heavy chemical to manufacture
7.1-Acids
7.2-Bases
7.3-Oxidizers
7.4-Reducers
7.5-Organics

Chapter 8: Case study 1, partial self reliance
8.1-Feed stock
8.2-Heavy chemical produced
8.3-Equipment needed
8.4-Energy, water, and waste management
8.5-Economics and space requirement

Chapter 9: Case study 2, total self reliance
9.1-Feed stock
9.2-Heavy chemical produced
9.3-Equipment needed
9.4-Energy, water, and waste management
9.5-Economics and space requirement

-Index

So, what do you think?

LanthanumK - 15-12-2013 at 17:57

Start off with a summary of each chapter. Expand each chapter when site members express interest. Otherwise you might spend much time creating a huge document that no one reads.

NexusDNA - 15-12-2013 at 18:32

This would be great and very useful for the amateur who just got into the universe of home experimentation, like many new members. After all, isn't that what SM.org is about? It would undoubtedly be helpful, and I think many would download it.

Also I personally like the pool feature. Don't you stop making them. :P

cyanureeves - 15-12-2013 at 19:02

Glodepedia or maybe Glodestry! UTFSE will be replaced with RTGM (redirect to Glode manual). just like finishing.com always directs newbies to plater's books and manuals to keep from repeating the same answers over and over,actually they advertise.LanthanumK is way ahead and has a good point.the book of Alchglodesmy,Glodesmology analog!

WGTR - 15-12-2013 at 20:31

From reading through the different experiments that you've done, I believe that you'd be capable
of writing something like this. I appreciate the self-reliant focus of the idea, as I lean in this
direction myself.

Before going much further, it might help you to clarify who your intended audience is, and what
skills/finances they are expected to have. Ideally, a book like this should be useful to a wide variety
of people. For example, if there is any lathe or mill work required, this puts an experiment
beyond the abilities of most amateur experimenters.

If all the collective experiments in the book could be done with, say, less than a few hundred dollars
worth of capital investment, and widely available materials, then this could be a major point of interest,
and provide a book that is unique among its peers. An added bonus would be if most of the
experiments could be done with the same basic setups. For example, a furnace (electric, gas,
or whatever) could be configured to act as a kiln (quicklime production); a vertical glass tube
running through it could turn it into a catalytic bead string reactor (aldehyde production); a
test tube inserted through the top could enable its use for the pyrolysis of organic acid salts (alkane
production, or ketones from calcium/barium acetate); etc. Of course, these are just my opinions,
and may be worth no more than what you paid for them. In any case, have fun! If you put a
few years worth of work into it, then it's something that I might buy. There are few things more
satisfying to me than a book that lays everything right out there, with pictures and full
documentation, and that makes me feel so much like I'm already doing the experiments that
I have to get up and try them myself.

elementcollector1 - 15-12-2013 at 21:56

What, no one else would donate?

@WGTR, reading this, I think it could work better as a collaborative effort, much like bfesser's Topical Compendium.

I would love to contribute to some of these topics. Especially 4-1.

Mailinmypocket - 16-12-2013 at 08:10

What about merging your idea with bromicacids' book on home chemistry that already has some content? That would give you a good head start to build on and maybe some ideas as well... I only say this because the two book projects are very similar in their goals, although yours has more specific topics.

kristofvagyok - 16-12-2013 at 09:55

This sounds good, but I would also say, that it would be better to write A good book and not 5163034 books. So bromic acids book could be a good start for this. With a little collaboration, something really good could form from these.

If a few chapter is needed in organic/inorganic chemistry or some experimental chemistry, I could also help a bit. And if anything is needed to be illustrated with 1-2-3-5 picture, then let me know(:

P.S.: The donations are not as easy to get, so if this book would be written, I would say, that 1% of the donatiions would come in, than what you would expect.

plante1999 - 16-12-2013 at 11:11

I'm not against collaborative work, but by experience, theses tend to be inconstant with varying English level and syntax. If it where to be a collaborative project I would propose to make a short summary of each chapter, so the writer can have the idea. I would then take a look to see if the writer got the idea, for example, if someone that was writing the chapter 9 wrote that in that case the chemist would have to buy all there chemicals from alrdrich, I would ask him to re-write it. Then someone would check for syntax, change the level of English and correct the mistakes. And a final checkup could be done and the file uploaded

Hope people get my point.

As for merging the books, I don't the two have the same "mood" and subject really.

plante1999 - 17-12-2013 at 09:39

If it is ok for everyone, I will start writing the first chapter. It may help people get the idea of the text.

Marvin - 17-12-2013 at 10:35

Just a suggestion, write the meat first. Motivation/Morals/Philosophy leave till last. That way it's immediately useful for it's technical content. Too many projects run out of steam with only fluff and an introduction intended for beginners.

Magpie - 17-12-2013 at 12:03

We already have a great deal of information, albeit dispersed, in the forum about how to get reagents & equipment, how to build a lab, and how to do the chemistry.

The aspect of this hobby that really bothers me is the acceptance (and lack thereof) by the public and the authorities. It is fluid and varies with the locale, etc. You really never know quite where you stand. I know this is a difficult subject to address.

AJKOER - 22-12-2013 at 18:19

While self reliance means implies independent, I am not quite sure if one can be actually independent in one choice of chemical equipment, chemicals,..if the very nature of acquisition of said is constrained/influenced/discouraged by negative popular opinion and restrictive local laws (and possibly also on a larger scale).

To be honest, I am concerned as having served on several occasions on jury duty, the magnitude of scientific and general ignorance, I have encountered is amazing. This reflects most likely country specific education success, or lack thereof, for its general population. To ignore this fact is to place oneself in legal peril, not because you did or will ever do anything improper, but making nearly any compound could be interpreted as suspicious by one so lacking in education.

A chapter on this social issue, a real constraint, is certainly warranted in my opinion. Prepare compounds in only small amounts and consume rapidly. Avoid certain chemicals that could be used in illicit manners (I know, stupid and very restrictive, but perhaps necessary).

Mr_Magnesium - 22-12-2013 at 19:42

a remember a few members were working on this

http://www.bromicacid.com/bookprogress.htm

I have a copy of it but there are some parts that can be touched up and its missing a few sections. I wonder if anyone is still working on it but you would maybe put your idea and the half completed book together?

just a suggestion :)

Eddygp - 23-12-2013 at 08:26

Quote: Originally posted by Mr_Magnesium  
a remember a few members were working on this

http://www.bromicacid.com/bookprogress.htm

I have a copy of it but there are some parts that can be touched up and its missing a few sections. I wonder if anyone is still working on it but you would maybe put your idea and the half completed book together?

just a suggestion :)


I had almost forgotten it! I'm not sure if anyone is still writing it, but if there's any information, it could be used. Indeed, plante could merge his idea with the book.

By the way, has anyone heard of Bromic Acid recently?

Brain&Force - 23-12-2013 at 15:51

Pardon my ignorance, but what does glodeism mean? Google turns up nothing but this thread.

You may want to include a chapter for safety and how to abort dangerous experiments to ease the minds of worried parents. Luckily, BromicAcid's book already has this section. It would be an interesting idea to integrate the topical compendium into the book - copying working procedures, organized by element/ion/structure.

BromicAcid last logged in more than a week ago. He should be around.

I'd be happy to help with anything regarding transition metals/lanthanides/coordination chemistry/redox. That is, if I have time...

Mailinmypocket - 23-12-2013 at 17:25

I have no idea what glodeism is either... Is this a new term?

elementcollector1 - 23-12-2013 at 17:44

Aborting experiments would be good - specifically, how *not* to take apart a condenser apparatus. I've gotten my pants soaked more than once.

I'm not sure if we have to request to do or contribute to a certain section, so I'm going to go ahead and work on 4.1 anyway.

All I found for Glodeism was some "Alfabecedar" by Paul Goma - which I can't open nor read.

plante1999 - 23-12-2013 at 18:03

It is indeed a term I made myself, on the analogy of the book written by Karl Marx. Both work talk about concept that are utopias...


Francis Glode is my name, I bet you can make the link now ha ha.

I started writing the first chapter today. Will take longer then thought...

FlashDelirium - 28-12-2013 at 14:46

This is exactly the sort of book I need! Please continue working on the Glodepedia. :)

Random - 28-12-2013 at 15:48

Quote: Originally posted by Magpie  
We already have a great deal of information, albeit dispersed, in the forum about how to get reagents & equipment, how to build a lab, and how to do the chemistry.

The aspect of this hobby that really bothers me is the acceptance (and lack thereof) by the public and the authorities. It is fluid and varies with the locale, etc. You really never know quite where you stand. I know this is a difficult subject to address.


Exactly. This is one of my hobbies that made me seem like basement psychopath. I try to avoid doing this activity when others are watching so I washed my equipment and done some experiments at like 3 am few times. Not a good idea, few of my neighbours who probably have some sleep problems themselves thought I was doing something real bad. Had a bad reputation for a while among them and it was hard to fix that. People always see you as a weirdo. I'm really sad that we live in so limited society. But it's not the problem in this there are many problems in multiple aspects of it. Seems like being active means that you are a health freak by now and eating a normal healthy diet free of soda should earn you a trip to psychyatrist. Where are we heading..

[Edited on 28-12-2013 by Random]

FlashDelirium - 28-12-2013 at 16:04

Quote: Originally posted by elementcollector1  
What, no one else would donate?


I spend much of my money on books as it is. However, a book like this simply isn't on the market. I'd be hesitant to donate during the early stages, but I would cheerfully donate more than a nominal amount once the project is done.

Additonally, if donations seem unlikely, perhaps self-publishing is another worthwhile option? I am sure many SM newcomers would pay money. I know I would!