How Does Chemistry Impact Life?

 What was your experience with chemistry like in high school?  Have you ever considered how life skills like cooking utilize chemistry?  These are qualities that I had never considered.  In the book Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus explores this through the character of Elizabeth Zott.  This is her story: 

About the Book: 

"Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo." (amazon.com)

My Thoughts: 

I really enjoyed this book!  The story had a slow start!  It does pick up after the initial pages.  I loved Elizabeth Zott because she says all the things women of the 1950s wished they could speak and have no repercussions.    I also loved that the story was told from the dog Six-Thirty’s point of view. The story was sad but also hilarious.  One of the themes to me is that you never know where life will take you.  I sadly did not pick up much chemistry.  I look forward to watching the Apple TV adaptation of the book. 

Rating: 

4.5/5

Buy Links:

Amazon Bookshop.org Books-a-Million