One of my favourite books is Napoleon's Buttons, a corollary between the affect of chemistry (I know, it sounds boring already) to our history and present. The name of the book refers to one chapter that links the possibility that the chemical used for the buttons, to help fasten the clothing of his army, was inferior and broke during Napoleon's winter attack on Russia. Charles Minard's brilliantly illustrates a schematic of the dwindling size of the army as it advances and eventually retreats.
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