Description

A FINANCIAL TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR
A STRONG WORDS TOP 50 BOOKS OF THE YEAR

‘Dizzying and fragrant . . . truly a captivating achievement!’ Aimee Nezhukumatathil

‘If you read this book you will be changed . . . this book feels like an actual elixir’ Kiese Laymon

‘A fascinating tale of discovery, wonder, and revolution’ Matthew Stanley

Two friends in a Parisian perfume shop make a discovery that will transform our understanding of the world and the origins of life on Earth forever.

Set amidst the unforgettable sights and smells of 18th and 19th Century Paris, Elixir tells the story of Edouard Laugier and Auguste Laurent, the son of a perfumer and a fellow aspiring chemist, who met on the Left Bank while pursuing their passion for science.

Spurned by the scientific establishment, the pair ended up working out of Edouard’s family perfume shop, Laugier pere et fils. By day they prepared the revitalizing elixirs and rejuvenating eaux it was famous for, but by night using the ingredients of the perfumery and the principles of alchemy, they pursued the secret of life itself.

Elixir reads like a novel, brimming with eccentric characters, experimental daring, and the romance of the Bohemian salon. It is the story of a long-standing scientific puzzle and the struggle to gain acceptance for a new way of thinking about the building blocks of living matter long after those who discovered it were both dead. Yet this is also a story of hope and determination. For while the scientific establishment ridiculed their work at the time, teenage lab assistant Louis Pasteur took it seriously and over the course of an exceptional career, was able to show that their work pointed to a deep, inexplicable asymmetry in the molecular arrangement of living things – an unexplained asymmetry which remains one of science’s great mysteries.

Publisher Review

If you read this book you will be changed. For those of us who make a living assembling words to describe smells, this book feels like an actual elixir. Absolutely stunning -- Kiese Laymon, MacArthur Fellow and author of 'Heavy: An American Memoir' Dizzying and fragrant with elegant and riveting sentences, Levitt takes us on a most fascinating journey from the bloody revolutions to the chemistry labs of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century France, all to glimpse the glorious pursuit of scent. Truly a captivating achievement! -- Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of 'World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments' "Here is where the story begins," promises Levitt at the end of her prologue, and though it's only page four, already we're hooked. Who knew that the history of perfume would incorporate not only alchemy, botany, and fermentation, but intrigue, secrets, and scandal? This thoroughly researched tale is also thoroughly gripping and thoroughly readable. Elixir is a fabulous accomplishment -- - Beth Ann Fennelly, Poet Laureate of Mississippi and author of 'Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs' Elixir is a fascinating tale of discovery, wonder, and revolution. Beautifully written and deeply researched, it shows how the paths to artificial dyes, bottled soda, and Pasteur's breakthrough all ran through a humble perfume shop. With remarkable historical and literary skill, Levitt reveals how the quest to supply queenly scents and Napoleon's bathwater ended up interrogating the most profound questions of life and death -- Matthew Stanley, author of 'Einstein's War: How Relativity Triumphed Amid the Vicious Nationalism of World War I' As Paris was rocked by waves of revolutionary zeal and lines blurred between cosmetics and medicines, two ambitious young chemists raced to investigate if there was something special - even unique - about matter that came from living things. A riveting read! -- David Kaiser, author of 'Quantum Legacies: Dispatches from an Uncertain World' At a time when the boundaries between scientists, salesmen, and charlatans were as blurry as productive, Levitt describes how investigations about health and hygiene were inseparable from the desire to smell good. The laboratories that gave us modern chemistry were not places where the disturbances of the outside world were kept out, but rather where they were welcomed in to be distilled and repackaged in their most intoxicating form. This highly original work shows us that scientific truth is not only messier than we have previously considered it to be - it is smellier -- Jimena Canales, author of 'Bedeviled: A Shadow History of Demons in Science'