The rainbow makers

This is a detailed historical reinterpretation of the most remarkable science-based activity of the nineteenth century, that of inventing coal tar-based synthetic dyestuffs, and of devising new routes to dyes previously obtained from natural sources, such as roots and leaves. These pursuits upturned existing traditions in the preparation and use of dyes, and created a new, and broader, tradition in which scientific knowledge became a powerful tool in the growth and control of technology. Cited frequently, but analyzed rarely, the rise of the synthetic dyestuffs industry and the nature of its…