Half a million years ago our ancestors learned to make fire from scratch. They crafted intricate tools from stone and brewed mind-altering elixirs from honey. Their descendants transformed clay into pottery, wool into clothing, and ashes into cleansers. In ceramic crucibles they won metal from rock, the metals lead to colored glazes and glass. Buildings of brick and mortar enshrined books of parchment and paper. Kings and queens demanded ever more colorful clothing and accessories in order to out-class clod-hoppers and call-girls. Kingdoms rose and fell by the power of saltpeter, sulfur, and...

"Scientific Soapmaking" bridges the gap between the technical and craft literature. It explains the chemistry of fats, oils, and soaps, and teaches sophisticated analytical techniques that can be carried out using equipment and materials familiar to makers of handcrafted soap.