Nice people thread part 8 - worth the wait

vivatifosi

zagubov wrote: »

Yep I think it was the British one that was first and the US one had to change its name.

I read that Baekealnd whio patented Bakelite beat a rival to the patent office by only a couple of hours otherwise it would have ended up with a totally different name. There's a great book Serendipity which I'd recommend everybody read. One course I teach on involves discussing the properties of aspirin (and getting them to make it) and all its health benefits and then discussing the properties of heroin (then NOT making it) and getting them to find out that they were both made by the same process (acetylation) and that stable forms of them were first produced by the same company (and in fact the same person).

That's really interesting, thanks Zag. Had to go away and look it up. Wiki says heroin was a cough remedy. Wow!

zagubov

Viva, I've a gut instinct you'll already know about this, or in the slim chance you don't, you'd find it interesting.

I came across it ages ago in "The Labyrinths of Reason", another book I can't recommend highly enough.:beer:

neverdespairgirl

zagubov wrote: »

Y One course I teach on involves discussing the properties of aspirin (and getting them to make it) and all its health benefits and then discussing the properties of heroin (then NOT making it) and getting them to find out that they were both made by the same process (acetylation) and that stable forms of them were first produced by the same company (and in fact the same person).

I have a vague idea that Normans and later medieval types used willow bark as a drug - isn't that a natural relative of aspirin?

lostinrates

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I have a vague idea that Normans and later medieval types used willow bark as a drug - isn't that a natural relative of aspirin?

Your sister might even tell you it can be a problem...it's. banned substance for FEI and yet grows native....so its not unheard of for people to protest innocence when blood tested

neverdespairgirl

I don't think Normans worried about blood tests - I don't know if my sisters do!

zagubov

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I have a vague idea that Normans and later medieval types used willow bark as a drug - isn't that a natural relative of aspirin?

That's right. The aim of the acetylation was to make it easier to get through membranes and affect target cells. Worked a treat.:beer:

lostinrates

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I don't think Normans worried about blood tests - I don't know if my sisters do!

Isn't one an eventer/competitor under rules?

neverdespairgirl

Yes, the younger one is. I've heard various moans about horse passports and vaccinations, but not blood tests. I might just not have been paying attention, of course! After a certain amount of equine-related conversation, I tune out a bit.

lostinrates

I still get childishly excited by disclosing tablets. I'm just about to chew one to celebrate changing toothbrush heads.

michaels

lostinrates wrote: »

I still get childishly excited by disclosing tablets. I'm just about to chew one to celebrate changing toothbrush heads.

New toothbrush heads - something else on my 100 item to do list

This weekend we have scratched the surface of the decorating, I have laid down a vinyl tile floor in the guest en-suite (lets hope it sticks), squirted some grout/filler, adjusted the door and started removing the junk from the guest room in readiness for the foreign student who arrives on Tuesday. 2 more arrive a week later which means we have to put a second guest bedroom in to action - a bit tricky when another bedroom is out of action being decorated....sounds like all the junk is going back into the room being decorated at which point decorating will have to stop. Sadly DW is a worse hoarder than I am and DKs are also unable to throw anything away however broken/grown out of it is.