Topic: Wilderness Chemistry

[kanzure]

Yesterday, I found Auerbach's Wilderness Medicine text, which is aimed towards producing effective medical professionals when in the outdoors-- past the confines of the hospital or university lab. So, whether the doc is in the forest, or in the middle of the corporate jungle, ideally some action could be taken to improve the well-being of the sickly, diseased, or injured.

Are there any books on wilderness chemistry? Not only would it be important to be able to check what elements make up potential food, but to show friends neat little tricks by quickly picking up dirt and a nearby miscellaneous object to ignite it, or show other cool phenomena, as well as the importance of understanding how to use the materials from the ground, such as ores, when we are not necessarily near our favorite sources of chemical information.

What would you include in a book on wilderness chemistry? What tools would be important to construct? Could anybody synthesize some pest repellant? Lots of ideas here ... guess it would be a step closer to answering what an 'ultimate chemist' should know.

- Bryan

[Astronuc]

I am sure there books on medicinal herbs, plants and fungi, but I am not sure about inorganic chemistry, if that is what one is looking for.