This week finds my cars in Paris, France. On September 14, 1812 Napoleon entered Moscow in his attempt to conquer Russia. Napoleon’s Grand Armee of over 600,000 in June of 1812 was reduced to fewer than 100,000 by December of 1812 during his retreat. Russia had adopted a scorched earth strategy to deny the French army of supplies. One theory proposed for Napoleon’s defeat is the disintegration of the tin buttons on the French soldiers uniforms. In extreme cold tin turns into a powdery substance and the tin buttons on the uniforms fell off, forcing the French soldiers to have to hold their coats closed with their hands, hampering their ability to fight. “Napoleon’s Buttons” is a great chemistry book about 17 molecules that changed history.
