[Creeber]

I recently read "The Big Bang" which chronicled the history of astrophysics from ancient times to modern times.  It explained how the discoveries occurred.  How the ancient Greeks measured the earth, etc.

Is there a similar book about chemistry?

How experiments were conducted without modern equipment and so forth.

Hopefully written for non-chemists but for someone with a basic understanding of general science.

Thanks.

[megatyler30]

I know this isn't exactly the thing you are looking for but it's the closest thing I could think of, it's called The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean. It's more so about stories and the history of the periodic table and elements.

[cltyler]

You could also try "a short history of chemistry" by Isaac Asimov.

[Babcock_Hall]

The History of Chemistry by John Hudson (1992) looks as if has a good deal of information on the early history of chemistry.