The Chemistry of Fear: Harvey Wiley's Fight for Pure Food by Jonathan Rees (review)

Jonathan Rees's The Chemistry of Fear: Harvey Wiley's Fight for Pure Food is interested in a well-known person of the history of food and its regulation in the United States, Dr. Harvey W. Wiley. As chief chemist and director of the Division of Chemistry in the United States Department of Agriculture, Wiley had a leading role in the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Is he really the father of this law? Rees provides an answer to this question by showing all the complexity of his character and the evolution of his opinions throughout his career, including his activism at Good Housekeeping magazine after retirement.

Organized into fourteen thematic chapters, the book traces Wiley's life through a selection of eleven iconic battles in defense of Pure Food. A biographical approach is developed to trace the years of his scientific training, the conditions of his retirement, and, finally, his actions as editor at Good Housekeeping. The concluding chapter attempts to determine Wiley's mistakes, successes, and legacy, in particular with regard to current research on food additives.

The book is well documented: it is based on previous biographies and a number of books on the history of food in the United States that Rees crosses with archives, including the correspondence of Wiley. The landscape thus reconstructed is convincing and we move pleasantly from one case to another to discover the actors whose roles become more complex over time.

The introduction poses the ambition of the book and its stakes. The author's decision to use a thematic approach—Honey, Sugar Beets, Adulterated Food, Meat, Pure Food, Whiskey, Enforcement, Saccharin and Ketchup, Drugs, Bleached Flour and Baking Powder, and Coca-Cola—offers the advantage of being able to read each chapter separately. It highlights the pivotal moments in Wiley's life that led him to take the helm of the Division of Chemistry and then to become the voice of the Pure Food movement. Each case is put into perspective from the point of view of the economic and technical stakes specific to each period, and the actor-based approach reflects the balance of power in place under the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt.

Rees questions the positions taken by Wiley and tries to qualify the judgments made about him over time. The book emphasizes very clearly the importance gradually taken by consumer associations and their consideration by Wiley.

Although this statement is convincing, a certain frustration emerges over the course of the reading. Chemistry was, until World War I, dominated by German industry, and it was no coincidence that Wiley chose to train in Germany. A polyglot, he traveled regularly to Europe throughout his career, as stated in the book, but nothing is known about the places he went to and the people he met. However, the question of food additives and the regulation of agribusiness was the subject of much work in Europe at that time. Which scientific networks did Wiley belong to? What influence was exerted on him by this means?

The Division of Chemistry, headed by Wiley, is a kind of black box where a unique expertise in toxicology was developed at that time. A chapter could have been devoted to it to understand how it works. Its growth was exponential, from 20 employees in 1897 to 110 in 1906, with the establishment of one organization per division in 1905. This laboratory has benefited from exemplary resources, but we know little about its operating methods and the nature and work of the employees. The question of methodology became increasingly important at this time: How did Wiley manage this evolution? Was it influenced by the German model? The conditions of experimentation are at the heart of the criticisms of experts from opposing camps.

Finally, the chapter devoted to Wiley's activity at Good Housekeeping is quite interesting because it makes it possible to understand Wiley's gradual shift on subjects...