The Source Book serves as an introduction to present-day chemistry and can also be used as supplementary reading in general chemistry courses, since, in many instances, the papers explain the circumstances under which a particular discovery was made--information that is customarily lacking in textbooks. Although the selections are classified into the usual branches of the science, it will be apparent to the reader how the discoveries in any one branch were taken up and incorporated into others.

Leicester Henry M.:

Henry M. Leicester, who was educated at Stanford University, is Professor of Biochemistry at the University of the Pacific in San Francisco. He is the author of Biochemistry of the Teeth and Historical Background of Chemistry, and is co-editor of A Source Book in Chemistry, 4OO-9OO.