From caveman to chemist : circumstances and achievements / by Hugh W. Salzberg.

Washington, DC : American Chemical Society, 1991.

xix, 294 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Ancient technology : the roots of chemistry -- Hellenic chemical science -- The Hellenistic and Roman eras : the rise of alchemy -- Islamic alchemy -- Medieval and Renaissance European artisans -- Medieval and Renaissance alchemists and natural philosophers -- Medieval and Renaissance medicine and medical alchemy -- The information explosion -- Changing the frame of reference : the undermining of the scientific establishment -- The first chemists : Sala, Van Helmont, Boyle -- Phlogiston : the last of the old theories -- Lavoisier and the chemical revolution -- Atomic weights and molecular formulas -- Atomic arrangements : organic chemistry -- The divisible atom.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-269) and index.