David Knight is a writer. He lives in Colorado.

Modern chemistry, so alarming, so necessary, so ubiquitous, became a mature science in nineteenth-century Europe. As it developed, often from a lowly position in medicine or in industry, so chemists established themselves as professional men; but differently in different countries. In 1820 chemistry was an autonomous science of great prestige but chemists had no corporate identity. It was 1840 before national chemical societies were first formed; and many countries lagged fifty years behind. Chemists are the largest of scientific groups; and in this 1998 book we observe the social history of chemistry in fifteen countries, ranging from the British Isles to Lithuania and Greece. There are regularities and similarities; and by describing how national chemical professions emerged under particular economic and social circumstances, the book contributes significantly to European history of science.