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This remarkable six-volume set covers chemistry's history from antiquity to modern times and includes comprehensive articles that focus mainly on Western science with an emphasis on the role of early information exchanges from the Middle East, northern Africa, India, and China. The chapters and volumes can be read independently. The opening volume describes, for example, a treatise on chemical instrumentation written 2,000 years ago by the alchemist known as Mary the Jewess (Egypt), who discussed the consequences of using fire in performing chemical transformations such as glassmaking, dyeing, and metalworking. The final volume on chemistry in the "modern age" comprises, as expected, the description of a more diverse set of individual scientists and their use of state-of-the-art instrumentation that has facilitated a deeper understanding of the structure of molecules, the chemical bond, biochemistry, materials, and environmental science than was possible earlier. Much of modern activity and many common products are attributed to chemical innovation. As the "central" science, chemistry is a fascinating subject that provides the molecular basis of several related disciplines, including medicine, biology, and physics. Learning about the history of chemistry through this outstanding set will also provide an interesting starting point for obtaining information regarding the origins of the associated disciplines.Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. Students in two-year technical programs. General readers.