A Philatelic Ramble through Chemistry. E. Heilbronner and F.A. Miller. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH, 2004, 278 pp., $89.95, softcover. ISBN 3-906390-31-4.

Abstract

Perhaps a more accurate title would be “A Philatelic Ramble through Chemistry, Physics and Physical Chemistry”. According to Ernest Rutherford (subsequently, Lord Rutherford): “Science is Physics; everything else is stamp collecting.” I wonder who should feel more offended, the non-physicist scientist or the philatelist. This book is divided into nine chapters: Greek and Chinese chemistry and alchemy; alchemy, the chemistry of the Middle Ages; inorganic chemistry, discovery of the elements; organic chemistry; physical and theoretical chemistry; spectroscopy; x-ray structure analysis; technical chemistry; and miscellaneous topics. A stamp identification list and name and subject indexes are also included. Beautifully illustrated with more than 1000 colored pictures of stamps, the book is a voyage in the history of the students of chemistry and their discoveries as can be found in postage stamps issued by nations. This book is not a mere directory of scientists and their discoveries; …