On the whole a pretty good book, especially given the breadth that it took for itself subject-wise.

Originally I expected that this was going to be an annotated history of the elements. "This? This is Hydrogen. It was recognized in the year..." "This? This is Helium. Originally it was discovered on the Sun before it was discovered on Earth..." That sort of thing.

It turned out to be a comprehensive history of chemistry, all the way from pre-pre-pre history to our present time. This would probably be an exceptional book in every High School Library.