Organometallics 2011, 30, 195–195 DOI: 10.1021/om101133f
195
Book Reviews from Paradise Book reviews were published quite frequently in the early years of Organometallics. The Founding Editor, Dietmar Seyferth, authored 39 of them himself. However, this activity has more recently fallen by the wayside. In this issue, book reviews are reintroduced, but with a high bar to be met. It is our intent to restrict coverage to books that would be of direct use to the majority of our readers. This would encompass textbooks, compendia, and possibly a few types of monographs. However, it stops short of titles such as “The Organometallic Chemistry of Element X”. Over the last 18 months, 4 new textbooks of organometallic chemistry have appeared, both as original works and updated editions of existing texts. It was decided to review them en masse, and the journal was fortunate that a group of three colleagues at the University of Hawaii agreed to undertake this service. This approach facilitated cross-discussion of the relative strengths and weaknesses of each, providing greater than usual depth of analysis. But regardless of any relative ranking, we should collectively thank all of the textbook authors for their efforts on behalf of our community. As an aside, note that all of these texts deal with transition-metal organometallic chemistry. Thus, there remains a need for analogous texts that do justice to the current excitement involving main-group organometallic chemistry. Perhaps it will be possible to review a text on this subject in a future issue. Let us return to the authors of the book reviews. As a partial compensation for their efforts, they were collectively awarded our second author-designed cover, which in addition to highlighting aspects of their research programs includes the eye-catching byline “Chemistry in Paradise”. It is an interesting exercise to consider in which other Chemistry Department one might be able to find three vigorously practicing organometallic chemists whose works regularly appear in this journal. Taken to another level, the question becomes this: in what Department, Institute, or comparable academic unit worldwide does one find very high absolute numbers of organometallic chemists? The Editors are curious about this point and are happy to receive private communications, including self-serving or boastful ones. A related question would be “In which Department or unit can be found the highest number of corresponding authors who have published in Organometallics?” As a final point, there is an abundance of individual awards sponsored by Chemical Societies worldwide, including the publisher of this journal. However, there are few collective awards that honor the excellence and effectiveness of teams of chemists. What might be done to recognize and promote Departments or Institutes where organometallic chemistry prospers? Criteria might include the breadth of principal investigators, the quality/impact of their research, their service to the field, and intangibles such as teamwork and upward momentum. Would this be useful for enhancing intramural or other support for such Departments or units? Said differently, could this prompt Deans, Provosts, and similar University officials to release new resources to or otherwise reward the awardees? These and related ideas will be debated at upcoming meetings of our Editors and Advisory Board, and input from readers is welcome.
John A. Gladysz Editor in Chief
r 2010 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 12/31/2010
pubs.acs.org/Organometallics
