Roger Adams, Sclentlsl and Statesman D. Stanley TarbeM and Ann Tracy TarbeN, American Chemical Society. Washington, DC. 1981. 240 pp. Figs. and tables. 17 X 24 cm. Most organic chemists will relate t o Roger Adams as the first editor of "Organic Syntheses." However, the influence of Adams goes far beyond this publication. As a member, beginning in 1918, and later as chairman (192654) of the Department of Chemistry a t the University of Illinois. Adams played a significant role in the emergence of organic chemistry in the United States. Adams will be best remembered for makine " the Universitv of Illinois one of the oremier centerr o i organic chemistry re~earch and training of grdduate srudrnts. Adams himselfwas especially proud of thegraduace students he trained, a high proportion of whom went on t o careers in industry. These contacts ultimately led to closer ties between industrial and academic research. Adam's most memorable training program was the summer "organic prep" laboratory developed during World War I to synthesize chemicals no longer available from Germany. This activity eventually resulted in the publication of "Organic Syntheses." Although this hook provides ample daeumentation for Adam's scientific and aeademic career, what emerges on the whole is a picture of him as a human being. For examole. while one cannot minimize Adam's contributions t o the reestablishment of the seientifie communities in Germany and Japan after World War 11,they do not seem t o be of suchmagnitude that they would qualify him as a "atatesmann-at least compared with some of his contemporaries in organic chemistry like James. B. Conant. Nevertheless, this biography is not without interest, especiallv t o those amane us who share Adam's d e d i a t i m to the e d k t i m of students in the art and ~ c i r n c eof organic chemistry. 0. Bertrand Ramsay Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti. MI 48197
Volume 62
Number 11
November 1985
A303
