Encyclopedic Dictionary of Named Processes in Chemical Technology, Third Edition

Book Preface

It is both a pleasure and a privilege to have been invited to write the Foreword to a book of such importance as Dr. Comyns’ dictionary of named processes in the chemical industry. For many years, chemists have had access to books with titles like Named Reactions in Organic Chemistry. Here the busy student or researcher can discover immediately the nature of the Wurtz reaction, the Cannizzaro reaction, and such curiosities as the Hell-Volhard-Zelinsky reaction. Until the first edition of the present book appeared in 1993, no such literary assistance was available to the multitudes who labored in the chemical industry. Six years later, a second edition took into account the many novelties that had appeared in that short period. Now a third edition is expanded still further, particularly by inclusion of many biological processes that industry now uses.

This book is encyclopedic in scope as well as in name, covering a vast range of industrial practice. No single industrial chemist could possibly be familiar with more than a small fraction of the processes named; when a new one suddenly appears on the horizon, help is immediately available on these pages. I very much hope that all companies involved in chemical technology will ensure it finds a place in their libraries. Although few people borrow dictionaries for leisure reading (even dictionaries as good as this one), its natural home will be the reference section, so that it is instantly available on demand.

There is, however, another reason for commending this book. Many of the names given to industrial chemical processes arise from their history. Some (such as Ayers) denote the names of their inventors; others (such as Hercules-BP) display the names of firms that originated or at least operated the process; others (such as hydrocracking) drop more than a hint of the principal reagent involved; others (such as PRI-SC) are acronyms constructed from initials of words in a phrase. However, others (such as CAMERE) are made from bits of different words and yet others (such as Merseburg) could mean anything at all. It happens to be the case that the history of the chemical industry, woefully neglected for decades, is just now coming back into fashion. This welcome development can be considerably assisted by the present work, where some historical detail often is included. Naturally, historians would have liked more (they always do). But there is sufficient detail to whet the appetites of workers in chemical technology to learn something further of the fascinating stories of their predecessors.

This book can be dipped into with pleasure again and again. I warmly recommend it to anyone interested in the chemical industry — past, present, or future.

Colin A. Russell