Since its publication in 1975, Chemistry in the Market Place has gone through three impressions of the first edition and now has been expanded into a larger second edition. Successive chapters are labelled ‘Chemistry in the Laundry’, ‘in the Kitchen’, ‘in the Boudoir’, ‘in the Garden’, ‘the Chemistry of Hard and Soft Ware’ (plastics, fibres, fabrics and flammability, popular products), ‘Chemistry in the Medical Cabinet’, ‘Chemistry of the Car and other Energy Users’, ‘Chemistry in the Dining Room’ (Food additives), ‘the Heavy Metals’ and finally ‘Experiments in Consumer Chemistry’. Its 454 pages are full of tables and diagrams and drawings. It is written in a sensible but easily readable style and it seems to be absolutely sound technically. And it is a fascinating book crammed with information about the way the ordinary things around you are made, what their properties are, how to use them, what their advantages or disadvantages may be, etc., etc. I, as a university lecturer, will be pleased to give it a place on my office bookshelf, but it should sit just as happily on the home bookshelf so that the family can get to know more about the things around them – I cannot imagine that much technical knowledge would be needed to get a lot out of it, and it could well lead to people asking a lot more about things they never think about normally – always a good idea. Highly recommended for homes, libraries, and even those working as professional chemists.