It has been almost a quarter of a century since the first edition of our book The
Vocabulary of Organic Chemistry was published. Like the vocabulary of every living
language, old words remain, but new ones emerge. In addition to the new vocabulary,
other important changes have been incorporated into this second edition. One
of the most obvious of these is in the title, which has been expanded to The
Vocabulary and Concepts of Organic Chemistry in recognition of the fact that in
addressing the language of a science, we found it frequently necessary to define and
explain the concepts that have led to the vocabulary. The second change from the
first edition is authorship. Three of the original authors of the first edition have participated
in this new version; the two lost collaborators were sorely missed.
Professor Hans Zimmer died on June 13, 2001. His contribution to the first edition
elevated its scholarship. He had an enormous grasp of the literature of organic chemistry
and his profound knowledge of foreign languages improved our literary grasp.
Professor Fred Kaplan also made invaluable contributions to our first edition. His
attention to small detail, his organizational expertise, and his patient examination of
the limits of definitions, both inclusive and exclusive, were some of the many advantages
of his co-authorship. We regret that his other interests prevented his participation
in the present effort. However, these unfortunate losses were more than
compensated by the addition of a new author, Professor Allan Pinhas, whose knowledge,
enthusiasm, and matchless energy lubricated the entire process of getting this
edition to the publisher