Fifth Business

William H. Brock (1936–2025) was a historian of science and the author of several books, among them The History of Chemistry: A Very Short Introduction; William Crookes (1832–1919) and the Commercialization of Science; Justus von Liebig: The Chemical Gatekeeper; Science for All: Studies in the History of Victorian Science and Education; and The Norton History of Chemistry.

• Notes on Abbreviations, References, Bibliographies, and IllustrationsPrefacePart IOne. Becoming a ChemistTwo. Cobbling a Career in LondonThree. Finsbury CollegeFour. The Central ChemistFive. Chemical Research at the Central Technical CollegeSix. Running the Chemical SocietySeven. The Admission of Women into the Chemical SocietyEight. The Heuristic MethodNine. IonomaniaPart IITen. Semi-RetirementEleven. The Great WarTwelve. Heurism DenigratedThirteen. The 1920sFourteen. Campaigns Old and NewFifteen. The Lewis Carroll of ChemistrySixteen. The Final YearsConclusionsAcknowledgmentsArchives ConsultedCited Works by Henry Edward ArmstrongGeneral BibliographyIndex

“Fifth Business displays the erudition gained over a career spent studying nineteenth-century chemistry in the easy style of an accomplished and experienced biographer. . . . The reviewer was struck by the author’s ability to weave together strands of chemical technicality, architectural detail, and educational philosophy with quotidian details of his subject’s personal, social, and professional life.”