Book reviews - Robert Robinson: chemist extraorinary

Trevor I. Williams, Robert Robinson: chemist extraorinary . Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990. Pp. viii + 201, £25.00. ISBN 0-19-858180-7 Previous publications1-3 on the life and work of Sir Robert Robinson, F.R.S. (1886-1975) are primarily concerned with his scientific and professional activities; but, Trevor Williams suggests, they do not adequately portray, even in sum, Robinson’s versatile genius and complex personality. The aims of this new biography, to fill the lacunae in his personal and professional life, are amply fulfilled, and the book has all the makings of a definitive personal biography. The author provides a series of coherent and detailed accounts of Robinson’s multifarious activities throughout his 89 years, his personal relationships with family and friends, and professional relations with his research associates and others he thought of as rivals.