Challenge Accepted: Make Dinner From A Catalog Of Pharmaceutical Compounds
Merck Index First Edition WikipediaThe Merck Index as menu Pretty much every chemist worth his or her salt knows the Merck Index. First published in 1889, the Merck Index is an enormous compendium of chemicals, their physical properties and their industrial uses. Its genesis as a collection of medicinal chemicals is still apparent today, and many of the compounds therein are useful in pharmaceutical production or are finished pharmaceuticals themselves. Way back in the mists of time when I was at university and doing a summer internship, my friends and I used to take bets over who could find the deadliest or gnarliest chemicals in the Merck Index, or who could find the chemical with the most carbons or chiral centers -- basically anything to pass the time while I was waiting for the gel electrophoresis to finish doing its thing. The Merck Index saved my sanity that...