Book excerpt: Chemical science has made major advances in the last few decades and has gradually transformed in to a highly multidisciplinary subject that is exciting academically and at the same time beneficial to human kind. In this context, we owe much to the foundations laid by great pioneers of chemistry who contributed new knowledge and created new directions. This book presents the lives and times of 21 great chemists starting from Lavoisier (18th century) and ending with Sanger. Then, there are stories of the great Faraday (19th century) and of the 20th century geniuses G N Lewis and Linus Pauling. The material in the book is presented in the form of stories describing important aspects of the lives of these great personalities, besides highlighting their contributions to chemistry. It is hoped that the book will provide enjoyable reading and also inspiration to those who wish to understand the secret of the creativity of these great chemists.