V knige rassmotreny voprosy istorii khimii, svyazannye s zhizn'yu i deyatel'nost'yu khimikov proshlogo i nastoyashchego. Dan obzor neschastnykh sluchaev, proizoshedshikh vo vremya raboty v khimicheskikh laboratoriyakh, a takzhe sluchaev vzryvov i otravleniy na khimicheskikh proizvodstvakh. Privedeny svedeniya ob uchenykh, kotorykh zanyatiya khimiey bez soblyudeniya neobkhodimykh mer bezopasnosti priveli k prezhdevremennoy smerti. Opisany biografii 13 khimikov (dvenadtsati muzhchin i odnoy zhenshchiny), prozhivshikh bolee 100 let. Rassmotrena prodolzhitel'nost' zhizni pervootkryvateley khimicheskikh elementov i laureatov Nobelevskoy premii po khimii. V prilozhenii privedeny spiski izvestnykh khimikov, prozhivshikh bolee 90 let, a takzhe sistematizirovannom vide ukazany prichiny neschastnykh sluchaev, proisshedshikh s khimikami-issledovatelyami. Kniga prednaznachena dlya studentov khimicheskikh fakul'tetov, prepodavateley i uchiteley khimii, nauchnykh sotrudnikov, a takzhe dlya vsekh interesuyushchikhsya istoriey khimii.
