本书内容主要选材于国外化学类原版教材和专著，以当今社会最关注的环境、能源、材料、生命科学等问题与化学的联系为主线，介绍了化学这门应用相当广泛的学科与人类社会的密切关系。

全书分为两大板块，前一板块包括绪论和第1，2章，介绍了化学的基本概念、原理、发展历程、重要的化合物等等，侧重化学学科本身；后一板块包括第3，4，5，6章，主要涉及化学发展与社会进步、化学与日常生活、化学与环境、化学与现代技术，侧重与化学相关的学科和领域。每一章节都由相对独立的文章组成，文后附有重要词汇和短语注解，并对难度较大的语句给出了参考译文，以方便读者较准确了解和掌握化学专业英语词汇以及科技英语的表达方式。

Chapter 1 Introduction to Chemistry

 1-1 What Is Chemistry

 1-2 Modern Chemistry

 1-3 Matter, Element, Compound and Mixture

 1-4 The Periodic Table

 1-5 Green Chemistry

 1-6 Cosmochemistry and Geochemistry

Chapter 2 Important Elements and Compounds

 2-1 Sodium, Aluminum and Lead

 2-2 Iron and Zinc

 2-3 C60 and The Fullerenes

 2-4 Oxygen and Sulfur

 2-5 Wate-A Special Substance for Planet Earth

 2-6 Hydrogen Peroxide

 2-7 Carbon Monoxide and Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

 2-8 Inorganic and Organic Acid

 2-9 Inorganic Base

 2-10 The Alcohol Family

Chapter 3 Chemistry and Life

 3-1 Trace Elements and Life

 3-2 Biologically Important Ions

 3-3 Acids, Bases and Human Health

 3-4 Buffer Solutions and Body Fluids

 3-5 Osmosis and Its Medical Application

 3-6 Protein and Nutrition

 3-7 Carbohydrate

 3-8 Chemistry in Medicine

 3-9 Chemicals and Medicines from the Sea

 3-10 Enzymes in Human Body

Chapter 4 Chemistry in Use

 4-1 Soap and Detergents

 4-9 Pesticides and Pharmaceuticals 

 4-3 Plastics

 4-4 Chlorinated Hydrocarbons: Many Uses and Some Hazards

 4-5 Wastewater Treatment

 4-6 Chromatography Analysis

 4-7 Stable Isotope Ratio Analysis

 4-8 Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Chapter 5 Chemistry and Environment

 5-1 General Introduction to Environmental Pollution

 5-2 Air Pollution

 5-3 Ozone

 5-4 Acid Rain

 5-5 Greenhouse Effect

 5-6 The Ocean: A Global Geochemical System

 5-7 Toxic Metals in Seawater

 5-8 Organic Compounds in Seawater

 5-9 Toxic Organic Pollutants in Seawater

 5-10 Sources of Oil Pollution in Oceans

 5-11 The Marine Carbonate System

Chapter 6 Chemistry and Technology

 6-1 Superconductivity

 6-2 Semiconductors

 6-3 Hydrogen: Fuel of the Twenty-First Century

 6-4 Alternative Energy Sources

 6-5 Applications of Radioactivity

 6-6 Batteries

 6-7 Polymer

Appendix 1 Table of Atomic Number and Weight

Appendix 2 SI Units

Appendix 3 Naming Inorganic Compounds

Appendix 4 Nomenclature of Organic Compounds

A List of Bibliography