Daintith worked as a research chemist at the U. of London and as a research assistant at Oxford U., and has written many articles and compiled and edited a number of books. His reference text is designed for students taking advanced placement science courses in high school, and for older students taking introductory college courses. It covers basic concepts, classes of compound, reaction mechanisms, important named organic compounds, compounds that are important in biochemistry, and information on key biochemical pathways. It includes appendices on carboxylic acids, amino acids, sugars, nitrogenous bases and nucleosides, the chemical elements, the periodic table, the Greek alphabet, and fundamental constants.