A review of my book Computational Organic Chemistry has appeared in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (DOI: 10.1021/ja077005h) The review by Donald E. Elmore of Wellesley College is very complimentary, pointing out many of the objectives I had hoped to achieve. Nonetheless, I am a bit disappointed in that he did not mention two of the more novel aspects of the book.

I am grateful that Elmore did mention the incorporation of the interviews with six leading theoreticians. However, he failed to mention the ancillary web site and this blog. Both of these electronic resources, I feel, greatly enhance the book. The ancillary web site includes links to all of the literature cited in the test, along with 3-D coordinates of all of the molecules with JMol for visualizing these structures. The blog provides a means for me to maintain the currency of the book. Blog posts extend the coverage of the book’s topics to the latest published research.

Is Elmore’s oversight reflective of a widespread belief that web enhancements offer little value to readers? Am I mistaken in believing that the web offers real opportunities to enhance a book (not just mine!)? I don’t view these web add-ons as “trivial” or “cute” or “trendy”.

I still believe that books offer many advantages to readers and scientists. But there are also limitations to what can be done on the printed page. I had hoped that the coupling of the printed book and the web enhancements would deliver the best of both worlds to my readers. I would enjoy hearing from you about whether these web resources are of value and if not, how do they fail? Are there other web-enabled resources I should explore?