From boyhood in the coal-mining village of Coello, Illinois, to winning the Priestly Medal and becoming the president of the American Chemical Society, Professor Emeritus Fred Basolo of Northwestern University traces the intertwined development of his life, career, and the field of inorganic chemistry. With over a hundred photographs and dozens of structures and equations, From Coello to Inorganic Chemistry details the major innovations, travels, family life, and guests hosted while helping to build one of the world's leading inorganic chemistry departments from its humble beginnings at Northwestern University. Students and chemists with interests in bioinorganic chemistry, catalysis, nanoscience, new materials research, and organometallics can follow the emergence of inorganic chemistry as a rival to organic chemistry through the accomplishments of one of its most influential pioneers.

From the reviews:
"This is a story, told engagingly by one of the greatest inorganic chemists of the 20th century, about love of family, friends, and the joy of doing science. Fred Basolo introduces us to the world of coordination chemistry through his own close associations and collaborations with other pioneers of the field, and he shares with us his many exciting experiences both in research and teaching. It is a wonderful story that chemists young and old will greatly enjoy. Those of us lucky enough to say that he was our teacher will recognize that, once again, he is teaching, but now on a grander scale. His biography is a must read for any and all who have ever experienced the thrill of doing chemistry."
*(Professor Harry Gray, California Institute of Technology)
"This book is delightful, attractive, and instructive. Fred Basolo guides the reader from the beginning of his career as a graduate student at the University of Illinois to his professorship at Northwestern University. A large portion of inorganic chemistry was initiated by Fred's group at Northwestern. Young chemists have a great deal to learn from this book, and less young ones have a unique opportunity to get acquainted with, or remember, important details and to detect sometimes unsuspected connections between scientifically related facts. Highly recommended reading."
(Professor Fausto Calderazzo, Università di Pisa, Italy)
"The book is enthusiastically recommended to chemists, both young and established, particularly to inorganic chemists and historians of chemistry[...] Attractively produced autobiography[...] "
(Inorganica Chimica Acta, 342, 2003)
"The book is remarkably free of typographical error, but perhaps "Workship" on p. 230 is intentional. It is said that to write a research paper entails `telling a story' - this fascinating book shows that Fred is an accomplished storyteller."
(A.B.P. Lever* in CoordinationChemistry Reviews, 247, 2003)

Inhalt
1 From Coello to Inorganic Coordination Chemistry.- My Parents.- The Early Years.- Coello Elementary School.- Christopher Community High School (CCHS).- Southern Illinois Normal (SIN) in Carbondale.- University of Illinois (UI) in Champaign-Urbana.- Graduate Days at the University of Illinois.- Industrial ResearchRohm & Haas (R&H).- 2 Mary, the Children, and Me.- Home in Evanston.- Sabbatical Year in Denmark.- Back Home in Evanston.- Sabbatical in Rome.- 3 Faculty Position at Northwestern University (NU).- September 1946.- Some Northwestern History.- Teaching.- Research.- Chairman of the Chemistry Department.- 4 Other Activities.- National Academy of Sciences (NAS).- American Chemical Society (ACS).- Gordon Research Conferences (GRC).- International Conference on Coordination Chemistry (ICCC).- Funding Agencies.- 5 Countries and Chemists Visited.- Italy.- People's Republic of China.- Germany.- Australia.- Kuwait.- 6 Foreign Guests Hosted.- J. K. Beattie.- P. Dwyer.- F. Lions.- A. M. Sargeson.- V. Gutman.- S. Asperger.- A. A. Vl?ek.- C. E. Schäffer.- C. K. Jorgensen.- M. Becke-Goehring.- E. O. Fischer.- W. Klemm.- V. Balzani.- I. Bertini.- F. Calderazzo.- A. Ceccon.- I. L. Fragala.- R. Romeo.- D. A. Buckingham.- R Sobota.- B. J. Trzebiatowski.- M. E. Vol'pin.- L. G. Sillén.- G. Schwarzenbach.- L. Venanzi.- K. B. Yatsimeski.- C. Addison.- J. Chatt.- H. J. Emeleus.- J. Lewis.- R. S. Nyholm.- A. J. Poë.- M. D. Johnson.- 7 Emeritus Professor.- Basolo Award Medal.- Honors.- Dedications, Memberships, and Publications.- Other Co-Authors.- Ph.D. Students.- Postdoctorates.- Service to Chemistry.- The Dream Team of NATO Workshop, 1972.- Countries Visited.- Academic Family Tree of Fred Basolo.- Name Index.