PREFACE; A PRELIMINARY COMMENT: WATER; THE BASIC TOOLS; 1. Matter falling out (Precipitation); 2. Protons in transit (Neutralization); 3. Burning in Air (Combustion); 4. Back to basics (Reduction); 5. Electrons in transit (Redox); 6. Forcing change electrically (Electrolysis); 7. Electricity from chemistry (Electrochemistry); 8. The death of metal (Corrosion); 9. Civil partnerships (Lewis acid-base reactions); 10. Changing partners (Complex substitution); 11. Marriage broking (Catalysis); 12. Divorce and reconciliation (Radical recombination); ASSEMBLING THE WORKSHOP; 13. Stringing along (Radical polymerization); 14. Snapping together (Condensation polymerization); 15. Sniffing out nuclei (Nucleophilic substitution); 16. Sniffing out electrons (Electrophilic substitution); 17. Proton accelerators (Acid catalysis); 18. Basic instincts (Base catalysis); 19. Adding up (Addition); 20. Taking away (Elimination); 21. Carbon Footprints (The Wittig reaction); 22. Networking opportunities (The Friedel-Crafts reaction); 23. Dark matter (photochromism); 24. Irritating atmospheres (photochemical smog); 25. Seeing the light (vision); 26. Green chemistry; BUILDING BY DESIGN; 27. Food for thought (Enzyme control); 28. Grand designs (Synthesis); A RETROSPECTIVE: BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER; GLOSSARY