In spite of the great advances made during the last thirty years or so in the understanding of organic chemistry, the teaching of the subject, at least at an elementary level, has remained more or less unchanged. It is not uncommon for teachers to adopt exactly the same approach to the subject as was used when they themselves were students and the somewhat dreary repetition of ‘preparations, properties and uses’ is still the most widely used teaching method. Many of the textbooks used have been current for three or more decades and are devoid of modern ideas; even the more recent ones are predominantly old-fashioned in approach. Good textbooks are, of course, available and they are used to some extent, but unfortunately the old favourites still dominate the field.