Unfortunately, this online version doesn't have the first half of the book, which contains autobiographies of both authors and the story of how they met, fell in love, and came to work on this project.

When I ran across this book, Shulgin instantly became my hero for daring to do what no one had done before -- to open to the world a treasure trove of hundreds of psychedelics, both in how they are made and what their effects were, each of which he and his intrepid group of psychonauts had tried on themselves.

This was completely unheard of at the time, at least on that scale... it probably still is, especially if you consider that after this magnum opus he came out with another huge tome: TiHKAL, which contained information on hundreds of other compounds.

If more people were even half as generous and helpful to the world, it would be a much better place.