  Chemistry Stuff
  ---------------
  
James Stanley (stanley.homelinux.org)

This chemistry-related software was written by James Stanley and is released in
to the public domain.

Contact me on james@stanley.homelinux.org or jamesstanley@bluebottle.com.

My website is http://stanley.homelinux.org/

Use compile.sh on a UNIX-based system to compile the software. On other
operating systems look in compile.sh and make an educated guess about how to
compile.
  
This software comes in three programs (at time of writing, it is feasible that
I add another program and forget to mention it here).

These three programs are list, element, and formula.

list simply prints a list of most of the information in the chem library.

element prints information about the elements searched for. I use the term
'search' in it's broadest possible sense. You can search for elements and the
symbols for elements by typing the START of the name/symbol. Not the middle!
For example, 'hydr' matches hydrogen, but 'ogen' does not. Similarly, 'a'
matches gold, but u does not. You may specify more than one search term, for
example:
$ element gold h
Would search for names and symbols beginning with 'gold', and also names and
symbols beggining with 'h'. Simple enough, really. Case is ignored.

formula is the most complex of the three programs. At time of writing (I plan
to add more features to it), it calculates the relative formula mass of the
formulae given as arguments. Case is ABSOLUTELY important. For example, cali
can not be interpreted. 'CaLi' or 'CAlI'? Numbers are to be written full-sized.
Brackets can be written as (), [], {}, or <>. They MAY be mixed and matched.
Na[NO(Hg>3}2 is a valid formula as far is the software is concerned. All four
types of brackets get converted in to ()'s before processing. Like element,
formula allows more than one term, for example:
$ formula C6H12O6 [NH3]6
Would print out the information about Glucose and a molecule containing 6
'groups' of ammonia.

That is all you need to know!

If you wish to use the chem library for yourself, you may do so under no
restrictions whatsoever. However, it would be nice if you drop me an email, and
even nicer if the software was available for anyone in a similar manner to how
the chem library itself was released.

If there are any errors in my understanding of the chemistry involved or in the
software, feel free to email me!
