The Ways of Science Through the Lens of the Woodward‐Hoffmann Rules. The Stories Begin[]

This is Paper 1 in a 27‐paper series on the history of the development of the Woodward‐Hoffmann rules, also known as the Principle of Conservation of Orbital Symmetry. In addition to presenting an outline of this series, this manuscript provides a short overview of the chemical problem eventually solved by the Woodward‐Hoffmann rules. This is Paper 1 in a 27‐paper series on the history of the development of the Woodward‐Hoffmann rules, also known as the Principle of Conservation of Orbital Symmetry. The stories of accomplishment and competition, of reactions and of human beings, of joy and sadness will be told in these papers.