The format of Chemistry, Matter and the Universe is unusual. Every important chemical concept is illustrated, with an average of more than a figure per page, yet this book is not "illustrated" at all in the traditional sense. The writer and artist planned this book together as co-authors from the very first stages, discussing each two-page layout extensively from a chapter outline before either text or drawings existed. What were the key ideas of each chapter, and how could they be expressed pictorially? Every illustration performs some pedagogical function, even the outrageous cartoons. Drawings and narrative were planned together to form and organic whole, which is why no figure numbers are used. When the words describe an idea, the graphic realization of that idea is in front of the reader as reinforcement. This has made the book more laborious to produce, but has made the finished product a better teaching device.

Chemistry, Matter and the Universe is intended primarily for a two-semester course, although it has been designed so it can be used for several shorter courses if desired. Each chapter in this book builds on what has come before. Although it is not easy to skip from one chapter to another, it is easy to progress steadily through the book but to stop at any one of several points.