David Weininger, “SMILES, a chemical language and information system”, Journal of Chemical Information and Computer Sciences, 1988 was a transitional step. SMILES (Simplified Molecular Identity Line Entry System) is ASCII string representation of a chemical. SMILES is also a chemical language. Carl Linnaeus had in his systematics a binomial nomenclature for chemicals. Antoine Lavoisier, rejected binomial nomenclature for chemistry. Lavoisier’s approach to nomenclature is what chemistry uses today. David Weininger in this article is Lavoisierism in the Computer Age.
