Archivist has never really got to grips with the compulsion common to chemists and microbiologists for changing long-established names. For instance, a recent paper on hydroxycarbamide for the treatment of sickle cell disease in young children (Winifred C Yang and colleagues. Lancet 2011;377:1663–72; see also Comment, ibid) gives 22 references that include the name of the drug in the title, and in every one of the titles, the name used is hydroxyurea. In the text of the article, the names …