Chemistry is the cornerstone in the continuing search for new medicines. This talk will start with a brief review of the treatment of ailments through the ages, and from there go on to look at the work of Perkin which led others to the discovery of the sulphonamide antibiotics. The many roles played by chemists in the modern drug discovery process will be considered, looking at how chemical synthesis, natural product isolation, and genome data are used to generate promising compounds, and how these are developed into successful drugs.