RECENT BOOKS LIFE AND EXPERIENCES OF A BENGALI CHEMIST, VOLUME 11. P. C. Rdy. Chuckervertty, Chatterjee & Co., Ltd., Calcutta, 1935. viii + 469 pp. 14 X 21 cm. 6s.

The f i s t volume was largely chemistry and the space given to politics was not unreasonably large. The second volume is de- voted almost completely to savage attacks on English rule in India. I t should have been called "Political Opinions of a Bengali Chemist."

One can sympathize with the author's feeling that English should be used less and the vernacular more. "The last occasion when I sat on the jury box, i. e.,before I hadcompletedmy sixtieth year, there was a sessions case of which I was chosen foreman. The judge was a Bengali and a former pupil of mine. Theaccused was a Bengali; the Advocate General, the Standing Counsel were all Bengali barristers, besides an Eurasian barrister, who of course knew Bengali. There was the farce of the evidence in each case being translated by the Court interpreter before it could he 'heard' by the judge and the jurors. This had the effect of pro- tracting the trial to an unusual length," p. 63.

One wonders whether there may not be another side to the criticisms in regard to railway embankments, p. 156. "The floods of this year in Orissa and Midnapore, and water-logging in the suburban area of Calcutta illustrate the disastrous results of the government policy in regard to canal embankments. The root cause is the same, namely obstruction to natural passages of water on il:-x~ut of embankments raised for setting up cheap lines of commun~ations. Canals are sketched out on a man in stmight lines. Nu c u n 4 ~ m t i u n is yivrn to the drainage of the surrounding lsnrli Some h i r e garrs HW kept for drain in^ flood water but they are eichrr in~dequilte or inop?rative; and mostly the canal leads and embankments are designed in such a way that the sluice gates are mere eyewash, for they cannot receive the drainage from the surrounding lauds-they are not designed to do so."

The author claims, p. 243, that famines and pestilences "which levy such a huge toll every year in ill-fated Bengal were scarcely known six decades ago; somehow or other they have synchronized with British rule. Tuberculosis has no doubt been endemic in India from time immemorial; i t is mentioned as Raja Yakshh in the ancient Ayurvcdic works but its victims were few and con- fined chiefly to old age; whereas this scourge is now spreading like wild-fire."

"As has been shown above, the spread of malaria has followed in the wake of drainage obstruction due to railway embankments. Dr. Bentley, while laying stress upon this aspect, has not hesitated to call i t also hunwr disease. Malnutrition. which brines on ~ ~

dpbilirated conrtitutionxr~ddepriver the victim of recistingpowrr. is equally responsible for the havoc of malaria and tubcrrulosis. Water famine has also followrd in thc wake of the British rule."

ESSENTIALS OP PHYSIOLOOICAL CHEMISTRY. Arthur K. Andcr- son, The Pennsylvania State College. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1935. v + 257 pp. 31 figs. 15 X 23 cm. $2.75 net.

The author has undertaken a difficult task, i. e.. to present the more important facts of biochemistry as related to the animal body in a form which will be understandable to students with limited preparation in chemistry and biology. He states it as his opinion that a thorough knowledge of the chemistry of biological compounds is a prerequisite to an understanding of biochemistry. He therefore emuhasizes the chemistrv of the carbohvdrates. lipids, and proteins more than is usually done in elementary books in this field.

In a preliminary chapter on physical chemistry the author has,

in the judgment of this reviewer, presented simply and clearly those principles that students must understand before the essen- tials of physiological chemistry mean anything to them.

The text presupposes some sort of course in organic chemistry, but the chapters on carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are pre- sented in such fashion that even with very little previous training the essential facts about the chemistry of these compounds may be understood.

References, while not numerous, are well selected. We believe that in the chapter on blood the part on Respiration

and Alkali Reserve could be improved. Altogether the book is readable and teachable. I t will orobablv take its e lace as a

A HISTORY oa SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHY IN TEE XVITH & XVIITX CENTURIES. A . Wolf, Professor and Senator, University of London, Head of the Department of History and Methods of Science, Former Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, Fellow of University College, London, Coeditor of the Encyclopaedia Britannica; with the coaperation of Dr. F. Dannemenn, Professor in the University of Bonn, and MI. A . Armitage, of University College, London. The Macmillan Company, New York City, 1935. xxviii + 692 pp. 316 illustrations. 15.3 X 24.7 cm. $7.00.

This book contains a comprehensive account of the growth of natural knowledee durine the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. of the practical nppli~~atione which were made of that knowledge. and of the rontrmporanrous philosuphicd speculations nllirh were based upon it or somehow arose in runiequcncc of It. These last are especially important for a proper understanding of the history of science. Locke's doctrine of primary qualities, for example, had much to do with preparing a way for the chemical revolution accomplished by Lavoisier, with producing a state of mind for which quantitative considerations based upon measure- ments of weight were of the greatest significance. The book is truly an account of European history during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuriesnot political history, for the kings of the time, the battles, and territorial boundaries a5ect us scarcely more than does last year's snow-but real history in being an account of what men were thinking, doing, and hoping to do. I t contains chapters on a number of subjects which have not been treated heretofore in the histories of science. We are particularly glad to see those on exploration, on psychology, and on the social sciences. It is altogether a well-rounded book. Although "its primary aim . . . is to meet the needs of the serious student," i t is easy and interesting to read, good for the perspective of the cultivated individual, and gaod for the nat-yet-serious student who, if he picks it up, is likely to come back to it again.

The subjects of the chapters are as fallows: I. Modern Science; 11. The Copernican Revolution; 111. Galileo Galilei; IV. Scien- tific Academies; V. Scientific Instruments; VI. The Progress of Astronomy: Tycho Brahe and Kepler; VII. The Newtonian Synthesis; VIII. Astronomers and Observatories in the Age of Newton; IX. Mathematics; X. Mechanics; XI. Physics: Light; XI. Heat, Sound; XIII. Magnetism and Electricity; XIV. Meteorology; XV. Chemistry; XVI. Geology; XVII. Geography: Exploration, Cartography, Treatises; XVIII. The Biological Sciences: Botany, ZaMogy, Anatomy and Physiology, Microscopic Biology; XIX. Medicine; XX. Technology: Sci- ence and Technology, Agriculture, Textiles; XXI. Building Materials: XXII. Minine and Metalhum. Mechanical Eneineer- " ". . bg; XXIII. Thc Stcnm Fnginc, hluchnn~cal Calculafurs; XXTV I'sycholupy; XXY. The Swial Science,; XXI'I Philosophy

The bookis a goodall-round treatment of its subject; i t touches on most of the principal points. A student of the history of chemistry or of sociology, or of any one of the special sciences, will probably find that it contains little or nothing an his subject which is new to him. He will discover gaps in the treatment of his science hut will see it exposed in its-relations to others in a manner which would he impossible in a book devoted to a single one of them. The chapter on chemistry contains accounts of iatrochemistry and the beginnings of chemical science, of Lihavius, van Helmont, Glauher, Rey, Boyle, Hooke, Lower, Mayow, and of the discovery of phosphorus. Several of the chemists appear in other connections in other chapters. The account of Bayle fails to make i t clear that "The Sceptical Chymist" is devoted primarily to a search for a criterion by which it may he determined experimentally whether a given substance conforms to the definition of element or not. The words, atom and corpuscle, do not appear in the index. We have found no mention of the fact that Boyle in "The Sceptical Chymist" and elsewhere argues for a corpuscular theory of matter, and none of Boyle's discovery of methyl alcohol and of acetone. In the chap- ter on philosophy, excellent summaries are given of the method- ology of Bacon and of Newton.

The book is handsomely printed on cream-colored paper, and abundantly illustrated.

TENNEY L. DAVIS MASSACAOJBTTS INSTITOT& OF TBCHNOLOC~

CA&~BRIDOB. MASSACBUSBTTS

CRYSTAL CBEMISTRY. Dr. 0. Hasrel, Lecturer in Physical Chem- istry in the University of Oslo. Translated from the Guman by R. C. Evans, B.A., Ph.D., B.Sc., Demonstrator in Miner- alogy and Petrology in the University of Cambridge. William Heinemann Ltd., London, 1935. Chemical Publishing Co. of New York, 175 Fifth Ave., New York City, exclusive agents in North and South America. ix f 94 pp. 9 figs. 13 X 21 cm. $3.50.

Chemical education in the past has to a large extent heen concerned with relationships between the properties of sub- stances and the kinds and relative numbers of the atoms of which these substances are composed. In organic chemistry, i t is true, the dependence of the properties of substances an the relative arrangements of the atoms and the dependence of these arrange- ments on the kinds of atoms are also studied, hut in inorganic chemistry the structural side of the subject has been almost entirely neglected. The reason, of course, is that until recent years a sufficient body of knowledge of inorganic structures hasnot been available. Now that the structures of hundreds of crystalline substances are known, however, it would seem that the struc- tural relationshiDs should occuuv as imoortant a dace in in- . . or,qmic chemical education as the rrlatiundlip~ bctwwn formulas and proprrties, a true *nderrfandiq of chemistry i i othemisc impossible.

The chief difficulty in the way of remolding our chemistry courses to include this new knowledge is the fact that none of the textbooks now published are suitable. Although a few de- scriptions of various structure types are usually given, real struc- tural chemistry is almost entirely neglected. Sometime in the future this lack may be remedied, but for the present any teacher wishing to incorporate this new viewpoint in his teaching-r in his thinking-must turn to journal articles or to such hooks as the one under review. Although by no means ideal for this pur- pose, it is one of the few not-too-technical works on the subject.

This book is primarily concerned with the principles deter- mining the types of structure assumed by elements and com- pounds rather than with relationships between structure type and properties. (For the latter there is no good treatment available.) For the most part i t deals with relationships between the sizes and charges of ions and the types of arrangement found in com- pounds containing these ions. On the whale the subject is well treated, although (in common with most other writers in this field) the author attempts to treat as ionic many substances in which the atoms are undoubtedly held together by bonds of a

(more-or-less polar) covalent character. The rMe of the cova- lent bond in crystal structures is treated, very inadequately, in only one short chapter.

Among the most valuable chapters for the chemistry teacher is that on "The Crystal Chemistry of the Silicates." Previous to the X-ray work on these compounds, this field, in spite of its industrial importance, was about the least understood in all inorganic chemistry. Now i t is among those best understwd. Except for the neglect of electron-pair sharing, the subject is well presented here.

The hook is clearly written, easily understandable to the non- specialist. In a few places, however, the reader is apparently expected to be familiar with certain crystal structure types which are neither illustrated nor described. A few figures illustrating these structures would help. Some of the diagrams which are given are also insta3cient without accompanying description to convey to a layman a true conception of the structures they represent.

MaunrcE L. HuGGINs Tas Joms H o p a ~ ~ s Uwrvaasrr~

BALTIMORB. MARYLAND

O m o s ~ s OF SCIENCE. Bmzard Jaffe. Simon and Schuster, New York City, 1935. xxvi + 547 pp. 15.5 X 23.5 an. Freely illustrated with halftones and line cuts. $3.75.

In the reviewer's opinion this hook gives marked evidence of the growth and ripening of the author's literary and scholarlv

since the appearance of "Crucibles." ~ n d , be it under- stood, this comment should not he interpreted as derogatory to the earlier work. ~~~ ~~~ ~~

The plan fullowed in thr attempt to present a bird'seye view of prcsmt-day scientific research is hrst revealed Ly extracts from thc author's introductory staternfnt.

"First I was to follow through au inrcnsivc reading program which would make i t pursihle for mQ to pick out the m m who had done the mast crucial work in each fiild. This readina rrroiect -. . was to he reinforced hv conversations with numerous scientific rnm whom I k n w in Xew York. For vnrivus reomns, such a, the intrinsic ditliculty of the subject, thc lack of gcncral intcrmt, and the paucity of rcivntific experimentation I nbmdoncd such fields as relativity, geology, and psychology and finally selected the topics which comprise the contents of this hook.. . .

"Having listed the men I wanted to see, I mapped out an itin- erary- wide circle around the United States which would bring me to about B t y of the most important research lahora- tories in the country. In September, 1932, I started from New York on a scientific pilgrimage to the firesteps and outposts of the present battlefronts of science in America. I was armed with little mare than an impertinent belief that eminent men busy in scientific workshops might stop for a while to tell me what they were doing and hoping so that the general public might catch a glimpse of the many new discoveries. . . .

"It had been planned that the leaders in each field of science whom I had met were to correct those portions of the manuscript dealing with their own work. This would, of course, insure a greater measure of authenticity far the book. This plan was carried through with hut one exception. The chapter on Physical Disease reached Baltimore the day on which Dr. William H. Welch died in his eighty-fourth year. Dr. Fielding H. Garrison, the eminent historian of the Institute of the History of Medicine of The Johns Hopkins University, and a close friend of Welch, was kind enough to edit the historical material of this chapter and Dr. Coleman B. Rabin of Mt. Sinai Hospital, the clinical data."

Chapter I, on Genetics, deals in large part with the researches of Thomas Hunt Morgan. Chapter 11, Anthropology, emphasizes the work and opinions of Ale5 HrdliCka. Chapter 111, Physical Disease, is written around the life and work of the late William H. Welch, hut appropriately enough, showsconsiderahle breadth of historical outlook. The mouse-breeding experiments of Maud Slye constitute the principal theme of the chapter on Cancer (IV). Chapter V, Glands, is a summary of hormone research, with