Bibliotheca Chemico-Mathematica by Zeitlinger, HeinrichReview by: George SartonIsis, Vol. 4, No. 1 (May, 1921), pp. 111-112Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/224116 .

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E. WIEDEMANN, E. v. LIPPMANN and J. WURSCHMIDT. Many errata and

addenda mostly contributed by them are given on p. 478-484. Because of WIEDEMANN'S collaboration, I turned with special eagerness to the

chapter devoted to what is improperly called Arabic (instead of

Mohammedan) science (1), but this chapter does not seem to me very different from the old one ? May be I am wrong, for I have to depend on my memory. At any rate we would expect more from the learned Arabic scholar of Erlangen. - In my first review, I complained that the account of EUCLID'S work was insufficient : has any material change been made? at any rate the account is still very meager.

Of course the reader must not forget the limitations to which the author had to submit himself : to tell the whole history of all sciences from the beginning of civilization to the xvnth century in 500 pages is a sort of a wager. The result however good cannot inter- est the scholar. Taking these limitations into account, DANNEMANN'S book is satisfactory; in fact it is by far the best of its kind and as such it would be useful to translate it into English.

G. SARTON.

Zeitlinger, Heinrich. Bibliotheca Chemico-Mathematica. Catalogue of works in many tongues on exact and applied science. With 127 plates containing 247 portraits and fac-similes, 2 vol., xn+964 p. London, HENRY SOTHERAN, 1921 [3 guineas]

A very interesting catalogue of books for sale by the well-known London firm, SOTHERAN & Co. It contains 17.397 items, many of which are followed by short biographical and bibliographical notes and is richly illustrated by 247 portraits and fac-similes. This is certainly the largest bibliography of its kind which has thus far

appeared. This is about the most that can be said in praise of this trade

catalogue. Unfortunately, there is very much to say against it, and it must be said, the more so that the price of this book is extrava-

gantly high. For one thing, this is not by any means a complete list for it contains

only the items which happen to be for sale at SOTHERAN'S. Neither is it critical, for anything which is for sale is considered quotable, and but for the accidental annotations (many of which deal with trivial or unessential matters), all items are put on the same level. Of course

E. WIEDEMANN, E. v. LIPPMANN and J. WURSCHMIDT. Many errata and

addenda mostly contributed by them are given on p. 478-484. Because of WIEDEMANN'S collaboration, I turned with special eagerness to the

chapter devoted to what is improperly called Arabic (instead of

Mohammedan) science (1), but this chapter does not seem to me very different from the old one ? May be I am wrong, for I have to depend on my memory. At any rate we would expect more from the learned Arabic scholar of Erlangen. - In my first review, I complained that the account of EUCLID'S work was insufficient : has any material change been made? at any rate the account is still very meager.

Of course the reader must not forget the limitations to which the author had to submit himself : to tell the whole history of all sciences from the beginning of civilization to the xvnth century in 500 pages is a sort of a wager. The result however good cannot inter- est the scholar. Taking these limitations into account, DANNEMANN'S book is satisfactory; in fact it is by far the best of its kind and as such it would be useful to translate it into English.

G. SARTON.

Zeitlinger, Heinrich. Bibliotheca Chemico-Mathematica. Catalogue of works in many tongues on exact and applied science. With 127 plates containing 247 portraits and fac-similes, 2 vol., xn+964 p. London, HENRY SOTHERAN, 1921 [3 guineas]

A very interesting catalogue of books for sale by the well-known London firm, SOTHERAN & Co. It contains 17.397 items, many of which are followed by short biographical and bibliographical notes and is richly illustrated by 247 portraits and fac-similes. This is certainly the largest bibliography of its kind which has thus far

appeared. This is about the most that can be said in praise of this trade

catalogue. Unfortunately, there is very much to say against it, and it must be said, the more so that the price of this book is extrava-

gantly high. For one thing, this is not by any means a complete list for it contains

only the items which happen to be for sale at SOTHERAN'S. Neither is it critical, for anything which is for sale is considered quotable, and but for the accidental annotations (many of which deal with trivial or unessential matters), all items are put on the same level. Of course

(1) The more so that some of the greatest scientists of Islam were distinctly not Arabs.

(1) The more so that some of the greatest scientists of Islam were distinctly not Arabs.

Ill Ill REVIEWS REVIEWS

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ISIS. IV. 1921 ISIS. IV. 1921

a bookseller is more interested in mere bibliographic rarity and monetary value than in intrinsic value. Yet as a price list this cata- logue is and will remain a very interesting document. In the second place, alhough there is a useful subject index, there is no author index. Now the general arrangement of the kook is as follows. There is a first list of 284 p. (5602 items), the authors being quoted in alphabetical order. Then follows a supplement (p. 285-786) and fur- ther addenda (p. 786-788) in the same order. Finally a new list classified by subjects : general works, mathematics, astronomy and geodesy, physics etc., the authors being quoted in alphabetic order under each heading. Hence to find ex. gr. CANTOR'S books we have to look into four or five different parts of the book. And what shall we find: (1) on p. 34, mention of CANTOR'S Vorlesungen, first vol. of the first ed. only, without any explanation; (2) on p. 343 a mention of the same work, first ed. of vol. I and II, 2nd ed. of vol. III with the note: (( The standard work on the history of mathematics, indispens - able to any good scientific library )); (3) in the further addenda, no CANTOR; (4) on p. 798, a mention of the same work, the latest ed. of the 4 volumes at last, with a note repeating the preceding one and adding the name of the contributors to vol. IV. That is, after having looked in four different places, I have found three items referring to the same work (of which two were incomplete) and I have found no mention of any other work or paper of CANTOR!

Of course any such large accumulation of titles can but prove useful once in a while, but I have said enough to show that it must be used with great circumspection. The collection of plates illustrating the book is most interesting and forms in my opinion, its most valuable feature.

GEORGE SARTON.

Aldo Mieli (editor). - Gli scienziati italiani dall' inizio del medio evo ai nostri giorni. Repertorio biobibliografico dei filosofici, ma te- matici, astronomi, fisici, chimici, naturalisti, biologi, medici, geografi italiani. Volume I. Parte I. vii - + 236 p., 47 fig., 28 X 20 cm. Roma, NARDZCCHIA, 1921.

I have already explained the aim and method of this very remark- able collection in Isis, III, 59. Suffice it to add that the promises made by the editor have been kept and that the first installment of his great undertaking is an auspicious beginning. Of course when judging this collection we must take into account the fact that it is the result of a very free collaboration; we can not expect every article to be on the same level. There are many portraits and autographs and the biblio-

a bookseller is more interested in mere bibliographic rarity and monetary value than in intrinsic value. Yet as a price list this cata- logue is and will remain a very interesting document. In the second place, alhough there is a useful subject index, there is no author index. Now the general arrangement of the kook is as follows. There is a first list of 284 p. (5602 items), the authors being quoted in alphabetical order. Then follows a supplement (p. 285-786) and fur- ther addenda (p. 786-788) in the same order. Finally a new list classified by subjects : general works, mathematics, astronomy and geodesy, physics etc., the authors being quoted in alphabetic order under each heading. Hence to find ex. gr. CANTOR'S books we have to look into four or five different parts of the book. And what shall we find: (1) on p. 34, mention of CANTOR'S Vorlesungen, first vol. of the first ed. only, without any explanation; (2) on p. 343 a mention of the same work, first ed. of vol. I and II, 2nd ed. of vol. III with the note: (( The standard work on the history of mathematics, indispens - able to any good scientific library )); (3) in the further addenda, no CANTOR; (4) on p. 798, a mention of the same work, the latest ed. of the 4 volumes at last, with a note repeating the preceding one and adding the name of the contributors to vol. IV. That is, after having looked in four different places, I have found three items referring to the same work (of which two were incomplete) and I have found no mention of any other work or paper of CANTOR!

Of course any such large accumulation of titles can but prove useful once in a while, but I have said enough to show that it must be used with great circumspection. The collection of plates illustrating the book is most interesting and forms in my opinion, its most valuable feature.

GEORGE SARTON.

Aldo Mieli (editor). - Gli scienziati italiani dall' inizio del medio evo ai nostri giorni. Repertorio biobibliografico dei filosofici, ma te- matici, astronomi, fisici, chimici, naturalisti, biologi, medici, geografi italiani. Volume I. Parte I. vii - + 236 p., 47 fig., 28 X 20 cm. Roma, NARDZCCHIA, 1921.

I have already explained the aim and method of this very remark- able collection in Isis, III, 59. Suffice it to add that the promises made by the editor have been kept and that the first installment of his great undertaking is an auspicious beginning. Of course when judging this collection we must take into account the fact that it is the result of a very free collaboration; we can not expect every article to be on the same level. There are many portraits and autographs and the biblio-

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