to the animal and plant nodd many will not follow when these same principles are applied to man and his relation to the natural world. They also refuse to substitute scientific methods for the haphazard ways of tradition. Here, then, the author claim, is the place where the "rehumanizing of knowledge" is mast needed. His concrete suggestions on how to do i t are then made. I t would not be amiss to say that all teachers are engaged in the task of "humanizing howledge." Certainly any scientist must find in D M o r Robinson's brief volume much to stimulate his efforts to "wme forth from his labmatory" and report hip results to the public. B. C L ~ W R D HBNDRICPS
A Diagnostic Stody of the Sohlect Matter of High School Chemistry. S. R. Pawms, Ph.D. Teachers College, Columbia University, Contribution to Education, No. 149. Published by Teachers College, 1924. viii 84 pp. $1.15 postpaid.
+
This pamphlet indudes lists and tables, recording the results of 8 tests run in 192+1922 in 15 Minnesota high schools and 28 high schools outside Minnesota. This monowph war reaiewed in the October number of Tars Jouan*~but the space available did not allow recording the wnclurionr reached by the author. These conelusions have been summarized from a careful study of the text itself and are as follows: 1. Most high sehwl students "secure a clear comprehension of the application of valenee" in bvilding formulas. 2. They "acquire a pretty clear-cut notion of the meaning of the terms element, mixture and compound." 3. They are "1sueeersful" in giving the chemical names of substan~esthe common names of which are given them. Lc;r than half of the students answered fifty per cent of these question. correctly. 4. Knowledge of definitions "b not acquired by many," a. 8.. 35% of the students do not know that aeids are characterized by the formation of hydrogen ions in solution, and about 55% cannot define efflorereenee. 5. Upwards of 50% of the students cl-ify correctly twelve selected members of the PCtivity series. 6. Under biography ''Priestly. Avogadre and Gay-Lursac are bent h o r n but approximately one-third of the students are unable to make pmper associations for two of these men. More than half failed to associate the name of Dalton With the Atomic Theorv. Arrhenius i. almost an entire stranger.,. 7. Stndents' "knowledge of chemical changes and of laboratory and commercial preparation is woefully deficient.'. c. g., "45% do not know the mmmerdal soof ammonia.'' ~ a t does a not substantiate the claim often made that the
"functional value of chemirtry has been that i t gives a knowledge of important indvstrinl pmces%es." 8. Naming the uses of chemical substances fares but little better, a. 8.. "nearly 60% do not know that sulfuric acid is used extensively as a dehydmting age"t.9. Knowledge of the solubility of saltsisrather meager. 10. "Ability to state numeried ratio* between qusnliliu 01 intcractin~rubtanrcs and to makc rnathcmetiral celculstionr" met with ebutlt 5 I:"rdetailcdinf"rm~tiiiibbbbt the problems see page 18 of the monograph. 11. "It is somewhat eaJier for students to mite the names from the formulas than the re. verse, get only the simplest and most evidmt formulas are named wnectly by more than 75% of the pupils. Only about half of these formalas are correctly named by 50% of the pupils." 12. "The formulas for some very common I~bomtoryrubrtsnees are written correctly by lets than 50%. Difficulties in writing formula^ seem to arise when i t becomes necessary to insert a subscript." 13. Completing eqvationr when the left-hand members are given is done correctly in about three-fifths of the 14. Writing entire eqvations is done w m e t l y in about one-third of the cases. "Comparatively few students are able to apply even the most elementary principles of oxidation and reduction in the writing of equations." 15. InaIl,177outof303items,ornearly60%are answered correctly by less than 50% of the pupils. 16. The best answers are received from those ~ ~ h o owhere ls there are between 20 and 60 chemistry students. 17. "The task set for High School students of chemistry is beyond their neeomplishment. Evidence is convincing that students obtain no mssterv of a large &omt of the materials oi inntruction.'' 18. "The i t e m of the tests are not too difficult to be fairly representative of t h e materials contained in the commonly used t=tbookr," but they "are probably wnGdembly easier than would be obtained from a random sampling of the t e d book material.'' 19. "A large proportion of the textbook msterial means little or nothing to 50% or mare of the students who have studied one of these texts in High School for one year." 20. "Knowledge and skill tested.. .are for most students almost completely lost Within one O r two years after instruction has ceased," although "ability to do items was retained much better in certain divisions of the test than in other%" 21. "The ability of students who have studied chemistry in vniversity elasnes to do the tasks in thore tests ir not appreciably different from that of students who have studied chemistry in the better high schools." ~~
-.
.
~
22. .'Some of the difficulties which students encounter are no doubt due t o the fact that they are plunged rather suddenly into the manipulation of maruinl. whichare for them entirely new." 23. "This study has been devoted t o an examination of present pradees and has m a l e d a situation which border. on the critical." 24. That textbooks should aim to give the student "the ability to think for himself" rather than to be "carefully prepared eatslog. of the facts and principles of chemistry arranged under proper headings" is suggested as "an important function for work in chemistry." The above conelusions were not summarized by the author of the monograph but were incorporated a r parts of the running text. As many chemistry teachers may not see thir p a r tievlnr monograph it seemed wise to the writer t o compile these eonelusions m t h a t they might reach a larger reading publie. They should be particularly applicable a t present in connetion with the study being given to the content and method for High School Chemistry as carried out by the Division of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society. WneBLY S&CHXBLOM
Chemistry in Industry. H. E. How* (Editor). The Chemical Foundation, Inc.. New York, N. Y. 1924. rii 372 pp. 50 figs. 20 X 14 cm. Price $1.00 postpaid.
+
I n the Foreword of this b m k there appears a clear statement of its purpose and scope. The editor rays, "Notwithstanding the universal application of the data established by fundamental research, the Committee on n i z e Essays of the American Chemienl Society learned during the contest of 192G1924 that the relation of chemistry t o induotry had not been set down in language easily understood, nor in places conveniently eeeessible t o the thoussoda of students who desired to write upon t h a t tople Coooequently, i t war decided to provide a t least one reference book that would be of assistance, and this book is the result. I t is in reality a rymposium t o which twenty-one rpeeiali~tsin as many different industries have contributed chapters dealing with what chemistry has accomplished in their field of work and noting several unsolved problems t o indicate a few of the many opportunities that a m i t the resourceful, well-grounded chemist. It is hoped t h a t the industries selected may be considered typical, and perhaps if this book achieves its purpose a companion volume may appear a t a later date.'' While designed for those who havelittle knowledge of theoretical chemi.try, this volume will prove of no less interest and value t o others, particularly to teachers of chemistry. Both the editor and the reader are t o be congratulated upon its ruccesrful synthesis, and we hope that i t will be but the first of an extensive ''homologous *cries:. The first chapter, The Foundations of Chemical
Industry, by R. E. Rose, includes an introduction t o svlfvrie acid, nitric a d d , soda, soap, glass. caustic soda, electrolysis and chlorine. I n a very intere3ting prelude the author likens e l e c tronie and atomic arrangements to a large number of balls handled by many jugglers who can move around and effect exchanges at will. "The chemist, without seeing them, has learned t o handle these k a r t units of materials in such a way as t o get the arrangements which are more useful from those less useful.. ..All (industries) have this in eommon-they serve to rearrange atoms of molecules or t o eolleet molecules of one kind for the service of man.. ..This ia the wonder of the chemist's work: he finds that which is not upon the earth until he direovers it; just as the artist creates so does the chemist. If he did not there would be no chemical industry t o write about." The remaining chapter headings are fairly indicative of their content: 11, Abrasives, by F. I.Tone; 111, Alcohol and Some Other Solvents. by D. B. Keyes; IV, Coke, Coal and Their Products, F . W. Sperr, Jr.; V. Cotton and Cotton Products. T. C. Law; VI. Chemistry in the Electrical Industry, Buckner Speed; VII. Same Applieation~of Electrochemistry. A. H. Hmker; VIII, Chemistry in the Fertilizer Industry. R. B. Deemer; IX, Industrial Gases. C. S. Robinson; X, Glass: One of Man's Blessings, Alexander Silverman; XI. The Elements of Iran and Steel Manufacture. A. E. White; XII, The Making of Leather, 1. A. Wilson; XIII, Nonferrous Metallurgy, H. W. Gillett; XIV, Chemistry of the Packinghouse Processes, W. D. Richardson; XV, Chemistry in the Pulp and Paper Industry; XVI, Perfumes and Flavors. S. IS=mann; XVII, The Petroleum Industry, G. L. Wendt; XVIII, Photography, or Picture Making by Light. S. E. Sheppard; XIX, Synthetic Resins: A Chemical Contribution t o Structvrsl Materials, A. V. H. Morey; XX. C h e h t r y i n the Rubber Industry, W. J. Kelly; XXI, Chemistry in the Textile Industm. L. A. O l n e ~ . The outstanding article is "The Making of Leather." Others e-ine. - oartieu1ar anneal . .. to the reviewer are those on Glass, Non-ferrous Metalbrgy, Paekinghoase Proeerscs and Photography. But i t is clearly imporsible t o arrange the chapters in even an approximate "eieetmmotive series," for they are all good. While many points of view are necessarily reprenented, the various nuthors consistently emphasize the value of the scientific attitude of mind, the necessity of chemical control of all products and processes in any successful i n d u ~ t r y and the s0un.i investment represented by rcsearch. "The chemist always wants to know exactly what is happening in the process he is handling and never rests until he has a t least a good working hypothesis." (Kelly, p. 341.) "The amateur chemist and eccentric inventor may contribute their bit, but any satisfactory process will finally be worked out in the usual ~
~
