a t the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is the latest (No. 13) in Kluwer's popular Chemists a n d Chemistry series, begun in 1984 a s "a series of books devoted to the examination of the history and development of chemistry from its early emergence a s a separate discipline to the present day." Chapter 1, "Scientist: The Story of a Word", examines in intricate detail the origins, development, and use of a term that we usually take for granted. Chapter 2, "The Story of the Volta Potential", deals with the controversy between Volta's contact theorv and Faradav's chemical theorv of cell voltage and includes a 19-page appendix, "Explanation of Kelvin's Exoerimcnts." bv Ross's collea~mea t RPI. Roland M. ~ i c h t e n k e i n ~ . h a p t e ;3, "The ~ e & h for Ele&omagnetic Induction 182CL1831". focuses on Faradav's discovery of the phenomenon and the 10-year search by Arnp&re and others that preceded it. Chapter 4, "Faraday Consults the Scholars: The Origin of the Terms of Electrochemistry". presents a 'classic example of how new scientific word; are ~ n v e n t r dand brought into circulation"- the first published full account of Paruday's consultations with scholars before deciding in 1834 on such electrochemical terms as anode, cathode, ion, anion, and cation. Chapter 5, "Herschel and Hypo" (a previously unpublished 19-page essay), discusses Sir John Frederick William Herschel's discovery of sodium thiosulfate a s a preservative ("fixer") in the photographic process a s a case study par excellence of the close relationship between fundamental and applied chemistry. Chapter 6, 'Herschel on Faraday and on Science*, communicates "an unpublished expression of respect by Herschel for Faraday", and Chapter 7, "Herschel's Marginal Notes on [John Stuart1 Mill's On Liberty", provides "valuable evidence of the contemporary response to a book that has come to be acceoted a s the most ~owerfuland the most persuasive expression ofthe politicai ideals of the Western democracies". In a six-oatre E~ilofme. Ross draws valuable . conclusions from the essays, which ''&strate how far values and attitudes have changed in certain respects since the end of the last century" and which serve as examples of fallacies and errors described a s "idols" (false appearances of the mind) by Francis Bacon in his Novum Organum (1620). In addition to its specific subject matter, Ross's volume suwevs the formative oeriod of science a s a orofession in England and introduces a number of figures of the transition to professionalism in terms of their attitudes toward it. I recommend it highly to historians of chemistry and of science, to chemists interested in the history of their subject, and to instructors of courses in chemistry, especially physical chemistry and electrochemistry, who wish to introduce a humanistic and historical dimension to their lectures ~
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Patrick P. McCurdy, former Editor of Chemical & Engineering News and Chemical Week and the present editor of l'bday's Chemist, laments that "much ofthe written history of chemistry, chemical technology, and the chemical industry has been fragmented and piecemeal." In contrast to such conventional histories of chemistry, Aftalion's masterly study presents a n international perspective, integrates the story of chemical science with that of chemical industry, and emphasizes 20th-century developments. I n writing his book, Aftalion "wanted to point to the sequence of events that has shaped the landscape of chemical science and industry into its present state," and he reeards the oroduct a s "essentiallv the histow of human ktelligen& applied to a particu"lar field of knowledge." After a short prelude titled "From Prehistory to the Dawn of Quantitative Chemistry," h e succinctly surveys in six chapters, "The First Chemical Manufacturers", "Advances in Chemistry During the First Half of the Nineteenth Centurv," "The Great Scientific Breakthrou~hsfrom 1850 to 19i4," "Developments During the period Spanning the Two World Wars (1914-19451," "World War I1 and Its Consequences for World Chemicals", and 'The New Facts of World Chemicals Since 1973" (the date of the Yom Kippur War,. Hc has packed an incredible amount of matcriaiiho this vast, fascinating panorama of the contributions of ubiouitous. evervdav oroducts of literallv hundreds of ~- sci~~enti'sts and industrialists a s well a s of hGndreds of chemical com~aniesin dozens of different countries. all admirably placed in their scientific and socio-political contexts. This attractive and modestly priced book will be invaluable to chemists and chemical engineers working in both corporate or academic environments; scholars and students in the history of chemistry, science, and technology; and anyone desiring perspective on a recently much maligned industry responsible for a myriad of products essential for our quotidian needs and well-being.
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