BOOK REVIEWS concepts, the maintensnee of this dichotomy is most unfortunate and tends to distract attention from the r e d differences among these matter or energy manifestations, which involve mass, charge, and spin. Of even greater consequence is the fact that the book is dated. Instruments described in some detail were outmoded a t the time the original French edition was published in 1956; many of the more recont advances in instrumentstion are omitted. For example, there is oonsiderable discussion concerning long focal length electron lenses, while the trend to short focal length lenses is not discussed. The Siemens electron microscope capable of 5 A resolution is not mentioned; stead, the 1946 resolution limit of 20 A is still cited (p. 57). The latest literature reference dates to 1954; no attempt seems to havo been made to bring the trsnslstion further up to date. Some of the dincussionsignore important contributions. For example, in the section on the field emission microscope, na mention is made of the remarkable experiments by Gomer and his school. I t is, of course, unfair to expect a general descriptive volume to he all inclusive and completely up to date. Nevertheless, the writeup could have been better halanced by dwelling less on earlier results and concentrating more on the work of the last decade. I t is unfortunate that
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these factors detract from an otherwise very readable acoount of teohniques and observations in the study of matter. The hook contains an addendum on "Aesthetic sense and scientific research," this being an extract of a. paper read by the author before the Acild6mie des Sciences, Belles Lettres e t Art8 de Ressnw n in 1952.
J. M. HOXIG Lincoln Laboratory, MIT Lexington, Massachusetts
Chemistry and Chemical Technology in Ancient Meropolomia
Martin Lew?~, Temple University, Philadelphia. Elsevi~rPublishing Company, Amstordam, 1959; distributed in U.S. hy D. Van Nostrand Comprtny, Ino., Princeton, New Jersey. xi 242 pp. 16 figs. 15 X 23 cm. $7.50.
+
This is a historicslsurveyof thematerials
known and the utensils and chemical processes cmployed in the various cultures of the region of t h ~Tigris and Euphrates rivers from about the middle of the fourth millennium B.C. to about the middle of the B.C. f i r ~ millennium t After x short introduction by R. J. Forhes and a preliminary general chapter largely on the sources of information, the author describes in n series of three chapters certain apparatus that was used, such
a s crucibles and furnaces, and certain operations that were performed, such as extraction and distillation. This is followed by a chapter on food and its teehnology and by successive chapters on special materials or clames of materials such as alum, dyes, perfumes, and oils, fats, and waxes. The last three chapters deal with the metals and their alloys. A large part of the last chapter is concerned with result.~of t,he chemical and metallographic examination of bronze objects. Unfortunately, the chemical rtnalyses listed are only qualitative or semiqnsntitativc. A very valuable feature of this book is the comprehensive list of references given a t the end of each chapter. Valuable aka are the man." translations of recipes from cuneiform tahlets: The illustrations are excellent. Although, a8 the author remarks a t the heginning of his preface, thie book was mainly written for historians of chemistry and for chemists who are interested in the connections between general culture and the origins of chemistry, this reviewer is of the opinion that it should be of considerable interest to chemi~ts and t,o scientific readers generally. This original, srholarl.~,and well written work deserves a place in every large chemical lihrary.
EARLE R. CALEY The Ohw State University Colwnbm
(Continued on page A4381
