1162
NEW BOOKS
Auer von Welsbach. By F. SEDLACEK. 25 x 18 cm.; viii Berlin: Julius Springer, 1934. Price: 3.60 RM.
+ 85 pp.; 30 illustrations.
The present volume constitutes the second part of the larger book Butter far die Geschichte dcr Technik edited by L. Erhard. The book opens with an interesting account of the parentage and family of Carl Auer von Welsbach from the early seventeenth century, and this is followed by an equally interesting account of his youth and studies. A brief survey of the development of the study of the rare earths leads to a description of the separation of the didymium of Mosander into the two elements praseodymium and neodymium by Auer. The three important contributions of Auer to the general amenities of the world, namely the incandescent gas mantle, the osmium lamp, and the cerium-iron alloys, used in the manufacture of automatic lighters, are considered a t length in a manner which is intelligible t o the non-scientific. The separation of the ytterbium of Marignac intd aldebaranium and cassiopeium by Auer is described, and the whole question of his priority over Urbain is once more explored. The concluding chapter contains a fascinating account of the personality of Auer, who is here named the “Austrian Edison,” his activities in the autumnof hislife, and his death in 1929 a t the age of 71. This most interesting book is written in a very pleasant manner, and portraits of Auer a t seven periods of his life are included. A list of references to the publkhed works of Alois Auer von Welsbach, Carl Auer von Welsbach, and other writers on the subjects in which Auer was active is appended to the book. The book is the story of a great Austrian, who was both a great man and a great chemist, his scientific investigations, and the development of some of these into vast industrial undertakings. It is a book well worth reading, and i t can be recommended without reserve. JAMES
F. SPENCE.
Acta Physicochimica U. X. X. R . Published in Moscow. Volume 1, 990 pages. Six issues, beginning September 1934. Amkniga Corporation, 258 Fifth Ave., New York; or Knige, Ltd., Aldwych, London, W. C. 2. Price: $4.00per volume. Another new journal in the field of physical chemistry has made its appearance, and takes its place as an important scientific publication, access to which promises t o be indispensable t o those interested in mathematical, theoretical, or general physical chemistry, kinetics, catalysis, photochemistry, electrochemistry, and especially colloids and sorption,-the whole range of physical chemistry and chemical physics. The board of editors consists of a dozen internationally known investigators. There are some forty permanent contributors distributed over seven cities of the U. S. S. R. The papers in Volume 1 are published in English, German, and occasionally French. Most of them are from the U. S. S. R., but a number are from other countries. Issues 3 4 contain the papers given a t the Tenth Six-day Physico-Chemical Conference on Heterogeneous Catalysis, including one paper each from I. Lang4 muir and H. S. Taylor. In a country which frankly recognizes scientific progress as a vital necessity and offers every inducement in ite power for the pursuit of pure and applied science, it is inevitable that there should be enormous activity in every scientific field. The high quality of this journal in the selected field of physical chemistry commands our congratulations. JAMESW. M ~ B A I N .
