modegof social organiration has produced not merely mechanistic philosophies of srience- a rclativtly minor matter-buta mrchanism in the mind of the inquirer which stands in the way of the manifestation of his whole personality in the scientific work he d o e s a major matter. The exclusion of the full personality from the work of the scientist takes its toll in what is scientifically accomplished-in the methods of science and the body of knowledge which is their fruit." The author says in his Introduction, "Professional scientists tacitly assume that the chief operations by which science is createdare those which are performed before the footlights, in the laboratory or the study, and recorded so impressively in scientific buhlications. I t is my thesis that what goes on within the personality of the discoverer (often without his knowledge), and in his interaction with his social setting, is just as important-sametimes much more so. I have scrutinized the human processes a t work in professional science, and tried to show that the passions and self-deceptions which scientific men share with the rest of mankind are supremely relevant t o the real human worth of the 'scientific truth' that they create. Scientific institutions are founded just as much on ambition, hypocrisy, fear of economic penalties, and urbane plagiarism as they are on the love of truth. 'Scientific method' is, all too often, degenerating into a magic which employs the empty rituals of mathematics and measurement and the tabus of a worthless 'logical rigour.' " There is much in the book which is quotable, much which would serve as text for seminar sermons. We content ourselves by quoting the paragraph which precedes the Synopsis of the last chapter, and afterwards the final portions of that Synopsis itself. We quote--and applaud. "For the true scientist-that is, lover of knowledge--(who wishes to justify the pedestal on which he has been placed by the modem mind) there is no escaping the call to a genuine nobility, versatilitv. .. and universalitv of outlwk." (Watson mints on his title-pngc a quotation from David Hume. "Indulge your passim for science . . but let your science hc human " Gcorgc Snrtun allots a whole pageat the beginning of Volumc 1 of his IsrltonucTION TO TB HISTORY OF SCIENCE to a quotation from Terence, "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienurn puto"). "First, there is the tyrannical cult of specialization. The great scientists have generally been anti-specialists. Nowadays, however, he who wishes to propound a radically new conception, or to address the body scientific as a whole, finds himself chained by the parochial dogmas of some specialism. "Second, the time-absorbing strenuousness of research prevents the scientist from learning the world of men and affairs by direct participation. Moreover, his industry prevents him from seeing even his own field with the healthy unafraid eye of native sense. The scientist of the future, if he is to develop resourcefulness for handling the unfamiliar and unique which stand outside his svstem. must be a man first. before he can be a scientist. ' T h e educntmn of scientist must therefore undergo far-reaching altcration~. Ily dtfornlalizing educational rrrhnir and by respecting individual capacity and interests, even in scirnre. wc may teach the youth a greater respect for his own special classifications. I n later life he may not then be hypnotized by the priestly hocus-pocus of the public world of professional science. For it is this impressive, 'accurate' ritual that perpetuates the undue crystallization of thought andexperiment aroundalimited group of abstractions. "However, no such educational change can hope to be effective without a simultaneous revolution in the accepted meaning of the word science. Neither the system, precision, experiment, scepticism, predictive power, communicability, nor universal acceptance of the methods and laws of science can form a defensible boundary between science and other ways of knowing the world. The only way out is again t o make science mean simply all humanly-significant knowledge. The bowdlerization of the word science by recent generations of scientists is the direct outcome of their 'human nature.' But in their irrepressible humanity lie the remedies: the cultivation of a conscious distrust of f m a l i zation of knowledge or method, a realization of the dangers of all social, logical, linguistic, abstract machinery, and a renewed faith ~
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that native intelligence and rrrntive imagination are still more fcrttlc in discovery and in understanding than any formal .scientific' regime." The author, David Lindsay Watson, is a physical chemist, B.Sc. Edinburgh 1922, Ph.D. 1924. He has taught a t New York University and a t Antiocb College in this country, has been assaciated with Science Service, and now lives in Oakland, Maryland. The book is well printed and indexed, and is comfortable to read because the paper is neither weighted nor glazed. TENNEY L. DAVIS M~ssrcxasmrsl ~ s m o r s oa TBCHNOLOOY CAMBRIDOB, MASBACHVSBITS
A u s ~ u a n u ~QUALITATIVER o ANALYSEN.Wilhelm B i l k Fifth revised and enlarged edition. Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft M.B.H. Leipzig, Germany. x f 180 pp. 15.5 X 24 cm. Unbound, RM. 8.50; bound, RM. 9.60. Biltz himself received rigorous training under Clemens Winkler a t about the beginning of this century. By Winkler, he was taught the value of practical work in contrast to mere theoretical knowledge. This was a lesson he never forgot. That it has borne fruit is shown by the very considerable amount of work that he publishes each year with the aid of his students. He feels very strongly that in the colleges of today too much emphasis is placed upon chemical theory and too little on chemical practice. Instruction in qualitative analysis is now given in such a way as t o introduce the student to chemical theory with little attempt to teach the art of making good analyses. This book was written partly as a protest against this practice of overemphasizing theory. The book is absolutely devoid of extensive theoretical explanations and there is not a single, balanced chemical equation or any other form of mathematical expression in it. This does not mean that Wilhelm Biltz would have the student disregard theory entirely, for he counsels him to make liberal use of his brother's (Heinrich Biltz) book for that purpose. As in the good old days of Bunsen, Brush, and Penfield, the first third of the book is devoted t o blow-pipe tests (fifty-five pages). Then follow the methods for preparing a suitable solution and particular attention is paid t o alloys, fluorides, complex cyanides, tinstone, oxides of iron, aluminium, chromium and titanium, sulfates of lead, calcium, strontium, and barium, difficultly decomposable silicates, and so forth. The method of testing for cations (eigbty-five pages) follows conventional lines except that emphasis is placed upon the use of a saturated, aqueous solution of hydrogen sulfide rather than the gas. Attention is paid to the possible presence of thallium, germanium, selenium, tellurium, gold, platinum, uranium, zirconium, columbium, tantalum, and the rare earths. Chapter I11 (pages 141-50) covers the tests for anions. As general reagents, solutions of iodine, potassium iodide, silver nitrate, and barium chloride are used, after which special tests are made. Acetic and oxalic acids are included. An example is given of a suitable laboratory examination and the way the notebook should be kept. Biltz is emphatically against the practice of giving a student outlandish mixtures which he is never likely t o run across in practice. The use of a small quantity of sample is recommended whereby considerable time is saved. Test-tubes, rather than distillation flasks, platinum wires, instead of platinum crucibles, and simple tests, rather than complicated procedures, are recommended. The last twelve pages of the text were written with the aid of Wilhelm Geilmann and cover the testing of commercial lead, refined copper, commercial aluminum, iron and steel, special slags, jewelry, and the detection of germanium or small quantities of mercury in ores. Some attention is paid to the use of the microscope for identifying precipitates. The b w k is well written and is sound with respect to methods. The fact that this is the fifth edition shows that there is same demand for the book in Germanv
