BOOK REVIEWS Starch; and Volume 5, Gencral Polysacehmides, will he anxiously aaaited.
R.H.M C C L ~ R Ohio State L:nioersztg Columbus
Fourcroy:
Chemist a n d Revolutionary
W . A. Smeaton, University College, London. Printed for t,he author by H e f i r and Sons, Ltd.. Cambridge, I9fi2. rxi 2% pp. 14.5 X 22 rm. Ofi.
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The firmament of chemical histur.~is studded with luminaries not uf the first magnitude but whose work a n s an essential fartor in the growth of our srience. Usuxlly these men are not favored as suhjects esrept by biographers in their own cnuntry. Those who are partirnlarly int,ere~tedin the human side of chemistry are eepcridly grateful when an account such as this appears in Ihglish so that all ran learn about the life and work uf one af these men. Though A. F. de Foorcroy (li55-IRO!I) wss roughly ronternporaneoos with Lsvoisier (1743-941, and though buthlived in Paris throughoat their lives, Foureroy'n life was uneventful in rompilrison with the dramatic happenings whirh marked I,avoisier8s career. Foureroy had to make his living as a poorly-paid lerturer and author of hooks, which, though u,idely read, artually brought in but little rash. His position improved when he later was appointed t o high government pmts, but he was never more than comfr,rtahl>-well "If. Thongtl he was trained in njedirine, his career as n prartieing physirian was brief; however, he was oriented toward the hiologiral srienres by this professional eduration. lMurh of his rcsenrrh dealt, with animal and vegetable chemistry, and he was s. v ~ l u e dcivil servant in matters eonwrned with public health and hygiene. While still a student he showed remarkable ability to lecture an chemistry and allied fields and i t was not long before he wns giving private courses as a means of livelihood. I n time his reputation grew; he was apprinted professor at the Jardin du Roi and in due course was rerognized as t,he uutstanding lecturer in rhe~nistry in all of Franre. Fouwroy was active in the A r a d h i e des Srienres from his elertion in 178.5 llnlil 1793 when i t was suppressed. Together with Lnvnisier, du Morve:tu, :md Rerthollet,, he developed a new ehelnival numew dnt,ure whirll was introdured in liX7 mid still serves as the basis a i our arodem chemiral language. He joined with 1,svrisier and others in the founding (liX!I) of the Annaks de Chinde, whirh is still appearing and henee is the ddest of our chemical periodicals. He was one of the early converts t o the anti-phlogistir thewy of combustion and his "Principes de rhimie" (17%) was the first tertl,ook if
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BOOK REVIEWS chemistry written entirely necording t o the new t,heury. There is nu need t o give details of Foureroy's scientific work. There were no st,art,ling or important discoveries; he was an indefatignhle worker hut his forte lay in other fields. The details of his pnhlished experiments ran he found in the volume here under review. The author has ~~hvioosly ploughed through the great mass of Fourcrag's published papers, a tedious tsnk whirh undoubt,edly required s. goodly supply of patience. He has also discussed a t length the principal books authored by Fourcroy m d given details
of his lertnre courses. A rhapter is devoted to the work on animal and medical chemistry and a cumpanion chapter deals with the studies on vegetable rhemist,ry. Murh of this work as well as that in the inorganic field was done in coilahomtion with X. L. Vauquelin (1763-1820), the discoverer of chromium. The latter was n better lahoratury chemist than Fouren,y (his teacher) and i t may well be said t h a t Vauquelin was Fuurcroy's greatest discovery. An outatanding feature of this biography is the Rihliography whirh rmtains 342 items written hy or about Faurcro-. The aut,hor patently has thoroughly rombed the literature and the rare with whirh he has done his hamework is amply reflected
in the excellence of the book. It is proper to point out t h a t he has scrupuluusly eramined the evidence regarding the part played by- Fonrrroy a t t,he time of I,avoisier's execution and romes t o the conclusion that his legal murder was :t great shock to Fourcroy, who was helpless to aid hi8 colleague b e r s u ~ e the latter was one of the detested F e r m i m yi.nP,nar and therefore in a hqxless prteitim.
RALPHE. OESPER Cniwrsilg qi Cineinnali Cincinnnli, Ohio
Great Chemists
Edited by Edimrd Farber. Intersrienre Publishers, Ine., New Yurk, I!161. xxvi 1642 pp. Figurer. 16 X 24 cm. $29.50.
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I n this imposing and unique volume, Eduard Farber has sssembled an impressive collection of biographies by a notable list of contributors. Covering a span of more than three millenia, the entries range from Babylonian Chemists by the s p e d i s t in this area, Martin Levey, trt E. A. Guggenheim's study of Siels Bjerrum, who died in 1958. Most of the 114 chapters, 22 of whirh have been translated h y Farher, are devoted t o single individuals, but. some encompass several chemists, e.g., .4arrm Ihde's American Chemists a t the Turn of the Century. .4lmost every chapter is provided with a portrait, unfrrtunately on annoyingly translucent paper, as is the entire book. Four interludes hy the editor, Philosophers and Pmetitianers, Philosophical Alchemists and Praetiral Metallurgists, The Chemist's Lnnguagc, and Scientists and Industrialists add unity t o the volume. The chapter titles are sometimes deceptive; the long essa. on Armstrong is actually concerned eztensively with Laurent, Gerhardt, Frankland, Kolhe, KekulP, and their theories of chemical bonding. The Table of Cantents, therefore, gives only r. hint of the scope of the work; one can best tap its gold mine of information by consulting the enrellent index from Abbaside t o Zosimus. The essays vary greatly in objectivity, some being obibuary notices, eulogies, nr memorial addresses, which tend tr, overevaluat,e their subject. Often length is not proportional t o the importanre of the suhjeet. J . K.Partington's srhalnrly 32page essay on Joan Bxptista van Helmont contains 169 notes and referenres, while August IiekulB is disposed of in three pages; the Iiekull article is followed,
~ u r o p & industrial chemists such Bosrh, Perkin, and Ro1va.y are inrluded, but not t o the same extent as are Americans, e.g., Bsekeland, Dow, Frasrh, Little, Midgley, and Teeple, all discussed by the authority on thissubject, Williams Haynes. I n fact, 8. legitimate rrit,icisn~might he the predominance of American chemists, many of whom hardly deserve t o rank with such giants as Lavoisier, Berzelius, Liebig, and van't Hoff. One is grateful for the inrlw (Continued o n page .4400)
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