NEW BOOKS The Principles of Inorganic Chemistry. By Wilhelm Ostwaid. Translated with the author’s sanction by Alexander Findlay. 14 x 22 cm ;pp. x x v i i 785. N e w York : Macmillan and Co., 1902. Price, $6.00 net.--It is distinctly a matter for congratulation that Ostwald’s Grundlinien der anorganischen Chemie has appeared in an adequate English translation. The translator is unquestionably justified in his expressed hope that he is contributing to a more -vide +read knowledge of the application of the more recent developments of general chemistry, and consequently to a juster appreciation of their importance in the study of the other branches of the science. The book is too bulky to serve as a text for the most of our introductory college courses ; but it ought to be widely used by beginning students as a reference book. An interesting element of the translation is the introduction of Walker’s nomenclature of the ions. The book is clearly printed, and has a proper index. / . E . Trevor
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Die Begriffe und Theorien der modernen Physik. By J. B. Stallo. Nach der 3. Aujfage des englishen Originals, iibersetzt una‘ herausgegeben von Dr. H a n s Kleinpeter. Mit einem Voywort z‘on Ernst Mach. 13 X 19 cin ;pp. x x ~ 3 3 2 . Liepzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, z9or. Price: 7 m a r k s ; bound, 8.50 marks. -Further gratifying evidence that the world really does move is dfforded by the belated appearance of a German version of Judge Stallo’s Concepts and Theories of Modern Physics (first edition, 1881). I t is strange that the philosophically inclined Germans, of all peoples, should have overlooked this important work for so long a time. When Mach’s attention was attracted by the book, he interested himself in it with enthusiasm and inspired the present translation, for which he has provided a most interesting eleven page preface. With this introduction to the German public the work will now continue on a broadened career of usefulness, in contributing to the spread of sounder and clearer views in regard to physics and chemistry, I n the light of all the newly awakened interest i n Stallo’s ideas, we have little occasion to regret that the Look appeared a decade or two before its time. The German edition is prefaced by a fair portrait of the author, and the index has been reproduced. 1.E. Trevor
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The Science of Mechanics. A Critical and HisdoiicaC Accoant of its Development. By Ernst Mach. Translated from the German by Thomas]. McCormack. Second revised and enlarged edtion. 13 x 19 c m ; pp. xix+ 605. Chicago: Open Court Publishing Co., 1902. Price: boand, $2.00 net. I n signalizing the appearance of a revised English edition of Mach’s famous Mechanics, we cannot do better than to quote the introductory paragraph of the Translator’s preface. ‘‘ Since the appearance of the first edition of the present translation of Mach’s Mechanics the views which Professor Mach has advanced on the philosophy of science have found wide and steadily increasing acceptance. Many
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fruitful and elucidative controversies have sprung from his discussions of the historical, logical, and psychological foundations of physical science, and in consideration of the great ideal success which his works have latterly met with in Continental Europe, the time seems ripe for a still wider dissemination of his views in English-speaking countries. The study of the history and theory of science is finding fuller and fuller recognition in our universities, and it is to be hoped that the present exemplary treatment of the simplest and most typical branch of physics will stimulate further progress in this direction. ” The fourth German edition of this work appeared in 1g01. The author’s additions are presented in a long series of appendices. The text of the present edition has been thoroughly revised by the translator, and is wholly admirab5. The typographic dress of the English version is distinctly better than that of the German. J . E. Trevor The Theory of Optics. By Paul Drude. Translated from the German by C. Riborg Mann and Robert A . Millikan. z4 X 2z cm; 9). xxi 4 5 4 6 . N e w York : Longmans, Green and Co., 2902. Price: $4.00.- When Drude’s treatise appeared in 1900,it was announced that its purpose was to introduce the reader who is familiar with the differential and integral calculus into the domain of optics in such a way that he might be able to understand the aims and results of the most recent investigation, and to follow the original papers in detail. In his preface to the present translation, Prof. A. A. Michelson writes that there is in English no general advanced text on optics that embodies the important advances of the last decade in both theory and experiment, H e points out that the only general text in English, Preston’s Theory of Light, contains no fundamental development of some fundamentally important theories, in particular of the theory of optical instruments, the electromagnetic theory of light, or the application of thermodynamics to the study of radiation. Such matters being exceptionally well treated in Drude’s book, Prof. Michelson concludes that, ‘ I No one who desires to gain an insight into the most modern aspects of optical research can afford to be unfamiliar with this remarkably original and consecutive presentation of the subject of optics.” J . E. Treror Anwendung der Differential- und Integral-rechnung auf Geometrie. By Georg Schefers. Zweiter Band : Einjuhrung in die Theorie der lilachen. : Veit und Comp., z902. Pn’ce: paper, 15 X 23 cm ;pp. viii +5z8. Leipzi‘ z3 marks. -An important feature of chemical thermodynamics is the use of surfaces for graphical representation of the thermodynamic behavior of bodies and systems of bodies. These surfaces were first studied by Gibbs, and have recently been extensively employed by van der Waals and other workers in the equilibrium theory of two and three component systems. In order to keep in touch with such work, some knowledge of the theory of surfaces is requisite ; and it is this fact that makes of interest to the physical chemist the appearance of a new introductory treatise on this theory. Scheffers’s book is the second volume of a work, Application of the Differential and Integral Calculus to Geometry, the first volume being an Introduction to the Theory of Curvesin the Plane and in Space.
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In plan and in detail the work deserves high praise. The theorems are developed from the analytical standpoint, and everything discussed is treated thoroughly and is well illustrated by examples. Many well-drawn figures add to the intelligibility of the treatment. Being intended for beginners, the author has avoided presenting the subject as the theory of invariance of two quadratic differential forms. The text is divided into four sections : The Arc Element of the Surface, Curvature, the Fundamental Equations of the Theory of Surfaces, Surface Curves. The typography of the book is wholly admirable,
J . E. Trevor Leichtfassliche Vorlesungen iiber Elektrizitat und Licht. By G. Jaumann. r3 X 19 cnt ; PP. xii f 3 7 5 . Leipzig : Johann Ambrosius Barth, z902. Price :paper, 6 ; bound, 7.20 marks. - This book is the development of a series of university extension lectures delivered at Prague in 1899-1900. It aims to supply an outline of the Faraday-Maxwell theory of electricity and of the relation of light to electric phenomena, for the benefit of teachers in the schools and of beginners in the university. The method is a visualizing of the geometrical drawing of lines of force, by considering magnetic and electric flux in analogy with stream lines in water. I t is introduced by a chapter on the flow of water. The first lecture deals with the magnetism of iron, under the title of The Magnetic Flux, the second with electrostatics under the title of The Electric Flux. The voltaic current is treated as a flux in which the lines are closed curves; and the whole subject is carried through on this plan. Electromagnetic waves and light come into consideration in the concluding chapters. No attention is given to any of the current corpuscular theories. J . E. Trevor Cryoscopie. By F. M. Raoz6lt. ScienZia, No. 13. zo6pp. (1901). Franges d’Interf8rence et leurs Applications metrologiques. By]. Mack de Lkpinny. Scientia, N o . z4. roz $9. (1902). La Geomhtrie non euclidienne. By P. Barbarin. Scientia, No. 15. 79
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Le Phenomhne de Kerr et les Phbnombnes Blectro-optiques. By E. Nkcutcia. Scientia, No. 16. 91pp. (1902). Theorie de la Lune. By H. Andoyer. Scientia, No. 17. 86 pp. ( 1 9 0 2 ) . Geombtrographie ou Art des Constructions geombtriques. By Ernile Lemoine. Scientia, No. z8. 85pp. (1902). L’Electricite, deduite de I’ Expkrience et ramenke au principe des Travaux virtuels. By M . E. Carvallo. Scientia, No. 19. 9rpp. (1902). Sur les Principes fondamentaux de la Thborie des Nombres et de la Geometrie. By H. Laareat. Scientia, No. 20. 68@. (1902). L i m p boards ; 13 x 20 cm. Paris : G Naud. Pvice : 2 fi-ancs each. I t will be recalled that each volume of the Scientia series is intended to present an account of the present state of development of some scientific topic. I n the numbers already issued this work has been admirably done, partly as a consequence of entrusting it to competent authorities, and in part because the authors have not been required to write down to the level of a popular audience. Three of the present volumes are concerned with pure mathematics : non-
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Euclidean geometry, geometrography or the art of geometric construction, and the fundamental principles of the theory of numbers and of geometry. One volume treats a topic of mathematical physics, the theory of the moon, by which is meant the analytical determination of the motion of the center of gravityof the moon relative to the center of gravity of the earth. Three volumes deal with physical topics : interference fringes, electro-optic phenomena, and electricity ; the last of these developing the Maxwellian theory in a consistent and clear way. The remaining volume is a treatise on cryoscopy, by Raoult. The matter is discussed under the successive heads : general principles, methods of observation, cryoscopy of non-electrolytes, cryoscopy of electrolytes. Every one interested in physical chemistry will be attracted by this book. A list of Raoult’s @en, tific publications, eighty-seven in number, is appended. J . E. Trevor
A Laboratory Manual of Physics, for Use in High Schools. By Henry Crew and Robert R. Tatnall. rz X r8 cm ; pp. xi -t 234. N e w York: The Macmillan Company, 1902. Price : bound, $0.90. -This manual of laboratory work in physics may naturally be regarded as a companion volume to Crew’s Physics, but it might be used to supplement any good text. The aim of the authors is not to describe classical experiments but rather to illustrate the principles of physics, and to do this with simple means. They have succeeded in producing a well balanced and homogeneous course, which if carefully worked through should prove very instructive. Ninety-four experiments are described. J . E. Trevor The Foundations of Geometry. By David Hilbert. Authorized translation by E. J. Townsend. r3 X rg c m ; pp. v i i i r32. Chicago : Open Court Publishing Co., 1902. Price : bound, $r.oo net. -Hilbert’s widely known essay (1889) on The Foundations of Geometry is put into English in the present edition. At this date it is hardly necessary to say anything of the contents of the book ; the title moreover is sufficiently self-explanatory. The translation has been subjected to severe criticism. J . E . Trevor
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