book reviews sigmatropic reaction of the propene 44, the electron configuration indicated for the transition state is incorrect and should he +12$2 for the thermal reaction and for the photochemical reaction. In spite of the above flaws, this edition of the Guidebook is a wen-written hook that will serve as a good text on mechanistic organic chemistry. I recommend i t not only for heginning students a t the undergraduate level hut also as a verv useful reference and compact guide on introductory mechanistic organic chemistry a t the graduate level. ~~~~~
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John R. D0dd E m r y University Atlanta, Georgia 30322
The Hlslory of Chemistry
Thomas Thomson. Amo Press, New York, 1975. vii 674 pp. One plate. 14 X 21 cm. $38.
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During the academic year 1973-74, a t the Center far Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences a t Stanford, California, four distinguished historians and sociologists of science--Yehuda Elkana, Robert K. Merton, Arnold Thackray, and Harriet Zuckermanthen Fellows a t the Center, selected and compiled a collection of 60 hooks which were ~uhlishedin June 1975 by Arna Press under the title "History, Philosophy and Sociology
of Science: Classics, Staples and Precursors." The collection, whieh retails for $1,476 with the separate volumes also available individually, "aims to provide a sampling of a wide variety of past and almost contemporary works, each with ita own importance, which have been out of print and thus unavailable." I t "is composed of biographies and autobiographies of scientists, historical and sociological accounts of scientific societies , interpretations of the interaction between science and society, Festschriften devoted to ~ioneersin the analytic study of the scientific enterprise, philosophical orientations to science, and accounts of the comparative development of science in differing social and political contexts, in times of war and of peace." At a time when almost every aspect of science is being subjected t o new or renewed intellectual investigation, this collection of writings extending from the 18th t o the first half of the 20theenturyshould find a wide market despite its relatively high cost. Four of the volumesdames R. Partington's "Origins and Development of Applied Chemistry" (1935). Ernst von Meyer's "A History of Chemistry from Earliest Times t o the Present Day" (18911, and the hooks discussed in this and the following review deal exclusively with ehemistry. Although Thomas Thomson (1773-1852) was the father of historid chemistry in Great Britain, his historical contributions have been almost completely ignored by his contemporary biographers. He was associated with a number of historical "firsts." His "System of Chemistrv" (1802)was the first treatiseon chcmistr) pulrlishrd in (;rent Britain, and its third e d m m I IXu7r contamed the first pub.
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lished description of John Dalton's atomic throry-n year before D d t o n ' ~own account in his "New System of Chemical Philosuphy" c IRORl.l'hornson was Profwsur ofChemistw at theuniversity of Glargow (181&1841), thk first incumbent in that position, and he founded there the first chemistry laboratory in Great Britain for general instruction. His hook, "The History of Chemistry" (2 vols., Colhum and Bentley, London, 183&31; 2nd ed., 1833; reissued, 1835; the Arno reprint is the 2nd printing of the 1st ed., mistakenly designated the 2nd ed.), was also the firstand for many years, the only-hook-length history of ehemistry in the English language. Today, the classics of science, like the Bible and Shakespeare, are more often quoted than read, but perhaps the new Arno series may help change the situation. The selectors, however. consider Thomson's "Historv" not a classic but rather a precursor, that is, work "which gave early intimations of ideas and kinds of inquiry that would he fully developed only hy later writers in other contexts." Throughout his active life as chemist and editor, Thomson never ceased his historical studies, which culminated in this 674-page book (Vol. 1, 349 pp.; Val. 2, 325 pp.), consisting largely of articles that had previously appeared in Annals of Philosophy (the journal that he had founded in 1813) along with additional studies on alchemy. In some cases, e.g., the biographies of Cavendish, Priestley, and Scheele, the original articles are more complete than the accounts in the hook, while in other cases, e.g., that of Black, the reverse is true. Unfartunatelv, the com-
a
usefulness. The table of contents best gives an ideaof the scope and emphases of the book. The first volume consists of nine chapters: (1) "Of Alchymy" (46 pp.); (2) "Of the chemical knowledge possessed by the Ancients'' (61 PP.); (3) "Chemistry of the Arabians" (30 pp.); (4) "Of the progress of Chemistryunder Paracelsus and his disciples" (39 pp.); (5) "Of Van Helmont and the Iatro-Chemists" (40 pp.); (6) "Of Agricolaand metallurgy" (7 pp., the shortest chapter); (7) "Of Glauber, Lemery, and some other chemists a t the end of the seventeenth century" (20 pp.); (8) "Of the attempts t o estahlish a theory in chemistry" (57 pp.); and (9) "Of the foundation and progress of scientific chemistry in Great Britain" (46 pp.). Volume Two consists of s e w n chapters, rather than six as incorrectlv li>rrd on the T a l h oiCwnwntr and repurted rlsewhere: 11, n rcmrinuat:on 01 C h a p Y ot Val. 1(25 pp.); (2) "Of the progress of philasophical chemistry in Sweden" (49 pp., omitted from the Contents); (3) "Progress of scientific chemistry in France'' (115 pp., the longest chapter); (4) "Progress of analytical ehemistry" (61 pp.); (5) "Of eleetro-chemistry" (26 pp.) (6) "Of the atomic theory" (32 pp.); and (7) "On the present state of chemistry" (16 pp.). Thus the book is organized in a chronological, national, and topical manner. Thomson's "History" ranges from the erudite (Greek and Latin passages and an occasional Hebrew word are found in the early chapters) to the colloquial (especially in the biographies, with many of whose subjects he was acquainted personally or A440 1 Journal of Chemical Education
through correspondence). More than 700 different names are mentioned, of which 57 are provided with detailed biographies, some containing personal anecdotes not found elsewhere. Strangely enough, Thomson erroneously ascribes the discovery of the law of equivalents not t o Richter but to Wenzel (Vol. 2, pp. 279-282). Evaluations of the book are better left to historians of chemistry more experienced than I: "Frequently uncritical but . late enough to take account of the new understanding of chemistry which resulted from the work of Lavoisier, Khproth, and Dalton" (A. J. Ihde). "Rather uneven in its treatment, but the progress of analytical chemistry is reviewed with critical skill" (H. C. Bolton). "Written in a very interesting style, gives a large amount of valuable information, is largely based on original sources, and is still of value" (J. R. Partington). "Of undiminished value after being in use for more than acentury" (T. M. Lawry), "A masterpiece of learning and research" (R. D. Thomson). "One of the most delightful books that can b read by a zealous chemist" (W. Crum). The interested reader can learn more about Thamson's "History" by reading H. S. Klickstein's article (Chymia, 1, 37(1948)), from which I ohtained some of the information used in this review, or better yet by reading the book itself.
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George 8. Kauffman Caiifornia Slate University Fresno, California 93740
Volume 53,Number 10, October 1976 1 A441
