book reviews ing interviews for the manuscript. As such, the product has an extensive bibliography (51 pages) and scholarly approach. Though heavy a t times, the clarity of style should make it enjoyable reading for the established scientist, those new t o science, or those only peripherally interested in science. There are a number of minor mistakes that are distracting. These include typographical errors, misspellings, inaccurate references, and other anomalies in the text. Another incongruity is that of the 26 plates found in the book, 19 are X-ray diagrams! Ivan I. Kaiser university of Wyoming Laramb. 82071
The History of Quantum Theory
Friedrich Hund, and translated by Gordon Reece. I m ~ e r i a lColleee. London. Barnes and ~ o d l eBooks (&;per Row), New York, 1914. 260 pp. 20.3 X 13.5 em.
We study history because we want to know how our current situation came about, in order to understand it better. This is the author's stated purpose for this volume, and it is admirably accomplished. He distinguishes between history of polities, whieh tells us how "time" has rejected countless possibilities and allowed just one t o become reality, and history of science, which shows us haw "time" has gradually caused truth to he refined. The scenario in the birth of quantum theory reveals interplay of chance, necessity, and t o a large extent the possibility of experimental verification a t any point in time. This particular history book is unique in that it frequently pauses to ask how this new physics might have developed under different circumstances, for example, if "Planek had decided to become a musician, or Bohr a lawyer." Most chemists will recognize Friedrich Hund for his famous Hund's rules (the first of whieh, you may recall, states that the lowest energy orbital configuration is the one highest multiplicity). His boak will probably be of interest only to those chemists who are also serious students of quantum mechanics. There is a short chapter on applications, which details developments of quantum theory relating t o atomic structure, the London model of spin valence (whieh Hund neglects to identify with atoms-in-molecules theory of recent years), the Heitler-London approach (whieh Hund does relate to current valence-bond theory), the single electron approximation (whieh Hund does relate to modern molecular orbital theory), and electrons in metals. One must truly enjoy quantum mechanics to enjoy this book, hut if you do enjoy quantum mechanics, you will undoubtedly enjoy and benefit from this history. I read the book quickly, almost like a n intriguing mystery thriller. I particularly A560 1 Journal of Chemical Education
enjoyed the way the author documented events according t o precise location and time. Hund was in the midst of this history, and he frequently relates personal events which gives the reader a "you are there" impression: Pauli remarks that we could look a t the world with a p eye or with a q eye, but if we tried both we would go crosseyed; Heisenberg states that in the assertion "if we know the present we can predict the future" it is not the deduction hut the premise which is false; Otto Stern remarks that in 1914 he and Max von Laue promised each other that they would give up physics if there was "anything in this nonsense of Bohr's." The book is extremely well-written, finely documented, scientifically sound, and very readable; some of the credit undauhtedly must go t o the translator Gordon Reece. A previous review of this same boak [Foreman, P., Science, 186, 917 (1974)l is highly critical of the translation, indicating "infelicities and inexactitudes" and "roughly one falsehood or nonsense statement in every two pages." I have not seen the German edition; in this English translation, I have not detected any statements that are scientifically wrong or nonsense. There are two interesting photographs, one of them on the jacket, showing participants in the Solvay Conferences of 1911 and 1927. An outline of quantum mechanics occupies a 32-page Appendix. A second six-page Appendix surveys the ten main centers of research and the researchers who were there during the great and exciting years 1900-1927. Frank 0. Ellison University of PmSburgh Pinsburgh. Pennsyiwnis 15260
The Laboratory Recorder
Gnlen W . Eming and Harry A. Ashworth, Seton Hall University. Plenum Publishing Company, New York, 1974. vii 129 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 X 23.5 em. $18.50.
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The analog recorder is undoubtedly the most widely used laboratory instrument. In recent years, there has been a myriad of recorders made available to the scientist with the result that he has a wide range of options to solve his particular problem. But a t the same time, it becomes increasingly difficult to make an intelligent decision on uses or purchases without a sound understanding of the basic differences of various recorders and their capabilities. This small hook should give same help. The book is apparently the first of what is to he a series of volumes on Laboratory Instrumentstion and Techniques, edited by Professor Ewing. The objectives are to present the principles on which recorders are based and to describe the implementation of these principles. The types of recorders covered include deflection recorders, servo recorders, X-Y recorders, and oscillographic recorders. Some hssie electronics is assumed. But one can obtain most information with only a limited knowledge of electronics. This is because the descriptions are generally more
