course." The attemot is to oresent a series of experiments chat will s e k as the fundamental framework of s course in general chemistry. No pretense is made to cover every possible topic. The author states that the manual has been planned for a course taken by serious science
equivalents) and the units of eoncentre tion of solutions. This new edition follows the same general plan and format as the first edition, but a number of desirable rearrangements and several new experiments have been added. One such rearrangement is the section on laboratory manipulations which is used as a. reference section rather than as the first experiment. One of the new experiments is the determination of molecular weight hy freeeing-point depression. Each experiment is introduced by a "Review of fundamental concepts" which very adequately explains the principles to be studied. A special section on principles of ionic equilibria introduces qualitative analysis. Quditative analysis may he arranged either as a. limited scheme or as a complete cation scheme.
The rtppendixes should be of great value to both the student and the instructor. The "Suggestions to the instructor" h w e been exvanded. The illustrations bv Roger ~ a y w a r dare as attractive as ever.. EDWARD B . ROSSER H'RA'
CoLLE'E
ox'o
THE PURSUIT OF SCIENCE IN REVOLUTIONARY AMENCA (1735-17891
THEmain e n d e m r s in early American science were in natural history and astronomy. The emphasis was predominanbly utilitarian and funds were solicited largel!by arguments based on promises of commercial gains. For example, the botanists did a good business in the export of seeds, and the uses of astronomical observations, such as the transit of Venus in 1769, were to be reflected in aids ta "migation and in surveying the boundaries between the colonies. The active workerr were amateurs for the most part. The colleges were occupied mostly with pedagogical matters, especially classics and theology, and the professors did little original research. Physicians, who ostensibly have a natural bent for science, devoted some of their extra. curricular efforts to chemistry, especially materia medica. Medical schools were founded (Catinued a Page ASO)
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
Eeeent
Saa&
in variouv places, and modied societies also afforded opportunities for discussion ofhetter methods of combating disease. Philadelphia was the main center of scientific endeavor, and The American Philosophical Sooiety was started there in 1769 after s long period of earlier attempts and contests between rival groups. The comparable American Academy of Arts and Sciences was incorporated by thc Massachusetts legislature in 1780. Both were patterned on the loarncd societies at London and Paris. They hegan to pnhlish their Transactions and dlemoirs, respectively, thus providing outlets athcr than the European periodicals far scientific papers. The initial enthosiasms subsided, and bhese and similar organizations saw same rather sterile periods. There simply was not sufficient drive among enough American men to vitalize work in basic scienre. The Yankee bent toward useful inventions appeared a t a n early date, but agricultural machinery and textile equipment do not greatly f r r l ; ther investigation into scientific laws. P h y ~ i c s and chemistry ( i . . nabural philosophy) were not favorite subjects. Tho ideas of Priestley were preferred over those of Lssoisier, and Thomas Jefferson, who was in Paris during the chemical revolut,ion, considered Lavoisier's reforms as "promature." Potash derived from the burning of the abundant trees was perhaps the chief chemical product, and etorts were made to develop better mcthods of obtaining nitrates far the mnnufacture of gunpamder. Analyses of mineld waters n-ere favorite topics of publication and, in general, chemistry was rlasely allied n i t h mineralogy. The author has presented a scholarly and sympathetic account of this special chapter in American history. He has read a tremendous numher of papers and books dealing n i t h and bordering on his chosen topic, and he has xvovon the mass of facts into a valuahle text. Every page is provided v i t h a n ample supply of references, &nd the hook closes n i t h an execllent discussion of Source material. Scientists interested in this phase of their professional history will find here many northn-hile hints t,o buried treasures, some possibly of real value. The reviewer learned muoh from the hook and recommends i t to soiontists of all fields. I t helongs in school and public lihraries. R 4 L P H E. OESPER l i s l v ~ n s l ~ l CISCIVX*TI or CINCINNAI.~,OH>"
THE AIM AND THE END Sir James Colpuhoun Irvine. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh, 1936. x 15.5 X 22.5 cm. $4.90.
+ 303 pp.
For over thirty-five years selected audiences, many of them the students and assembled dignitaries of academic convocations, had the rare privilege of listening to a great chemist, administrator, and tibizen clothe his profound ideas in tho
(Continued on Page ASS) JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
