being suitably subdivided). Special Lituature of Dye Chemistry. Dr. Mason doe. n o t claim t o list mmo than a fraction of the reference works of merit. Never the1e.s the critic wss surprised to note the omisi o n of such standard works as Taylor's two volume "Treatire on Phy3ical Chemirfry," Lewis and Randall's "Thumodynamies," Mulliken's "Identification of Pure Organic Compounds," seudder's "Conductivity and Ionization Constants of Organie Compounds" and Lewkawifsch's "Technology of Oilr, Pats and Waxer.'' Oo page 22 Guutler's (rather than Guerta's) "Metallographie" ir undoubtedly intended. However. t h e critic airhe. to repeat that every advanced r t ~ d e n tand teacher can profit MALCOLM H A A I N E by using this book.
read and discussed a t length in chemic~lseminars i t will be declared to be admirable. B u t i t lack. t h a t personal touch which t o t h e writer means so much in all chemical instruction. I n a dignified composition, such as this pubiicarion, however, i t might seem a bit strange, or out 01 place to h"". in t h e 'personal element. whichrecalls t h a t on one occasion when in conversation with "Billy" Maron (you all know t h a t superb teacher up a t Troy), t h e writer timidly ventured t o n m t e how he taught qualitative analysis-throwing in all sorts of illustrations to elucidate his various pmblems-when t h e dignified Sir William P. smilingly remarked, "But you wouldn't dare p u t all t h a t into a book which you misht write on the fascinating subject of Qualitative Analysis." The writer was humbled and subdued, y e t he couldn't rid himself of the The Story of Early Chemistry. Joav MAXSON ever r e a r r i n g thought, ',Why not)" We welcome this excellent book. We mourn STILLMAN. D. Appleton & Co.. New York, t h e passing away of i t s distinguished author. 1024. xiii f 566 pp. 13.5 X 21 cm. $4.00. EDCAPP. SYITR This book will appeal t o teachers and advanced
=tudent. i n chemistry. T o t h e former i t will give a ~ s s fund t of f a t s usable in t h e courac of their class instruction, while t o t h e latter i t offera rouru maferiZ.1 for their more exhaustive .tu,ly. In short. at is r u v ~ , l ~ m c n t a rin y ehnrnelcr i.onrtrwt~cm a* well as in rontrntr to moat 01 thp morcrrrc nt volumcsrclatmc t o t h r hlnfory of chemistry. The writer is quite sure t h a t if ~
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T O B E REVIEWED LATER Rondamental Concepts of Phybia-Hey1 Scientific Method i n Education-Trow. Collrpr Chcmistm-Nrarll Exprrimentsin College chrmirtrg s c w c l t Lahoratov Chemiatrv for G r k l n r u c c Chemistry-Kesrel
Suggests New Theory of Evolution of Stars. Things are not always what they seem and stars with all the earmarks of old age may really he in their youth, astronomically speaking, according t o the latest views of Dr. Henry Norris Russell, professor of astronomy a t Princeton University. Dr. Russell's ideas on stellar evolution have been widely accepted among astronomers, but one difficulty that has puzzled them has been the fact that stars of nearly every possible type may occur in the same cluster. These different types are supposed to represent various stages in the normal evolutionary sequence, but i t has also been thought that all the stars in the same cluster were formed a t approximately the same time. According t o the latest improvements of his theory, however, Dr. Russell supposed that all the stars proceed through the same general course of evolution, but some are handicapped. The most massive ones start a t the beginning, but those of less mass may start a t the middle of the scale, without having passed through the earlier stages while those of least mass start near the end. As a result, if a large number of stars are formed a t about the same time, the ones of small mass will be almost immediately in the same condition that their more massive brethren will only reach after many billions of years. The astronomer, examining their light with his spectroscope, will find them of different types and may think them t o be of different ages. The source of energy of the stars, a t one time thought t o be due t o a gradual contraction of their bodies, may be supplemented by actual conversion of their matter into energy, as proposed by Prof. Eddington of Cambridge University, E n g h d , thinks Dr. Russell. He suggests that a star may a t first contract, and then after i t has reached a certain point, cease contracting and use up its actual substance by conversion t o energy. S c i e n c e Service
