Applied Science" (1951) (pp 277-279). Instructors concerned with ehemaphobia and antiscientific attitudes will find the book's 10th and final chapter, "Acclaim and Disclaim," particularly useful in classroom discussions. The book differs from T. R. Henn's The Apple a n d the Spectroscope (Norton: New Yark, NY, 1966) in that it is organized around scientific topics rather than around the poems. Although separate chapters are devoted to "The Atom," "Chemistry," andCMatter,"chemists will findmuch ofinterest throughout the book, e.g., discussions and poems illustrating entropy, the elements, the first and second laws ofthermodynamics, attraction and repulsion, chemical reactions, magnetism, dissolution and recrystallization, conservation of energy, conservation of mass, E = mc2, phlogiston, the microcosm and macrocosm, and relativity. Important topics in astronomy, biology, cosmology,earth sciences, environmentalism, geology, and physics are also included. Unfortunately, the book does not appear to have been proofread and is literally riddled with errors-as many as eight on a single page (p 299); I stopped counting after 120, and these were only in the text portions ( n o t including the poems). Admittedly, most are misspellings or "typos," but some areerrors offaet. e.g., Taorather than Lao-tzu means ' t h e way" (Lao-tzu is the author of the Tao et! ching; Lao-tzds name is spelled three different ways in the index ( ,~ o 299 .~ ) as if he were two different oersons a s well as the title of a poem : Pnrncclsus styled himself "yon Hohcnhcm"not "vnn llelmholtn" p :(i and I have ne\cr srrn N e w t o n ' s law ufp.awtatmn referred toas his"third Inn, nfmotwn" p 3.1,.These shoncom~ngs norwirhstandmg. I am pleased to rccon~rnmdthis uncmmon volume t,, lnitrurturs ofchcmisrrv and other r m n c e courses who w d d like to introdurr nn rxtm, humanrstrc dlmenrion to rhcir lerttxres rhat may enable them to rnorlvnrr srudenti "turned a l f by the conventional, somewhat sterile, abstract approach. The book's uses are limited only by the instructor's imagination. ~
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Georae B. Kauffman California ~tateilniversit~. Fresno Fresno, CA 93740
lar weiehts. - . and used a common standard..viz...H = 1. a s a standard far consistent atomic weights. Also, i t was Cannizzar+not Avogadro, as is commonlv believed-who proposed that the molecules of the gaseous elements (The noble gaseskere then unknown) are diatomic. TheSuntowasfirst publishedinZlNuouo Cimento (1858, 7, 321-3661 and has been translated into German (Abriss eines 1.ehrgnnger der fhrorrtrsrhru Chemtr w r g r t r o p u n o n d e r konrglwhen Ikruzrstrat Grnuo;Mtolati,A..Tranrl.;Meyer, L.,Ed.: OstwalCs Klarsiker der exakten \Viasmschnlten S o 30. Wilhelm Engelmann: Leipzig, 1891) and English (Sketch o f a course of Chemical Phi1osophy;Alembic Club Reprint No. 18; E. & S. Livinestone: ~ d i n b u i e h1910: . 1961). vet the nresent edi. reminted . t~;, the 27th vvlume in the srries ~ibliotfrs~sicilionb di sforin c lctrrrnturn Sic~l~anLihraryofIllstoryand Llttraturt. .introduced by eon el lo ~ a a l o n iis, espe&allywel&me hecauseofthelongessay and copious notes by Luigi Cerruti, Professor of the History of Chemistry a t the University of Turin and a prominent authority on the atomicmolecular theory of the 19th century (Ottocento). The annotated Sunto (36 pp), with marginal numbers referring to the pages of the original paper, is provided with 13 pages of explanatory notes. The major portion of the book is devoted to Cerruti's masterly essay, "I1 luogo del 'Sunto"' (The Place of the Sunto) (185 pp), which analyzes in great depth Cannizzaro's magnum opus, from almost every conceivable viewpoint (chemical, historical, semantic, linguistic, epistemological, etc.). In his attempt to place it in its proper historical context and to assess its place and role in the development of chemistry, Cerruti considers the work of such scientific luminaries as AmnLre. . . Avoeadro. - . Berzelius, Dulang, Dumas, Gay-Lussac, Gerhardt, Kekul6, Lothar Meyer, Odlina, Petit, Prout, Regnault, Williamson, and Wurtz as well as the &tributions of leading historians of science. His bibliography is detailed (278 references, 20 pp) and up-to-date (through October, 1988). A name index (4 pp, 2 columns) adds to the utility of this volume, which will be of great interest to chemists, physicists, historians of chemistry and of science, and chemical educators who feature historv in their courses.
Sunto di un corso di filosofia chimica
George B. Kauffman California State Universitv, Fresno Fresno. CA 93740
Stanislao Cannizzaro, with comments and historical notes by Luigi Cerrufi, Sellerio editore: Palermo, Sicily, 1991. 286 pp, Figs. and fables. 16.8 x 23.4 cm. L40,000 (PB). The molecular hypothesis announced in 1811 by Lorenzo Romano Amedea Carlo Avogadm, Conte di Quaregna (1776-1856) is a mime examnle of a scientific breakthroueh that was ienored. rejected, misunderstood, and consigned to ohlivion for a long time hefare being recognized and adapted by the scientific world. Consequently, not only is it dealt with in introductory chemistry courses and textbooks in connection with the gas laws, but also the story ofits neglect and "resurrection"is discussed by even the most nonhistorically minded instructors of such courses or authors of such texts. The general \,ieu of mnsr of these instructurs and textbook aurhnrs 1 3thnr Angel
