Vor. 5. No. 1
RECENT
The essays in this volume are entitled: "The Art and Principles of Chemistry:" "A Dream of Fair ~ y d r a n e ; " "The Thirst of Salted Water;" "The Corrosion of Iron and Other Metals;" "First Messel Memorial Lecture;" "The Origin of Osmotic Effects;" "Electrolytic Conduction.'' The first essay was written for the thirteenth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica and the others for Mr. Armstrong's amusement. The b w k is dedicated to "my seven grandsons and my seven granddaughters, hoping . . that one or more may develop the individuality t o think for him or herself and not to bow the knee to authority." Mr. Armstrong is apparently a scientific Fundamentalist who advocates independence of thought and a revolt against authority. This sounds like a contradiction in terms; but what Mr. Armstrong means is that he wishes people to break away from the existing beliefs-which might be a good thing--and t o adapt hiswhich would certainly be unfortunate. Mr. Armstrong preaches tolerance; hut is hopelessly intolerant of all views except his own. Mr. Armstrong is now and always has been an enthusiastic opponent of the theory of electrolytic dissociation. I n the forty-odd years that he has been campaigning against it, he has not succeeded in developing any substitute theory which made any pretense of being quantitative. Since one cannot overthrow a theory with fact-ven if one has the facts-Mr. Armstrong has less of a following now than he had in the beginning, when the Theorem of Le Chatelier was working in his favor, and when the attempt to overthrow the existing scientific equilibrium produced a t the time a mental reaction against the new doctrine. The sad part about all this is that Mr. Armstrong has not been entirely wrong. He has insisted that water is a polymerized liquid and that this should be kept in mind when discussing aqueous solutions. He is, of course, quite right about this: but, unfortunately, he has never been able to make any effective use of this
idea and consequently his advocacy of i t has been harmful rather than helpful. This book is well worth reading for its psychological bearing. The reviewer can recommend i t to advanced students
in
WILDHRD. BANCROFT
The Chemical Elements and Their Compounds. J. A. V. BUTLER, DSc., (Birmingham), Lecturer in Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh. Macmillan and Company, Ltd., London and New Yark, 1927. First edition. xi 2W pp. Number of figures, 34 in text 9 in appendix. 8.5 X 12.5 cm. $2.00.
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"The advances of the last decade have revealed the chemical elements as members of a strikingly simple system, and consequently inorganic chemistry need no longer suffer from the reproach which has so often been brought against it, that i t consists of great numbers of uncotirdinated facts with no unifying theory. The main features of the beautiful structure which has emerged from twentiethcentury physics stand out clear and, in the main, free from hypothesis, forming a rational basis for the study of the chemical elements and their compounds. "The author believes that the time has came to incorporate the new standpoints into the general body of chemical s t n d i e ~ m o s tof the matter in Chapters I to VI has been put before students in their second year (of chemistry study). "The author has endeavored to present the newer knowledge and points of view in their proper historical perspective. Chemical theory is not a completed structure-very stage has grown out of that which preceded it." The book "is intended to he used in conjunction with an adequate descriptive textbook. The references. . . .are in no sense exhaustive. They are intended t o guide the further reading of the student, and t o draw his attention t o classic papers. . . ." The treatment is not mathematical, nor, on the other hand, is i t "popular."
At the same time the experimental basis "The Periodic System of the Elements," of the theories is given as exactly as Chapter VIII, "Structure and Properties possible. of Certain Compounds" and Chapter IX, The first two chapters cover the "The Radioactive Elements." "Atomic Theory" and the "Theory of Chapter X covers "Atomic Weights Electrolytic Dissociation." mainly in his- and Isotopes." The reviewer considers this little bwk torical fashion. The new theory of "'complete ionization" is not mentioned. a distinct addition to the literature of Chapter 111, "The Election in Chemical chemistry. The treatment is accurate, Combination," describes such matters although not in all cases quite up t o date; as the measurement of the electronic moreover, i t leaves the reader with the feeling that he would like t o know mare charze. . ~ . o l a r i t vof valenw. and oxidationreduction changes. of the subject. Perhaps the title of the book is, for chapter IV, -complex c~~~~~~~~~ includes much of wernerBs while American readers, a little misleading. chapter describes the ,zPeriodicT ~ AS ~the review ~ shows, ~ i ,t is really ~ a book on the "Structure of the Chemical Elechapter VI z c ~ hConstitution e of the Atom," but much more of the same ments and Their sort of material comes in Chapter VII, W. H. CHAPIN
