other chapters largely continue the topics organized in the previous section, with the notable exception of the h a 1 chapter, entitled Growth and Problems. This is a sobering essay cautioning chemists that the successes in their field and in others have raised serious pmhlerns, c.g., the prohieration of rhemirnl liten~~ure, nomenclature, nuclear warfare, nuclear and industrial waste disposal, fwd additives, drugs, pesticides, and depletion of natural resources. Since there are several other histories of chemistry on the market, it is necessary to contrast them with this volume. The fact that t h i ~is a large, detailed, and scholarly work sets it apart from many of the popularized accounts. Perhaps the best comparison is offered by Volume 4 of J. R. Partington's "A Hi9tory of Chemistry" (4 volumes, andveryexpemive) which also was published in 1964. With same reservations, Ihde's book may be characterized as following the topical approach, Pmtington's the biographical. To this reviewer, Ihde's book is far easier to read, both because of the author's style and the publisher's skill in producing an attractive page (good typesetting snd white, not yellow, nonglare paper). However, it must be said that much of the reason for the h e appearance of Ihde's book is the absence of most foob notes. To the scholar, the lack of these specific references is highly disappointing, and only partially made up for by the h e bibliographic essays a t the back of the volume. "The Development of Modern Chemistry" i s in brief, far more then an encyclopedia of names, dates, and events. While it is, of course, valuable as a reference work, it also is good reading. Two centuries of chemistry is a massive subject (the coverage stops about 1960, with a. few later developments mentioned), but Professor Ihde has treated it well. ~
BOOK
REVIEWS
The Development of Modern Chemistry
A a r a J . Ihde, University of Wisconsin, Msdison. Harper and Row, New York, 851 pp. Figs. and tables. 1964. xii 16 X 24 cm. $13.50.
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This important history of chemistry is all we should expect of it, and more, and yet I must confess to s slight feeling of diseppointment. The reason for my discontent is that so much fascinating material neceaaarily had to be omitted. I say 'hecessmily" because I do not see haw the author of any history of a huge subject can, in a reasonably sized volume, delve into the personal, social, economic, political, academic, and scientific forces that directed the advance of that science. Certainly, it is only by detailed studies of this sort that the development of a science may fully be understood, but such works generally are limited to narrow topics. Professor Ihde, on the other hand, has cast his net w i d e w i t h excellent results. Interested in the influences of other sciences on chemistry, he has included discussions of electrical discharges in gases, radioactivity, and atomic and nuclear physics. Another approach, which probably will meet approval, is the strong concentration on developments
-Reviewed
fmm the time of Lavaisier onward; the prior foundations are treated in just two introductory chapters. The main body of material is divided into three sections, entitled The Period of Fundamental Theories, The Growth of Specialization, and The Century of the Electron. In the first are treated the contributions of such as Lsvoisier, Dalton, Berzelius, Gay-Lussac, Avogadro, Far* day, Dulong and Petit, h o u t , Kekul6, Cannizaaro, Mendeleev, and Meyer. This is the story of the great nineteenth century advances in chemistry. The second section is perhaps even more interesting, since fundamental theories must he followed by systematization and consolidation of knowledge. In this way the fruits of a theory may most successfully be harvested. Besides discussing the growing speciali~ation in analytical, organic, inorganic, physical, and biological chemistry, the author has valuable chapters on the diffusion of chemical knowledge, via classroom, laboratory, periodical, and society, and on the nineteenth century chemical industry. Maturity and expansion seem to be the major themes for the final section covering the twentieth century. Yet, an undercurrent of discoverv and excitement is disrernuhle, eqwidly in the dirunsqions of rnrliocl~mmiitryand 1,iwhrmistry. 'l'he
in this Issue
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Department of History of Science and Medicine Yale University New Haven, Connecticut
Aaron J . Ihde, The Development of Modern Chemistry Issac Asimou, Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Anne Tracer, The Mercurial Chemist: A Life of Sir Humphry Davy Karl Heinig, editor, Biographien Bedeutender C h e d e r A. F. Dorian, editor, Dictionary of Industrial Chemistry J . Thewlis, editor, Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Physics Volume 9, Multilingual Glassmy John P . Phillips, Spectra-Structure Correlation Inuin Miller and John E. F~eund,Probability and Statistics for Engineers T . Cairn, Spectroscopic Problems in Organic Chemistry. Volume 1 Fmman A. Williams, Combustion Theory: The Fundamental Theory of Chemically Reacting Flow Systems Wesley W . Wendhndt, Thermal Methods of Analysis Charles Bunn, Crystals: Their Role in Nature and in Science
Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
I ~ w Asirnov, Boston University, Boston. Doubleday & Co., Garden 662 pp. Figs. City, N. Y. 1964. x 15 X 24 cm. $8.95.
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The sub-title reads "The Living Stories of More than lDOO Great Scientists from the Age of Greece to the Space Age Chronologically Arranged." This arrangement was chosen instead of the conventional alphabetical listing to bring together the men who were working at the same period. However, the author departs frequently from this order to list scientists whose work preceded or was a derivative of that of the main figure in a particular advance. For example Kekul6 (262) is followed by Frankland (26Za), Couper (262b) and Butlerav (26Zc) since they all pioneered in the field of structual chemistry. Each Volume 42, Number 7, July 1965
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