VOL.9, NO. 1
RECENT BOOKS
Assistant Professor of Chemistry; W. L. ESTABROOKE, Associate Professor of Chemistry; ALEXANDEL?LEHRMAN, Instructor in Chemistry; all of the College of the City of New York. Thomas Y. Crowell Co., New York City, 1931. x 420 pp. 21.5 X 14 cm. $2.00.
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This manual has been prepared to accompany "Elements of General Chemistry" by the same authors (see review. directly preceding this one), and the order of presentation of the material is very similar t o that of the text. I n an effort t o maintain close correlation severa1 experiments have been introduced which we believe are of little v a l u e such as experiments an hromic and iodic acids, ventilation, the mineral and the winning of metals, As might be the greater of the experi. mental work is what may usually be found in an elementarylahoratory manual, for the field has already rather thoroughly covered. The discussion of principles, which precedes each experiment, appears t o dupfiu t e in mast cases the material of the textbook, and may have a nullifying effect upon the requirement t h a t the student frewently use his text as a reference. Ex*lent experiments of a quantitative llatwe appear early in the book. It is doubtful, however, that the ability of beginning students a t so early a stage is such as t o obtain sufficiently accurate results in a number of them t o he of value. It is unfortunate that more of this type of work is not included later. The printed page contains many blank spaces, a decidedly helpful feature t o the student in recording temporary notes, which he should be encouraged t o elaborate a t the end of the exercise. Although the experiments adequately cover the material of the textbook. the manual does not impress us as ranking with the text in excellence. E, B, Y&B
UWIVB.BITY
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Chemistry Workbook and Laboratory Guide. M. V. MCGILL,Lorain High School. Lorain, Ohio, and G. M. BRADBURY, Lakewood High School, L a k e wood, Ohio. Lyons and Carnahan, Chicago, Ill., 1931. 252 pp. 16 Figs. 21.5 X 28 cm. Flexible paper cover. Staple bound hut perforated for looseleaf use. The well-known Wm. Segerhlom of Phillips Exeter Academy endorses this book in the foreword, giving the reason thereto that he had long ago proved to his own satisfaction that the proper method of instruction i n chemistry was based upon and centered around the individual laboratory work of the student, for i t enables the student t o learn through his own observations and develop his OW" "asoning much better than could be done by the use of the stereotyped textbook. The reviewer heartily agrees with the above conclusion of this eminent teacher of chemistry for his experience has brought him t o the same conclusion. at the The appearance of this hand of the seasoned M ~ . ill and his associate author, Bradbury, b d warked hy4ihe opinion f,, Professor hlom, is a definite advance in the tian of the fact that all science teaching should use, exemplify, and make the pupil familiar with the scientific method of pro. cedure for it is the very cornerstone and is foundation upon which all made, Professor John Dewey has. alproblem of ready assured us that problems in our education is how to dis. cover and how to mature and make effectivethisscientifichahit." Itissimply unintelligible that any teacher should ~ubstitutethe dogmatic textbook for the exemplification of the scientific method. h hi^ workbook also furnishes the remedy for the common fault of modem teaching, the "once over." Tne growth in matter in chemistry has been notably great in the past decade, resulting in texts that are decidedly plethoric. If the pupil "covers the ground" he has time only for the "once over." Where
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a text is used as the basis for the assignment of lessons, then the fundamentals receive too scant attention. Where the text is regarded as a source book and the lessons are assigned on the basis of wellordered units of the fundamentals the above difficulty does not appear but this plan seems as yet to be used by a minority of teachers. We hope that this book will be an incentive t o teachers of chemistry t o leave their "low-vaulted past" and occupy the wider horizons of science which the use of the scientific method is sure to create. Extended drill, however, can confuse a s well as clarify. A book is only a tool to be used for good or ill as the teacher may select. Only when the details are used as steps to lift the student t o the heights of understanding of a general principle may the teacher's work be said t o be well done. HERBERTR. SMITH LAKBVIBWHICASCHOOL C A T C ~ OILL~NOIS O.
The Twentieth Century Practice-Exercises and Objective Tests in Chemistry., G. M. BRADBURY,Lakewood High School, Lakewood, Ohio, and M. V. MCGILL,Lorain High School, Lorain, Ohio. Benton Review Shop, Fowler, Indiana, 1931. 132 pp. Paper cover, staple bound. 15.5 X 23.5cm. 25pnet. One of the weakest points in the teaching of chemistry in secondary schools is the lack of practice and drill t o secure the necessary understanding. This booklet aims to supply this need by stated exercises arranged in thirty-two units which are studied with reference t o the usual stereotyped textbook. Each unit closes with a test of fill in blank word. true-false, or selective answer type. The formation of such a practice hook evidently is the result of the unsatisfactory use of a test book as such. It is apparent that the pupil must meet the challenge of the exercises by a consideration of the information of the text and in this respect a decided value is furnished which the average book does not have.
JANUARY,
1932
If such exercises were incorporated a t the close of chapters of the text i t would take on the nature of a workbook and would not be usable the second time, except by the somnolent type of pupil who desires above everything a short cut in personal effort. This addition 01 another book to the pupil load may justify the expense, even if i t is only a half-step breakaway from an outworn form of instruction. We must a t least grant that the authors have the courage t o put their convictions into an improvement in printed form. It happens in places that there is no treatment of a certain topic in the book which the pupil may be using, so this information must be sought elsewhere or omitted. The difficulty lies in trying to integrate the topics of several books into one practice book. If we were willing to allow textbooks to take their silent places in the museums and in their place evolve a course of fundamentals based on laboratory practice with historical values supplied concurrently, we might approach more nearly a perfect method for it would embody the eleme& of the scientific method. At any rate the use of this practice book will cause much more brain searching than the separate use of a teat so we can see real education promoted. If the teacher will be careful to point out the mountain peaks of principle which are encountered in the study of chemistry the final result cannot be other than satisfactory. HERBERTR. SMITH LAKBV ~ B W Hrca SCHOOL CAIC*.~,I L L ~ N O ~ S
Recent Advances in Organic Chemistry. ALPREDW. STEWART, D.Sc., Professor of Chemistry in the Queen's University, Belfast. Sixth edition. Longmans. Green & Co., New York c i t y and London, 1931, 2 vols. xii 429, xii 431 pp. $7.50 each volume.
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The popularity of this standard book with organic chemists is attested by the fact that five editions have been sold,
