RECENT BOOKS T H E LILBORATORY WORKSHOP.A SIMPLECOURSEI N APPARATUS that, God willing, a time would come when she too would con-
B.Sc., MAKINGAND THE USE OII TOOLS. E. H. Du~kwo~th, A.R.C.S.. Inspector of Science and Technical Education, Colonial Service, Nigeria; and R. Harries, City and Guilds (Engineering) College, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London. G. Bell & Sons, Ltd., London, 1933. xi 246 pp. 8 Plates. 428 Figs. 14 X 22 cm. lo/- net.
tribute her quota. "Half-a-century has since then rolled by. My dream I have now the gratification of finding fairly materialized. A new era has evidently dawned upon India. Her sons have taken kindly to the zealous pursuit of different branches of science. May the torch thus kindled hum with greater brilliance fromgeneration to generation." The pwpose of this hook, as stated by the authors, is that it The book has two themes: a scientific and a political one. "may encourage the design and construction of home-made ap- The author is intensely interested in the development of pure and paratus not only because of the pleasure and advantages which applied chemistry in India. He is also a n ardent politician. the use of a laboratory workshop brings, hut also because in these oreachine- a t all times the doctrine of India for the Indians. He times when economy is urged and the allmation of money for admires the English as chemists and hates them as a ruling class. scientific apparatus is all too small, self-help of this kind seems I t is permitted to the reader to like parts of the hook and not to the only way in which efficient teaching is to be secured." Sug- be enthusiastic over others. gesting possible uses of the laboratory workshop, the authors Prafulla Chandra R i y was born in 1861. His father, though further knowingly remark: "Most science masters have had the a Hindu, learned Persian, which was then the court language, and experience of delving into cupboards and finding a dusty collec- had a smattering of Arabic. The son was interested a t first tion of broken balances, galvanometers and such-like that are in Latin and in English literature. The change to chemistry no longer in use owing to the lack of some small screw or essential came after entering the Metropolitan Institution of Pandit part." and pointing out the need for training in manual dexterity Iswarcbandra Vidayasagar. The chemistry professor was Mr. state: "The wide development of science in schools has given (afterward Sir Alexander) Pedler. the opportunity for a new type of workshop, where science and R i y won a Gilchrist Scholarship and left India for Edinburgh handcraft are happily linked together, and where students can in 1882. At Edinburgh he worked under Crum Brown. Two learn that general handiness with tools for accurate working in of his fellow students were James Walker, who was the first both wood and metal, which is of mlut, not only to the future Englishman to work with Ostwald, and Alexander Smith, later science worker, but to any man or woman living in the present professor a t Chicago and Columbia. age of mechanism." R i y wondered whether he too should take up physical chemThe task set far themselves by the authors is well performed. istry hut was advised by Professor Dittmar of Glasgow to be a The book is informative, suggestive, and inspirational. The bead- chemical chemist fint. He received his doctor's degree in inings of the twelve chapters suggest the scope and content of the oreanic chemistrv in 1887. I n 1888 R i v returned to Calcutta ~subjects treated. These are: I, The Selection and General and in 1889 he was appointed temporary assistant professor a t Equipment of a Laboratory Workshop; 11, Tool Equipment; 111. the Presidency College. Materials: IV. How to Mark Out. Cut. File. Drill, and Bend Ray felt that "in Bengal the one thing needed was not so much Sheet ~ e & ,Rod, Strip, and TUG; V, Screw Cutting; VI, the establishment of Technological Institutes as the initiative, Soldering; VII, Woodworking; VIII, Electric Wiring and the the dash, the pluck, the resourcefulness in our youths that go to Laboratory; IX, Miscellaneous ProcessesThe Cutting, Drill- the making of a business man, an entrepreneur, or a captain of ing, and Grinding of Glass; X, Drawings and Designs; XI, Ap- industry. The college-bred youth has been found to be a hopeparatus Designs; XII, More Apparatus Designs. An appendix less failure; there is no driving power in him; a t best he can only contains a good bibliography of hooks and periodicals for the shine as a tool or an automaton." workshop library, and an adequate index renders,details readily To remedy this R i y started a small chemical factory which he accessible. ran as an adjunct to his teaching. At first they made sodium The treatment of subject matter is exhaustive and highly de- phosphate from the bones of cattle and such pharmaceuticals tailed. Tools are listed and illustrated and their dimensions and as Syrup Ferri Iodidi, Liquor Arsenicalis, Liguor Bismuth, Spiritus sizes are exactly specified. Materials and supplies are described Aetheri Nitrosi, etc. Bottles were bought second-hand in the in detail. The proper quality and sizes, as of sheet metal, rods. bazaar. The selling was a difficulty because people said: "Imbars, tubing, angles, channels, screws, bolts, rivets, nails, solder, ported drugs from firms of established reputation command a abrasives, cements, solvents, etc., are described and in many ready sale, whereas indigenous drugs would be refused by our cases sources are mentioned and approximate prices stated. customers.'' Paragraphs and figures are numbered and cross references,which The impossible happened. All difficulties, including the lack occur constantly throughout the book, serve to coiirdinate details. of capital, were finally overcome and now the Bengal Chemical The 428 figures are of the type of first-class engineering draw- and Pharmaceutical Works employs two thousand hands and ings, and the plates are well chosen and well prepared. Drawings has perhaps the biggest sulfuric acid plant in India. and printing are clear, and the arrangement and format are atI n 1894 the chemical department moved into new buildings. tractive. No ermrs of importance are noted. Soon after this R2y discovered mercurous nitrite. The investiNot every science laboratory may have a completely equipped gation of this substance and its numerous derivatives and also workshop, hut every worker who is concerned with the design. of the nitrites in general meant one hundred or more papers. construction, care, repair, or use of scientific equipment may find This should have kept Ray busy; but that was not the case. He a wealth of helpful and suggestive information in this book. found time to write a "History of Hindu Chemistry" which was a masterpiece. I n 1916 R i y joined the newly founded University College of Science as the first holder of a Professorship of Chemistry. I n 1921 chain in Applied Chemistry and in Physical ChemisW OP A BENGALICHE~IST.Plajulka LIPR AND EXPERIENCES Chandm Ray. Chuckervertty, Chatterjee & Co., Ltd., Cal- were established. I t is not too much to say that the gratifying development of chemistry in India in the last forty years is due 557 pp. 14 X 22 cm. 7s. 6d. cutta, India, 1932. x directlv ~ ~ ~ and - indirectlv ~ ~ -to R ~ v , This would be a marvelous thing fnr anvbodv to have done: .. .., -~~~ , hut it is the more remarkable when I n the preface Professor Ray says: " W i l e a student a t . Edinburgh I found to my regret that every civilized country, one considers that Rby has been what most of us would call a n including Japan, was adding to the world's stock of knowledge; invalid all his life. M e n thirteen years old hc had a bad attack but that unhappy India was lagging behind. I dreamt a dream of dysentery which became chronic, making him a permanent
+
-
~~~
+
~~~~>
2
~~
~
~~~
