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sion and solution of refractory materials. Chapter V. Crystals in Glass. Devitrification. Chapter V I . The Color Ttnt of Glasses. Variation in color tint due t o displacement of equilibrium betn ren ferrous and ferric iron through furnace and other conditions. Theory and practice of decolorizing glass Chapter T-11. Derects Arising in Production. Dejorniation and misshaping of articles of glass17 are from various causes. Chapter VIII. Defecls zn the Surface of the Glass. Reaction and corrosion phenomena due to action of gases, fumm, moisture, etc. Chapter IX. Cracks and Crizzles in Glass. (Internal Stresses, Fracture.) Brittleness and its definition. Tensile and compressive forces in unannealed glass. The annealing of glass. Fracture systems in glass. Glass cutting. The above outline of the contents gives but slight indication of the thoroughness of the treatment of the subject. The book consists of no mere collection of empirical facts; in every case there is endeavor t o relate the various types of defects and their practical origin to scientific principles. The text in fact contains some 660 references t o original literature. The section on the tint in glass, and particularly on the theory of decolorizing, has been done in a more satisfying 11-ay than in any previous textbook on the subject. The book is very n ell printed and, despite a few errors in the spelling of foreignparticularly English-names, it does not appear to contain any serious errors. The diagrams are good and the numerous photographic reproductions reach a high standard. The price of the book, especially to English and American readers, is high, but all things considered the volume is very well worth the money. It is, indeed, in the reviewer’s opinion, indispensable to all glass technologists; and many workers in physical chemistry and physics may find by perusal of this work dealing with glass numerous instances of phenomena which arise in substances of high viscosity. W. E. S. TURNER.
The Scientist in Action: -4Scientific S t u d y of His Methods. By WILLIAMH. GEORGE. 21 5 x 14 cm.; 355 pp. London: Williams & Sorgate, Ltd., 1936. Price: 10 s . 6d. Probably most scientists have never read a book on scientific method, and think they would gain nothing by doing so. Well, it depends upon the book, but in this case gain should certainly result for many: in pleasure, in the fuller realization of what they are doing, and in the stimulus t o further thought. And it is not unlikely that many would be surprised t o discover their lack of scientific method outside their professional researches. Even concerning these researches Dr. George stresses the fact that a scientific worker is human but cannot escape being part of his apparatus: “in interpreting the results of research it becomes necessary to examine t o what extent they depend upon the human factor.” The influence of the human factor is carefully discussed. A deterrent t o the reading of books on scientific method is often their “dryness.” But here Dr. George’s astonishingly wide knowledge of all kinds of subjects, from ancient to ultra-modern, is combined with much humor, yet thorough earnestness and care, t o give his theses illustrations which are always pleasantly interesting, and often, as Kai Lung Tould say, “gravity removing.” Chapter XI is certainly controversial, as Dr. George points out, but the facts brought forward are arresting, to say the least. r o t only professional scientists, but all interested in the meaning of science and its connection with civilization, should be able t o read this book with ease, profit, and delight. L. F. GILBERT.
