This hook is a welcome addition to the literature on girls and science, a field that, over the past 10 years, hna become the focus of much attention from educational theorists. Catherine Glllbert Champlain Regional College St. LBrnbert, Quebec J4P 3P2 Canada Droll Sclence: Belng a Treasury of Whlmslcal Characters, Laboratory Levlty, and Scholarly Follles Robert L. Weber. Editor. Humana Press: P. 0.Box 2148. 'cliffon. NJ, 1987. vli 340 pp. Illustrations. 14.8 X 22.7 crn. $22.50 US; $27.50 F.
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One of the best kept secrets, as far as the general public is concerned, is that scientists, including chemists, have a sense of humor. Scientists themselves, of course, are well aware of this fact; as cases in point, we might cite parodies, hooks, or collections such as S. C. H. Windier's iiber das Substitutionsgesetz und die Theorie der Typen (Liebigs Ann. 1840, 33, 308); Berichte der Durstigen Chemisehen Gesellsehaft (Sept. 20, 1886); Bunseniona (1904); John Read's Humour and Humanism i n Chemistry (1947); Josef Hausen's Chemiker Anekdoten (1957), subsequently revised and reprinted under different titles; Rohert A. Baker's A Stress Analysis of o Strapless Eoening Gown (1963); Verlag Chemie's Mixturo Mirabilis (1965); Msgnus Pike's Butter Side Up! (1977); Morris Gorau's A Treasury of Scientific Jokes (1986); and The Official Dr. Science Big Book of Science (1986); Sidney Harris' cartoons in American Scientist and Gary Larson's syndicated strip The Far Side; as well as journals such as The Worm Runner's Digest, the Journal of Jocular Physics, and the Journal of Irreproducible Results. The compiler of the anthology under review here, Professor Emeritus of Physics a t Pennsylvania State University, is no stranger to this genre, having edited two previous well-received collections, A Random Walk in Seienee (1973) and More Random Walks in Science (1982). "Droll," according to The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, means "amusing in an odd way; whimsically humorous; waggish," and Robert L. Weber's anthology of parodies, satires, anecdotes, lampoons, spoofs, witty sayings, poems, limericks, elerihews, songs, and jokes about seience or scientists admirably succeeds in exemplifying this definition. Written by or about scientists such as Svante Arrhenius, J6ns Jacob Berzelius, Nicholas Copernicus, Thomas A. Edison, Paul Flory, Thomas H. Huxley, Lord Kelvin, James Clerk Maxwell, J. W. Mellor, A. A. Michelsou, Rohert S. Mulliken, Erwin Schrginger, Lord Alexander Todd, James D. Watson, and Robert B. Woodward, and nonscientists such as Arthur Conan Dovle.. Dwieht .. D. Eisenhower. Ralph Waldo ~ L e r w n William , S. tiill,ert: Stephen Leaco~k,Iwac Baihevis Singer, andMarkTwain, theentriesrange in length fromone sentence (by Voltaire, p. 153) to 12
A74
Journal of Chemical Education
pages ("On Making Rounds," pp. 26:-2fi6l. Among the fields represented are astn,nomy, biology, chemistry, computer science, ecology, economics, geology, mathematics, medicine, physics, and psychology, and for mast items a reference to the source (book, journal, or person) is given (Five of the entries are taken from the Journal of Chemical Education.) Where needed for darification, short introductions by Weher are given. T h e book is clearly intended for browsing (A six-page index adds to its utility for classroom use.), but I read it from cover to cover. In addition to the entries dealing with chemistrv, readers of this iournal will be particul& interested in those dealing with research. researchers, and ouhlishine. ... aeademic lrfe, committees, adminrrtrators, hureaucraries, organizations. examinations, student evaluations of faculty ("Their use to make decisions regarding faculty retention, tenure, and promotion may he invalid," p. 1411, hilarious student howlers culled from examination papers, and gamesmanship. Appreciation of humor is an idiosyncratic matter, and not all of the nuggets in this goldmine of scientific whimsy will appeal equally to everyone. Among those particularly tickling my funny bone were "Gilmania" (a woodcut-illustrated, purported account of a graduate student's experience in Henry Gilman's laboratory at the Iowa State College written in the style of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales); "The Difference between Chemists and Physicists"; "Elementary Chemistry of Long Ago"; "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Lave Lecturing"; "Traitmarks" ("How you can tell someone's a chemist"); "The Modern Doctor Chemical" (to he sungto the music of "Modern Major General" from Gilbert end Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzauce," two decades before Tom Lehrer used the same tune for his song "The Chemical Elements"); and "The Pencil Prohlem-1910," a spoof of bureaucratic governmental regulation. And, as the author of a short note on "The Martini as an Alcoholic Solution" (Kauffman, G. B. J. Chem. Educ. 1967,44, 1991, I enjoyed--and envied-the detailed and definitive "American Safety Code and Reouirements for Drv Martinis". U'nfortunately, thgappearanre of thisde. lightful \,olume is marred by an excessive number of rrrors (almost 60 misspellings. incorrect punctuation, lack of diacritical marks, and assorted "typos"). Also, Thomas Andrews not Andrew Andrews is the Scottish chemist known for his work an critical temperature (p. 16). Admittedly, errors could have been reprinted intact from the original articles rather than introduced by the compiler so I checked the six errors in four articles from the J. Chem. Educ. and found that none of them were present in the originals. These minor shortcomings aside, I am pleased to recommend this amusing book. Read and enjoy! Georae B. Kauffman California State Universlty, Fresno
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Fresno, CA 93740
Wrltlng t h e Laboratory Notebook Howard M. Kanare. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1985. xii 145 pp. Figs. 17.7 X 25.2 cm. $12.95 PB.
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The growing recognition that patents
based on academic research may bring financial rewards to colleges, their faculties, and students has prompted efforts to improve the experimental record keeping at our institutions. This book by a skillful writer with research experience in university and industry should he a useful tool for chemistry departments intent upon improving their patent programs, but it goes beyond crass commercialism. The author writes that his simple purpose is "to teach the principles of proper scientific notekeeping". In pursuing this objective he has ploughed the field deeply. In fact, some seetions have been overploughed. A well-kept notebook is a pearl beyond orice for students writine a research thesis and for their major professors when manuscripts are prepared ior publication. The greatest test of a notebook, however, is its use as a legal document. Careless recording of dates and data and failures to obtain corroborative witnessing may cost the inventor and his institution the ownership of an invention end the loss of investment in intellectual property. It is this reviewer's opinion that in striving for total protection against such loss, Kanare urges so many safeguards that academic researchers will rebel against the recommended procedures. We join him in urging the direct entry of experimental data with "permanent ink" in a bound notebook with numbered pages and the prompt and dated witnessing of the pages by a knowledgeable colleague who is unlikely to be a co-inventor. On the other hand, we cannot subscribe to the requirement that the records he made on archival paper (how many of these notebooks will he preserved far later generations?). Also, we do not agree that the lot numbers of reagents must be rigorously recorded when working in the conceptual stages of an invention. Such details may later he important in a confirmatory reduction to practice. We are concerned.that the author fails to warn against such statements as "It was now obvious that the next step should he.. (Obviousness is a mighty block to patenting!) Also, workers should never conclude in the written record as an editorial judgement. "This exoeriment did not work". The original goal may not have heen attainrd. but an unexpected result could b? an invrntion. The book will be of value in a departmental library for calling attention to much needed improvement in record keeping. Shorter references, however, may have greater appeal for reluctant readers. And there presumably will he larger use of electronic reporting by experimenters in future years than the author now encourages. We recommend as a concise supplement theRecordKeeping Fact Sheet prepared by the ACS Committee on Patents and Related Matters. We also call attention to their pamphlet What Euery Chemist Should Know About Patents (1987). Request both from ACS Deoartment of Government Relationsand Science Poliry. 1155 16th Street, N.\V., Washington, DC 20036.
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Malcolm M. Renfrew University of Idaho MOSCOW. ID 83843
