Abstract
SOME idea of the profound changes which have occurred in the teaching of elementary chemistry during the last decade can be obtained from the large number of books recently published, all of which claim to supply a long-felt want. Mr. Cooper's book covers familiar ground in a more or less familiar way. He starts with a brief account of the metric system (which, however, is too short to be of much use), describes the balance, how to determine relative densities, and to measure liquids and fit up apparatus. No wonder the student often asks why these subjects must be studied both in the chemical and physical laboratories. But like many another recent writer of an elementary course of chemistry, Mr. Cooper rightly avoids the thaumaturgic art of test-tubing, and it is in this connection we are able to perceive an advance has been made in the way of studying science. Though the “Heuristic” method, of which so much is heard nowadays, is not suitable throughout a complete course of chemistry, it is unfortunate that so many statements occur like “note the white powder of metastannic acid that is formed”; “the name of the gas which you have just prepared is nitrous oxide”—which have no significance to a beginner.
Elementary Practical Chemistry.
By A. J. Cooper Pp. viii + 86. (London: Whittaker and Co., 1899.)
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Elementary Practical Chemistry . Nature 61, 126 (1899). https://doi.org/10.1038/061126a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/061126a0