Coal and its Scientific Uses

Abstract

THIS volume, the latest addition to the already vast literature on that protean subject, Coal, is one of particular interest, as it is written from a somewhat novel point of view, the significance of owhich is scarcely conveyed by the title selected for it; it might have been more appropriately entitled “The Practical Uses of Coal Scientifically Considered,” for the author reviews in it the technical applications of coal, whilst, to use his own words, he has “consistently endeavoured throughout to give due prominence to the underlying scientific principles.” It need scarcely be said that the work is extremely well done, as might, indeed, be expected from the high reputation that the author has deservedly won in this particular field of labour. Necessarily it contains no really new matter, but gives a clear, accurate, and concise summary of the present state of knowledge regarding the nature and chemical composition of coal, the various changes that it undergoes on theating, and more especially the phenomena associated with its combustion. The use of coal as the source of a wide range of chemical compounds, which form the basis of a vast number of dyes and drugs, is barely touched upon, the author's attention being mainly concentrated upon coal as a source of energy; it is scarcely necessary to add that the utilisation of the by-products that can be simultaneously obtained nevertheless receives due consideration, although the elaboration of these by-products is not followed beyond the earliest stages.

Coal and its Scientific Uses.

By Prof. William A. Bone. Pp. xv + 491. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1918.) Price 21s. net.