Abstract
THIS interesting work is essentially a short history of chemistry, written in a very attractive and informative manner. Dr. Holmyard has shown great skill in weaving the story of the ' Divine Art ' about the lives and works of outstanding alchym- ists, chymists, and chemists, as he follows his pleasant path down the ages from ancient times to the present day. Each of the ' great chemists ' is chosen as typical of his period, and the names are: Jabir, Razi and Ibn Sina, Roger Bacon, Paracelsus, Boyle, Stahl, Priestley, Lavoisier, Dalton, Avo- gadro, Davy, Liebig, Kekule, Pasteur, Arrhenius, Mendeleeff, and Ramsay. Few readers are likely to cavil at this selection, which manifestly fulfils the author's purpose of imparting a sense of historical continuity to his narrative. It is interest ing to notice in passing that the list includes five Englishmen and one Scotsman. As would be expected, other names are to be found in the text: the index refers to more than thirty workers in the cause of chemistry, the most notable absentees which occur to us being the enigmatical Basil Valentine and that potential Lavoisier of the seventeenth century John Mayow. The authori tative chapter on Jabir is to be particularly com mended.
The Great Chemists.
Dr.
Eric John
Holmyard
By. (The Great Scientists Series.) Pp. vi + 138. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1928.) 3s. 6d. net.
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R., J. [Book Reviews]. Nature 123, 600 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/123600b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/123600b0