Abstract
THE German original of this book has already received sympathetic notice in NATURE, and in connection with the translation now before us it is necessary to add little more than that Miss Ramsay has done her work with much skill, and has made the dialogue not less natural and vivacious than it is in the original. It is impossible to read the book without a feeling of refreshment and amusement, or without admiration of the ingenuity and resource of its philosophical author. It seems hardly fair to say that we have here a revival of Dr. Brewer or Mrs. Marcet. There are two striking differences between the old and the new dialogues. In the first place neither master nor pupil in Prof. Ostwald's book is endowed with that austere and depressing piety of mind which, to the unregenerate, provided perhaps the most afflicting feature of the older works. In the second place Prof. Ostwald's book shows a masterly treatment not only of the real difficulties of chemistry in itself, but a perfect appreciation of the pitfalls that beset the pupil in the early stages of learning. It is difficult to suppose that any teacher will fail to find something useful or to gain some valuable hints from reading the book, and on this ground it must be warmly recommended.
Conversations on Chemistry.
Part i. General Chemistry. By W. Ostwald. Authorised translation by Elizabeth Catherine Ramsay. Pp. v + 250. (New York: John Wiley and Sons; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1905.) Price 6s. 6d. net.
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S., A. Conversations on Chemistry . Nature 72, 364 (1905). https://doi.org/10.1038/072364b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/072364b0