172 



NATURE 



[October 6, 192 1 



not pride, or romance, or vainglory, but simply 

 the sober necessities of business. And what young 

 man is there with soul so base that the beautiful 

 geometry of this work would not appeal to him 

 and be a more than sufficient compensation for 

 the tribulations arising from the analytical work? 

 The mind of the chemist, unlike that of his future 

 colleague the engineer, really dwells in a point. 

 He lacks the sense of space and the power of 

 thinking spatially, or, rather, most of his work 

 tends to produce that lack. What better cor- 

 rective could there be than the study of a four- 

 component system? If the chemist is going to 

 rule the world — as he hopes and as he ought — 

 he must cease to be a point-man. He must be- 

 come an understander and controller of space. If 

 not, well, then the engineer will occupy the space, 

 and the poor old chemist will continue to sit at 

 his point and wonder what is wrong — as he has 

 done these many years. 



In the preface to his book Dr. Clibbens grate- 

 fully and gracefully expresses his indebtedness 

 to Capt. Francis Arthur Freeth, under whom he 

 studied the science of phase-equilibria in the 

 research department of Messrs. Brunner, Mond, 

 and Co. There is also an introduction by Capt. 

 Freeth. No doubt Dr. Clibbens would be the 

 first person to admit that this book is really 

 a product of the Brunner, Mond Research Labora- 

 tory, and therefore of its director, Capt. Freeth. 

 During the past fourteen years the science of 

 heterogeneous equilibria and its practical applica- 

 tion have reached a degree of development by Capt. 

 Freeth, which is unequalled in any part of the 

 world. Known to very few before the war, 

 this fact became revealed to many by the magnifi- 

 cent work which Messrs. Brunner, Mond, and 

 Co. did in connection with the manufacture of 

 ammonium nitrate by three different methods. It 

 is an open secret now that the work which this 

 company did in this field alone saved the cause 

 of the Allies at a critical stage. The final method 

 which they employed — namely, the direct pro- 

 duction of ammonium nitrate from sodium 

 nitrate and ammonium sulphate, was a splendid 

 triumph of scientific industry. Success was due 

 to the intimate; co-operation of scientifically 

 trained directors and engineers with the Chemical 

 Research Department ; but the former would be 

 the first to admit that, without the exact data 

 yielded by Capt. Freeth 's series of phase- 

 isotherms, no successful process — indeed no pro- 

 cess at all — could have resulted. 



There have been many books dealing with 

 heterogeneous equilibria, from the pioneer text- 

 books of Bancroft and van't Hoff to those of 

 Findlay and Kremann. Foremost amongst the 

 NO. 2710, VOL. 108] 



more fundamental treatises stands, of course, the 

 great work of Roozeboom, ably continued by 

 Schreinemakers, with which may be classed the 

 " Gesattigte Losungen " of Janecke, and the 

 "Ozeanische Salzablagerungen " of van't Hoff. 

 The present work of Dr. Clibbens is the first book 

 in English to attack seriously the real geometry 

 of the subject. He carries us from the delightful 

 simplicity of binary systems right up to the real 

 thing — quaternary and quinary systems. It is 

 evident that Dr. Clibbens can think in space, and 

 'expects his readers to do the same. That is 

 certainly necessary ; but if one might cavil at all 

 it would be to suggest that the author follows 

 Schreinemakers a little too closely in his method. 

 In leading the novice up the steps of Parnassus 

 Dr. Clibbens has no mercy in his geometrical 

 logic. As the mind of the ordinary man — and 

 especially that of the chemist — gets abstract only 

 by gentle degrees, it would have been well if the 

 author had paused, at each stage in his heaven- 

 ward journey, to work out thoroughly, both geo- 

 metrically and arithmetically, a typical concrete 

 case ; and in his admiration for triangular co- 

 ordinates he fails to do justice to the less general 

 but very useful system of open rectangular co- 

 ordinates. 



But these are small matters in comparison with 

 the great value and excellence of the book. It is 

 one which every chemist must study and digest, 

 and it is certain that it will have a great and 

 salutary effect on the rising generation of English- 

 reading chemists. Messrs. Brunner, Mond, and 

 Co. are to be heartily congratulated on the im- 

 portant contribution which their research depart- 

 ment has made to the advance of chemical science. 



To the young chemist of the present day one 

 may say these words. Study the mighty atom 

 and its still' mightier inside. Study also the 

 organic molecule with its trailing field of glory 

 and its vibration-frequencies ; but if you want to be 

 a man amongst men in the great world that toils 

 with large masses do not " jump " the geometry 

 of heterogeneous equilibria. It is the key that 

 unlocks many doors. 



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