May 13, 1922] 



NATURE 



603 



A History of Chemistry. 



Die geschichtliche Entwicklung der Chemie. Von Dr. 

 Eduard Farber. Pp. xii + 312 + 4 plates. (Berlin: 

 Julius Springer, 192 1.) U.K., 312 marks ; Germany, 

 78 marks. 



DR. EDUARD FARBER'S " Historical Develop- 

 ment of Chemistry " is one of those books that 

 owe their existence to other books. It has been put 

 together mainly with the aid of older works, more or 

 less authoritative, on the subject of which it treats. 

 As one turns over its pages, it is not difficult to trace 

 the source of most of its statements. With the possible 

 exception of the concluding section, which is concerned 

 with the history of the present epoch, there is little 

 evidence of original inquiry to be seen anywhere. 

 Kopp and Lippmann have been drawn upon freely for 

 the story of the rise and development of the chemical 

 arts until the inception of phlogistonism, and Hoefer 

 and Ostwald's " Klassiker," and Ostwald's " Lehrbuch 

 der allgemeinen Chemie " have together furnished most 

 of the material for the story up to the Revolution 

 accomplished by Lavoisier and his co-workers. Much 

 relatirfg to the subsequent period has been gleaned 

 from Kahlbaum's " Monographien," and from Hjelte's 

 and Graebe's admirable histories of organic chemistry. 

 For so much of the history of the progress of chemistry 

 during what we may term our own epoch which has 

 not yet been included in any systematic historical work, 

 Dr. Farber has necessarily been driven for his informa- 

 tion to special treatises, periodicals, and the published 

 transactions and journals of the recognised chemical 

 societies. To this extent he has certainly striven to 

 exercise an independent judgment. 



The works the author has consulted are excellent in 

 their several ways, but it is well known to historio- 

 graphers that much additional information has come 

 to light on subjects which seemed adequately treated 

 when certain of these works appeared. This is especi- 

 ally true of the earliest periods of chemical develop- 

 ment. The researches of Egyptologists, for example, 

 and the recent publication of works relating to Hindu 

 .ind Chinese chemistry have made known many im- 

 portant facts concerning primitive operative processes 

 essentially chemical in their nature. Manuscripts re- 

 lating to later times have been discovered of which 

 the existence was unsuspected. The real nature of 

 others already known had not been revealed or was 

 imperfectly understood. A more critical examination 

 of ancient treatises has afforded new interpretations of 

 what was obscure. Kopp's " Geschichte," published 

 in 1843, when its author was barely of age, admirable 

 as it is in many respects, has no longer the authority 

 it enjoyed half a century ago. The " Beitrage," which 

 NO. 2741, VOL. 109] 



appeared between 1869 and 1875, and the two volumes 

 on " Die Alchemic in alterer und neuerer Zeit," based 

 upon a fuller study of certain periods, no doubt sup- 

 plemented and amplified the history. The " Entwick- 

 lung der Chemie in der neueren Zeit," printed and 

 published in 1873 under the auspices of the Historical 

 Commission of the Bavarian Academy, is but a frag- 

 ment. It was written at a time of rapid change when 

 Kopp was nearing the allotted span, and when his 

 association with organic chemistry, never very intimate, 

 was but slight. His editorial connection with Liebig's 

 Annalen was probably the main source of his inspira- 

 tion ; certainly the Heidelberg atmosphere at that 

 period had no quickening influence. Presumably Dr. 

 Farber has been in a position to make use of this sup- 

 plementary work. In any case, what is of permanent 

 value in it has been incorporated in such later histories 

 as that of Ernst von Meyer and of Ladenburg, but our 

 author makes no mention of this additional matter. 



It must be admitted that much of the information 

 needed in the preparation of a history of chemistry 

 that will comply with modem standards of historical 

 research is not readily accessible. Some of it is 

 scattered through publications comparatively unknown 

 to the average professional chemist, as they seldom 

 find their way into the ordinary chemical library. 

 But some of this information has appeared in book 

 form and is easily available, as, for example, Berthelot's 

 " Les Origines d'Alchemie " and Roscoe and Harden's 

 " New View of the Origin of Dalton's Atomic Theory," 

 both of which works would seem to have escaped the 

 author's notice. 



Although the work is obviously a compilation — 

 and it is but just to the author to state that he 

 freely acknowledges his obligations by his abundant 

 references to the sources of his statements — we by 

 no means would imply that it is without merit. 

 On the contrary, the general reader who is desirous 

 of learning something of the rise and develop- 

 ment of chemical science will find it of great interest, 

 and most professed chemical students would widen 

 their horizon considerably by an attentive perusal of 

 its contents. It is written absolutely without bias and 

 with an evident desire to present a well-proportioned 

 and reasonably adequate account of the rise and pro- 

 gress of the science over the periods which the authors 

 to whom the writer is mainly indebted have already 

 traversed. 



Considering that the book is intended for general 

 reading, we venture to suggest that it would have 

 added to its attractiveness if it were more freely 

 illustrated. The interest of history is largely personal. 

 The ordinary reader desires to know what manner 

 of men they were who have collected the facts 



