JULY 30, 1914] 
NATURE 5 
5 
on 
ROBERTS-AUSTEN. 
Roberis-Austen: a Record of his Work. Being a 
Selection of the Addresses and Metallurgical 
Papers, together with an Account of the Re- 
searches of Sir William Chandler Roberts- 
Austen. Compiled and edited by S. W. Smith. 
Pp. xii+ 382. (London: C. Griffin and Co., 
bid onera) Price 215. ‘net: 
T is pleasant to see that one of Roberts- 
Austen’s former assistants has been willing 
to devote himself to the preparation of this record 
of the work of the most distinguished metallurgi- 
cal chemist of his day. It is pleasant, too, to find 
that the handsome volume which is the result of 
Mr. Smith’s labour of love is a memorial in every 
way worthy of his old professor’s fame. In well- 
chosen, felicitous language, Mr. Smith traces Sir 
William’s career from his student days at the 
Royal School of Mines to his death at the age of 
fifty-nine, when he was still actively engaged in 
many directions. For the most part, however, the 
biographer leaves him to speak for himself. 
A large part of the book is taken up with a 
reprint of lectures and addresses delivered to his 
students, to the British Association, to the Society 
of Arts at the Royal Institution, and as president 
of the Iron and Steel Institute. These addresses 
are the best expression of Roberts-Austen’s per- 
sonality. They reveal how very much “worth 
while” he found metallurgy-to be. They show 
the enthusiasm with which he sought to open out 
ways for the escape of what he felt to be “im- 
prisoned splendour.” The papers giving the re- 
sults of Roberts-Austen’s own experimental re- 
searches have been usefully summarised by Mr. 
Smith, who has made their spirit live without en- 
cumbering his pages with details. No work has 
been entirely omitted. The record is complete. 
Roberts-Austen’s life was largely given to the 
Mint. As the assayer for more than thirty years, 
he was responsible for the accuracy of the com- 
position of more than 150,000,000]. of gold and 
31,000,0001. of silver coins. In his hands the 
scientific reputation of the Mint was maintained 
at a high level. He was also for many of these 
years the professor of metallurgy at the Royal 
School of Mines. His numerous researches on 
the properties of metals and alloys were so im- 
portant as to obtain immediate recognition from 
the scientific world. His work on government 
committees was almost unceasing. If, however, 
an opinion may be expressed by one of his ad- 
mirers, it is that he will be best remembered for 
the impetus which he gave to the scientific study 
of metals at a time when it was beginning to be 
understood that empiricism must give place to 
system even in metallurgy. 
NO. 9g5, VOL. 93] 
| 
industries are paying more and more attention to 
the need of applying scientific principles in their 
practice, the movement is largely due to Roberts- 
Austen’s initiative and enthusiasm. 
Ti" K..Rose; 
NEW BOOKS ON CHEMISTRY. 
(1) Outlines of Theoretical Chemistry. By Prof. 
F. H. Getman, Pp. xi+467. (New York: 
John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chap- 
man, and. Hall,-Ltd., 1913.) Price 15s. net. 
(2) A New Eva in Chemistry. By H. C. Jones. 
Pp. xii+326. (London: Constable and Co., 
Ltd., 1913.) Price.8s., 6d. -net: 
(3) The Progress of Scientific Chemistry in our 
own Times, with Biographical Notices. By 
Sir William A. Tilden. Second edition. Pp. 
xii+ 366. (London: Longmans, Green and 
Cox, 19n3.)) “Price 756d. net 
(1) S an introduction to the study of physical 
A chemistry Prof. Getman’s ‘“ Outlines ” 
may be warmly recommended. It follows the usual 
order and arrangement of such subjects, dealing 
mainly with the physical properties of substances. 
It is carefully and clearly written, and most of 
the subjects are treated in a sufficiently simple 
fashion to enable a student who has completed an 
elementary course on chemistry to understand them 
without difficulty. The only question which has 
arisen in reading the book is whether the very 
brief and necessarily superficial accounts which 
are given of some of the topics are worth the 
space devoted to them. It is not merely that the 
account is incomplete; it has no beginning, and 
leads nowhere. It conveys as much information 
as a worn strip of ground to the lost traveller 
who is doubtful whether it is a pathway or not. 
We refer more particularly to the discussion of 
the properties of liquids, such as molecular volume, 
refraction, magnetic rotation, and so forth. The 
reply might, of course, be made that it is better 
for a student to know of the existence of such 
properties, even if they tell him little or nothing, 
_ than to remain entirely ignorant of them; but in 
a small book like this (which, by the way, seems 
very expensive for its size) we are of opinion that 
the space might be better utilised. One excellent 
feature of the volume is the set of problems intro- 
duced at the end of each chapter. 
(2) The title of Mr. H. C. Jones’s book, rea 
New Era in Chemistry,” seemed to promise at- 
tractive reading; but we must confess that the 
promise has not been fulfilled. The book, which 
covers a period from 1887 to the present time, is 
partly historical, partly explanatory, and partly 
If the metallurgical | philosophical. The year 1887 is selected as mark- 
