122 



NATURE 



[July 29, 1909 



law of thermodynamics. Born into the world with 

 the usual amount of energy, i.e. capacity for work, 

 some minds are so constituted as to transform a large 

 portion of it so that it is of service to humanity, while 

 a comparatively small portion is, as it were, wasted. 

 The sum of the action of such minds constitutes 

 human progress. It is necessary that the progress 

 of the individual genius should be hindered as little 

 as possible by artificial and unnecessary obstacles, and 

 it would appear that in some countries the path is 

 made easier than in others. Taking the membership 

 of national academies as a test, if only a rough one, 

 of scientific eminence, the proportion of distinguished 

 men to the inhabitants, reckoned in millions, is in 

 Saxony 02, in Baden and Norway 025, in Switzer- 

 land o'33, in Holland and Bavaria o-4i, in England 

 and Prussia o'49, in France 079, in Italy 2' 17, in 

 Austria 27, in the United States 3-08, and in Russia 

 i6-3; that is, for example, there is in Russia only 

 one member of international academies to 16-3 million 

 inhabitants. It can hardly be doubted that this low 

 number is due to the hindrances which stand in the 

 way of the progress of youths who might, in Russia, 

 display genius, and enrich the world by their efl'orts. ' 

 It is impossible to review such a book as this 

 satisfactorily in a short article. It teems with in- 

 terest, not only on account of the intrinsic attractive- 

 ness of the subject, but also because of the masterly 

 grasp of it displayed by the author, \\hatever Prof. 

 Ostwald writes is sure to interest, owing to the 

 originality of his mind and his lucid and attractive 

 method of presentment. On every page there occurs 

 some saying which excites attention, even although 

 the reader may sometimes be disposed to challenge 

 the conclusions drawn. The questions discussed are 

 well worth the most careful consideration of all who 

 have the welfare of humanity at heart. The problem 

 considered is an eminently practical one— perhaps the 

 most practical problem which exists— and we owe the 

 author a debt of gratitude for having introduced it to 

 us in such a charming manner. W. R. 



SOME MEN AND MATTERS IN CHEMISTRY. 

 Essays, Biographical and Chemical. By Sir William 

 Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S. Pp. vii + 247. (London: 

 Constable and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price 7s. 6d. net. 

 T T is^ good to read about the pioneers of science, 

 J- their trials and their triumphs. Even it is good 

 for the student who has to " grind " up facts about 

 scientific worthies and serve them up hot to a vora- 

 cious examiner; albeit in such a case it smacks 

 strongly of " turning old heroes into unworthy 

 potions," as Sir Thomas Browne remarks in discuss- 

 ing the medicinal virtues of mummies. At any rate, 

 such a student would get some of the facts about his 

 heroes pleasantly enough in reading what Sir William 

 Ramsay has to say in the present volume concerning 

 Boyle and Cavendish, Davy and Graham, Black 

 Kelvin, and Berthelot. 



The essays are a collection of lectures and magazine 



articles published, the author tells us, at various times 



during the last twenty-five years. It follows that they 



are of a popular character in the sense that little or 



NO. 2074, VOL. 81] 



no special knowledge on the part of the reader is 

 assumed. They are somewhat unequal in scope and 

 treatment, as may be inferred from the fact that the 

 organs in which they first appeared included such 

 diverse publications as the Youth's Companion and 

 the Proceedings of the Royal Society. 



Of the biographical essays, those upon Berthelot 

 and Lord Kelvin seem to the present writer to show 

 the author at his happiest. Perhaps that is because 

 there is the personal note in them ; for Sir William 

 Ramsay was acquainted with the French savant as 

 well as the English one. He gives us an attractive 

 glimpse of the happy home life of the Berthelots. 

 There was a touch of romance, too, about the meeting 

 of j'oung Marcellin Berthelot with his future wife, 

 which is described in the essay, and which we may 

 venture to quote almost in the author's words. Made- 

 moiselle Breguet was beautiful and well-dowered, but 

 presumably beyond Berthelot's reach. However, one ^ 

 day she was crossing the Pont Neuf in the face of a 

 strong wind, wearing a charming Tuscan hat. 



" Behind her walked her future husband; suddenly 

 she turned round to avoid having her hat blown off, 

 and practically ran into his arms. A case of love at 

 first touch," says Sir William. 



The stories of Bo}'le and of Cavendish will always 

 appeal to chemists. The author describes and con- 

 trasts the work and character of the two men in an 

 interesting little sketch. " Each was in advance of 

 his age"; Boyle by reason of his calm philosophical 

 spirit and clear judgment. Cavendish in his power of 

 refined quantitative experiments and deductions. 

 Neither was married ; and the author, after reflecting 

 that Boyle was too many-sided and Cavendish too 

 reserved, remarks : — " It is perhaps legitimate to draw 

 the conclusion that man's nature does not culminate 

 in its best without the influence of a helpmeet." It may 

 be so; but another conclusion, perhaps equally legiti- 

 mate, is that if there had been a Mrs. Boyle and a Mrs. 

 Cavendish there might have been no " Sceptical 

 Chymist " and no " E.xperiments on Air." Black 

 also, it may be noted, remained unmarried, though a 

 particular favourite of the ladies. Perhaps they missed 

 much, these three distinguished chemists, both in per- 

 sonal happiness and in perfection of character ; but 

 it may well be that their loss was mankind's gain, and 

 that chemical science has cause to bless the circum- 

 stances which enabled them to pursue their researches 

 with singleness of aim, undistracted by either the joys 

 or the troubles of matrimony. 



A sketch of the careers of Davy and Graham com- 

 pletes the essay on the "Great London Chemists." 

 Space allows only a brief mention of the author's com- 

 parison of the four. Graham, with his philosophical 

 mind, more resembled Boyle than Cavendish or Davy. 

 While Cavendish carried his devotion to science so 

 far that it deprived him of the ordinary pleasures of 

 a human being, and while Davy, in relation to fashion, 

 could not escape the accusation of playing to the 

 gallery, Graham pursued a happy mean, beloved by 

 his friends, esteemed by all. " Of him, as of Faraday, 

 it might have been said with no shade of misgiving, 

 ' He was a good and a true man.' " 



