September 18, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



3G7 



search; aud each saeriticed himself, we might 

 ahnost say, in his unflagging efforts for the 

 advancement of science. 



The appearance of the vohmies recalls 

 attention, also, to the singular fatality which 

 has prevailed in the ranks of the leaders in 

 electro-magnetic science. Maxwell, ilertz, 

 FitzGerald and Rowland all fell while yet in 

 the prime of life. Were they victims to over- 

 work, or did they sap their virality in their 

 early struggles for the recognition essential 

 to secure them the means of subsistence? 

 Possibly there is more truth than poetry in 

 Rowland's question in his address on ' The 

 Highest Aims of the Physicist ' — ' Where can 

 the discoverer in science earn more than the 

 wages of a day laborer or cook ?' Xo doubt 

 each of them had to do combat with many 

 obstacles other than those which nature sets 

 up in the way of learning her laws, for society 

 does not appear to have discovered any 

 method as yet to prevent the waste of effort 

 involved in surmounting such obstacles. So- 

 ciety, indeed, seems to be almost wholly mi- 

 conscious of the value to itself of its most 

 important members. Our best known and 

 most applauded heroes of state are still those 

 who win renown by shedding human blood. 

 Xevertheless, Rowland and FitzGerald lived 

 during a period of great progress toward a 

 higher civilization than that into which they 

 were born. Each of them contributed nobly 

 and effectively to that progress, and the scien- 

 tific world, at least, gave them its heartiest 

 encomiums. 



As indicated by the title, the volume of 

 Rowland's papers contains reprints only of 

 those devoted especially to physical subjects, 

 although the bibliography included in the 

 work embraces all of his published papers. 

 The preface and table of contents of the vol- 

 ume are followed by the capital commemora- 

 tive address of Dr. Mendenhall, read before 

 an assembly of friends at Baltimore, October 

 26, 1901. The many interesting facts and in- 

 cidents from Rowland's career related in this 

 address would tempt one to quote freely from 

 it if it had not been published already in this 

 journal.* 



* 'Ilenrv Augustus Rowland": T. C. Mendenhall. 

 Science, "X. S., December 6. 1901. Pp. 8G.5-877. 



The papers are arranged in groups under 

 the following heads: Part I., 'Early Papers'; 

 Part XL, ' ^Magnetism and Electricity ' ; Part 

 III., 'Heat'; Part IV., 'Light.' Then follow a 

 list of addresses, six in number; a full bibliog- 

 raphy, embracing 72 titles; and a description, 

 with suitable plates, of the dividing engines 

 devised by Professor Rowland. The latter 

 description and plates were prepared by 

 Professor Ames, Professor Rowland having 

 left no records with respect to these machines. 



Two lifelike portraits of Professor Rowland 

 are included in the volume; and it is hardly 

 necessarj' to add that so fine a memorial and 

 so good a specimen of book-making is supple- 

 mented by an adequate index. 



The text of FitzGerald's papers is preceded 

 by a most interesting and instructive account 

 of his life drawn from communications to the 

 Electrician and to the ' Obituary Xotices of 

 the Royal Society ' by Principal O. J. Lodge ; 

 to Nature by Dr. Larmor; to the Proceedings 

 of the Institution of Electrical Engineers by 

 Professor F. T. Trouton, and to the Physical 

 Beview; embracing in all pp. xx-btiv. These 

 reveal not only a man of remarkable original- 

 ity and versatility in science, hut a man also 

 of the gentlest and broadest sjanpathies. Few 

 men in any sphere of intellectual activity have 

 been so generally esteemed with affectionate 

 regard by their contemporaries. 



The papers are arranged in the chronolog- 

 ical order of their first publication. There 

 are 108 of them, the first having been pub- 

 lished in 1876. They touch a wide range of 

 subjects, and although some of them are 

 condensed to the merest abstracts they are 

 generally bristling with clear ideas and fruit- 

 ful suggestions. 



Amongst the most useful as well as most 

 interesting of these writings are his reviews 

 and semi-popular addresses. The latter, es- 

 pecially, deserve to be widely read, since they 

 are luminous with the spirit of progress of 

 our age, not only for the small number of 

 scientific specialists but for the whole human 

 race. In what he has to say about ' Univer- 

 sities and Research,' Xo. 60, ' Science and In- 

 dustry,' No. 77, ' Lord Kelvin's Researches,' 

 No. 78, ' The Applications of Science,' No. 95, 



