REVIEWS. 131 
In the treatment of the subject of light, no effort is made to 
distinctly separate geometrical and physical optics. The topics 
of photometry and color receive more than the usual amount 
of attention, the treatment being exceptionally satisfactory. As 
elsewhere throughout the book, the diagrams are good. 
Teachers who believe that the average student can be in- 
terested in physics most easily by relating closely the laws of 
physics to their industrial applications will be pleased to see a 
wide introduction of the book as the basis of class-room work. 
J. R. W. 
Theoretical and Physical Chemistry. By S. Lawrence Biglow, Ph.D. Cloth. 
Pp. xuI-+544. Price $3. New York. The Century Company. 1912. 
This work, the result of many years of study by one of the 
leading men in chemistry, comprises, as the author states in his 
preface, as much of the subject as can advantageously be pre- 
sented in two or three lectures a week through one year. It is 
primarily a textbook for students who have a little knowledge 
of chemistry and the more advanced mathematics have been 
simplified or omitted as much as possible. In fact, with this 
book the author so presented the study that ordinary arith- 
metic and elementary algebra are all that are necessary, except 
in five or six demonstrations where calculus is used. Of course, 
this simplification makes it almost impossible to follow some 
of the later developments of physical chemistry, but when the 
purpose of this book is considered it can not be criticized. 
The subject matter is divided into four sections. Quoting 
from the author’s preface, these sections may be summed up as 
follows: 
“The first section (three chapters) aims to show the value of 
philosophy in science. In the second section (seven chapters) 
the ever present question is: What are the ultimate constituents? 
In the third section (nine chapters) we are, primarily, studying 
the properties of substances as such, and in the last section 
(eleven chapters) our attention is centered upon the processes 
by which substances become what they are.” 
The relation of the science of chemistry with the mother 
science, philosophy, is carried out admirably throughout this 
work, and, although subjects are presented upon which volumes 
could be written, the selection of topics is in accord with the 
purpose of the book. 
F. B. B. 
