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History of chemical engineering
organic forms of soil nitrogen to plants with mycorrhizal associations while a paper comparing techniques for the classification of plant communities seems out of context in this volume. Nevertheless, it will prove a useful reference work for the specialist because of the large amount of information that it contains. In addition to the topics already mentioned, three papers deal with aspects of the physical environment, and others consider carbon fluxes from the mire surface and energy flow through the ecosystem. P. D. Crittenden Seaweeds and their Uses, 3rd Edition by V. J. Chapman andD. J. Chapman. Pp. 334. Chapman & Hall, London. 1980. f 17.50.
The first edition of Chapman’s book, the first of its type in English, was something of a classic. However, recent developments have outdated the earlier editions, and a revised edition was essential. This third edition, for which the original author is joined by his son, admirably fulfils this need. The book is largely revised, but maintains its readability. Greater emphasis is placed on the nature of the chemical constituents of seaweeds; a major section on the use of seaweed as a potential source of energy is included; and a whole chapter is devoted to seaweed mariculture. These additions reflect the major recent advances in the field of seaweed utilization. The Chapters are as follows: Occurrence, distribution, and historical perspective; Seaweed as animal fodder, manure and for energy; Sea vegetables; Laver or ‘nori’ industry, and carragheen or Irish moss; Agaragar; Algin and alginates; Minor uses of algae and their products; Mariculture of seaweeds; Looking for seaweeds-the world’s supplies. There is a useful bibilography and index, although the antiquated way of citing references in the text is both space-consuming and annoying. Despite its price, this book can be recommended both to specialists and to those with casual interest. K. Smith
Vertebrate Limb Regeneration by H. Wallace. Pp. 2 75. Wiley, Chichester. 198 1. f 19.50.
Vertebrate regeneration is a fascinating subject which has attracted surprisingly few students in this country. Dr Wallace, of the University of Birmingham, is one of the honourable few. His book is primarily a monographic review of experimental work on amphibians, especially
newts which are by far the best regenerators found among vertebrates and which can reproduce amputated limbs with the greatest precision. The title is misleading since the author shows a curious lack of interest in limb regenerative phenomena in other groups, such as reptiles on which there is a considerable literature. He does, however, cite some remarkable instances of fingertip regeneration in young children. The book deals systematically with various aspects of amphibian limb regeneration which have aroused the greatest interest: the trophic effects of nerves, the influence of endocrines such as the thyroid with its well known effect on metamorphosis, and the origin of the blastema. There is also a rather difficult section on the way in which the regenerating tissues come to develop in their correct positions, and the complex theories which have been advanced to explain this. Dr Wallace’s book is not perhaps intended for the general biologist who wants a broadbased, easy-to-read account of the subject. It does, however, survey the main lines of current research and brings together much recent literature; hence it will be of great value to the specialist. A. dil. Bellairs The Tragicomical History of Thermodynamics 1822-l 854 by C. Truesdell. Pp. xxi f 372. Springer-Verlag, New York. 1980. DM 99 ($58.50).
This is a profound and important book, often provocative, in places infuriating, but always intellectually dazzling. The motivation for it is the author’s dissatisfaction with the state of thermodynamics, a field which he describes as having been ‘accursed’ from its inception by ‘misunderstanding, irrelevance, retreat, and failure’. As he argues, experimental errors, mathematical ineptness, and the neglect of unsung heroes (notably a French engineer, writing in the 1850s by the name of Ferdinand Reech) have all contributed to a confusion worthy of a tragicomedy. With clarity as his goal, Professor Truesdell offers a brilliant conceptual analysis of the work of the main contributors to early notions of heat and energy from the time of Fourier and Sadi Carnot in the 1820s to that of Clausius and William Thomson in the 1850s. The result is not history in any conventional sense. There is no systematic sifting of the secondary literature, and no attempt to play down the superior state of present knowledge. The casualties of this approach include even the greatest names: Carnot, for example, is described as a ‘muddy author’ whose unmathematical Reflexions sur
la Puissance Motrice du Feu is characterized by ‘fuzziness’. There are historians who will find such forthright judgements hard to take. But I urge perseverence. The integration of the history of science with mathematical physics has much to teach the students of both the present and the past. Robert Fox
History of Chemical Engineering by William F. Furter. Pp. xxii + 435. American ChemicalSociety, Washington, DC, 1980. $39.00.
The title of this book belies its contents. It is not in fact a general history ofchemical engineering but a collection of papers given at a symposium cosponsored by the ACS Divisions of History of Chemistry and Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, held in Honolulu in 1979. Not surprisingly, therefore, it covers the subject neither systematically nor comprehensively, the more so in the absence of any overall editing to give it coherence. It must, therefore, be assessed not as a history but as a collection of historical essays, On this basis it has much to commend it, for many of the contributions are of considerable intrinsic interest, nor are they wholly unrelated. Separate essays on the development of chemical engineering in the USA, Britain, Germany (and some other countries such as Italy, Japan, and India) bring out very forcefully different national attitudes. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers was founded in 1908 but in Europe the basic concept of chemical engineers, as opposed to industrial chemists, was only grudgingly accepted. Britain’s Institution of Chemical Engineers was not founded (as a qualifying body) until 1922 but even then the country’s largest chemical company (ICI) did not really recognize chemical engineers until after the Second World War, relying on chemists who picked up some engineering and engineers who picked up some chemistry. Rather surprisingly, the emergence of this new kind of engineer was not recognized in Germany until about 1960. As is well brought out, these national differences were reflected in the educational systems of the countries concerned, particularly in the relationship between the chemical industry and the universities. The importance of the concept of unit operation also is well brought out. This volume would be a most valuable starting point for anybody moved to write a comprehensive history of chemical engineering. Trevor I. Williams
177
The first edition of Chapman’s book, the first of its type in English, was something of a classic. However, recent developments have outdated the earlier editions, and a revised edition was essential. This third edition, for which the original author is joined by his son, admirably fulfils this need. The book is largely revised, but maintains its readability. Greater emphasis is placed on the nature of the chemical constituents of seaweeds; a major section on the use of seaweed as a potential source of energy is included; and a whole chapter is devoted to seaweed mariculture. These additions reflect the major recent advances in the field of seaweed utilization. The Chapters are as follows: Occurrence, distribution, and historical perspective; Seaweed as animal fodder, manure and for energy; Sea vegetables; Laver or ‘nori’ industry, and carragheen or Irish moss; Agaragar; Algin and alginates; Minor uses of algae and their products; Mariculture of seaweeds; Looking for seaweeds-the world’s supplies. There is a useful bibilography and index, although the antiquated way of citing references in the text is both space-consuming and annoying. Despite its price, this book can be recommended both to specialists and to those with casual interest. K. Smith
Vertebrate Limb Regeneration by H. Wallace. Pp. 2 75. Wiley, Chichester. 198 1. f 19.50.
Vertebrate regeneration is a fascinating subject which has attracted surprisingly few students in this country. Dr Wallace, of the University of Birmingham, is one of the honourable few. His book is primarily a monographic review of experimental work on amphibians, especially
newts which are by far the best regenerators found among vertebrates and which can reproduce amputated limbs with the greatest precision. The title is misleading since the author shows a curious lack of interest in limb regenerative phenomena in other groups, such as reptiles on which there is a considerable literature. He does, however, cite some remarkable instances of fingertip regeneration in young children. The book deals systematically with various aspects of amphibian limb regeneration which have aroused the greatest interest: the trophic effects of nerves, the influence of endocrines such as the thyroid with its well known effect on metamorphosis, and the origin of the blastema. There is also a rather difficult section on the way in which the regenerating tissues come to develop in their correct positions, and the complex theories which have been advanced to explain this. Dr Wallace’s book is not perhaps intended for the general biologist who wants a broadbased, easy-to-read account of the subject. It does, however, survey the main lines of current research and brings together much recent literature; hence it will be of great value to the specialist. A. dil. Bellairs The Tragicomical History of Thermodynamics 1822-l 854 by C. Truesdell. Pp. xxi f 372. Springer-Verlag, New York. 1980. DM 99 ($58.50).
This is a profound and important book, often provocative, in places infuriating, but always intellectually dazzling. The motivation for it is the author’s dissatisfaction with the state of thermodynamics, a field which he describes as having been ‘accursed’ from its inception by ‘misunderstanding, irrelevance, retreat, and failure’. As he argues, experimental errors, mathematical ineptness, and the neglect of unsung heroes (notably a French engineer, writing in the 1850s by the name of Ferdinand Reech) have all contributed to a confusion worthy of a tragicomedy. With clarity as his goal, Professor Truesdell offers a brilliant conceptual analysis of the work of the main contributors to early notions of heat and energy from the time of Fourier and Sadi Carnot in the 1820s to that of Clausius and William Thomson in the 1850s. The result is not history in any conventional sense. There is no systematic sifting of the secondary literature, and no attempt to play down the superior state of present knowledge. The casualties of this approach include even the greatest names: Carnot, for example, is described as a ‘muddy author’ whose unmathematical Reflexions sur
la Puissance Motrice du Feu is characterized by ‘fuzziness’. There are historians who will find such forthright judgements hard to take. But I urge perseverence. The integration of the history of science with mathematical physics has much to teach the students of both the present and the past. Robert Fox
History of Chemical Engineering by William F. Furter. Pp. xxii + 435. American ChemicalSociety, Washington, DC, 1980. $39.00.
The title of this book belies its contents. It is not in fact a general history ofchemical engineering but a collection of papers given at a symposium cosponsored by the ACS Divisions of History of Chemistry and Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, held in Honolulu in 1979. Not surprisingly, therefore, it covers the subject neither systematically nor comprehensively, the more so in the absence of any overall editing to give it coherence. It must, therefore, be assessed not as a history but as a collection of historical essays, On this basis it has much to commend it, for many of the contributions are of considerable intrinsic interest, nor are they wholly unrelated. Separate essays on the development of chemical engineering in the USA, Britain, Germany (and some other countries such as Italy, Japan, and India) bring out very forcefully different national attitudes. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers was founded in 1908 but in Europe the basic concept of chemical engineers, as opposed to industrial chemists, was only grudgingly accepted. Britain’s Institution of Chemical Engineers was not founded (as a qualifying body) until 1922 but even then the country’s largest chemical company (ICI) did not really recognize chemical engineers until after the Second World War, relying on chemists who picked up some engineering and engineers who picked up some chemistry. Rather surprisingly, the emergence of this new kind of engineer was not recognized in Germany until about 1960. As is well brought out, these national differences were reflected in the educational systems of the countries concerned, particularly in the relationship between the chemical industry and the universities. The importance of the concept of unit operation also is well brought out. This volume would be a most valuable starting point for anybody moved to write a comprehensive history of chemical engineering. Trevor I. Williams
177