The Constituents of Coal Tar Aniline and its Derivatives

Abstract

THESE two books present a sharp contrast which is of particular interest at the present time, when many people are concerned to notice in some of our educational institutions a tendency towards early specialisation and the consequent granting of degrees and diplomas to students who have not received, and have not had time to receive, a thorough training in the sciences underlying the branch of applied chemistry they have chosen to adopt. For, after all, applied chemistry is applied chemistry, that is to say, it is a branch of chemistry, not a science of itself, and a chemist is, or should be, a chemist before he elects to follow any of the numerous branches of the parent science which will enable him to adopt an adjectived or hyphenated title. It is scarcely possible to insist too strongly on this point because it is difficult adequately to acquire the fundamental principles of a science in later life, and the early neglect of a suitable foundation leads to personal limitations which are difficult to overcome and are apt to hamper the usefulness of the individual not only to himself but also to the community at large.

The Constituents of Coal Tar.

By Dr. P. E. Spielmann. (Monographs on Industrial Chemistry.) Pp. xii + 219. (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1924.) 12s. 6d. net.

Aniline and its Derivatives.

By P. H. Groggins. Pp. vii + 256. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1924.) 18s. net.