have been the subjects of much earlier re- informative and complement to the text.
ext. Carl Wilhelrn Scheele: Apotheker, Che-
view articles, and the five chapters on
flavonoid compounds overlap Geissman'a
hook, "The Chemistry of Flavouoid Com-
pounds!' There is, however, no other
hook covering the whole area, so that the
hook will he valuable for reference even
though it is not of general interest to or-
eanic chemists or teachers. The book
cessive turning of pages is required to
correlate formulas with text.
Two features, in addition to the chapter
on biosynthesis, deserve specal comment.
The chapter on anthocyanins provides a
most interesting historical account of the
development of the chemistry of this im-
portant elms of compounds. Second, the
hook is of interest as a workbook in proh-
lems of elucidation of structure. For
mast of the specific compounds dis-
cussed, sufficient data itre presented on
products of degradation, reactions, and
spectra to justify the assignment of struc-
ture. Hence the hook should he of use in
courses on natural products not only as a
reference hook on oxygen heterocycles hut
also as a source of study problems in
structural elucidation.
W1~~1.04R. RODERICK
Abboft Lahoratorirs
North Chicago, Illinois
Optimum Seeking Methods
Doughs J . Wilde, Stanford University,
Stanford, California. Prentice-Hall,
Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey,
1964. xiii +202 pp. Figs. and tables.
16 X 23.5 cm. $6.i5.
When viewed within its stated limita-
tions this hook is notably successful. It
concentrates on the experimental proce-
dures that will find levels of single or
multiple factors to produce an optimum
response. The methods are specific,
although not necessarily limited, to func-
tions which are unknown in advance.
The author states that no mathematics
heyond "standard" calculus are required
for understandine: the boak is intended
understanding of criteria for measuring a
system's effectiveness.
The hook fulfills all of these promises.
The author's approach of sacrificing rigor
for plausibility is notably refreshing,
especially to the pragmatist. This ap-
proach willalso be appreciated by students
who should develop s. better understand-
ing of the process rather then memorim-
tion of theorems and proofs. As a refer-
ence the text covers the generalities of the
various procedures and then provides
basic references to which the reader may
go to pursue the procedure in more depth.
The pmcedures covered include Fibonacci
Search, Golden Section Search, Methods
of Steepest Ascent, Contour Tangents,
Parallel Tangents, Pattern Search, Ratat-
ing Coordinates, and Stochastic Approxi-
mation Schemes.
The book is attractively printed, easy
to read, and the illustrations are
This boak purports to he a text for un-
dergraduates and a reference for the p r a c
titioner. This it is and an admirable one;
however, this does not mean that the
book instructs one on "how to proceed."
Because the author is a ~hemieaien~ineer,
the book is supposed to be "interdisciplin-
arv." This is not so. The orientation is
stkctly mathematicd. The book is then
a text for undergraduates with nothing
more than calculus, hut undergraduates
who intend to pursue the mathematical
aspects of some one of several possible
disciplines.
It will serve only as a survey work far
any scientist who is interested in per-
forming experiments which are motivated
primarily by his own discipline. Rare
indeed is the practicing experimenter who
will he willing to start with this text and
pursue the mathematical development of
an analytiesl method through the refer-
ences sited just so that he can perform
the mechanics of anslyzing his experi-
mental trials. This is not a criticism of the
author or his hook; he does not say that
this is a "method" book for the experi-
menter. However, the suggestion that
it is interdisciplinary and aimed a t many
diverse areas may cause disappointment.
C. R. WEAVER
Ohio AgrieuUural E z p e r i m l Station
Wooster
World List of Scientific Periodicals Pub-
lished in the Years 1900-1960. Volume
1,A-E
Edited by Peter Brown, British Mu-
seum, and George Bwder Sfratton,
Zoological Society of London. 4th ed.
Butterwortha, Washington, D. C., 1963.
xxv + 531 pp. 21.5 X 27 em. $84
per three volume set.
The editors announce that this is the
Iaat edition to he published. An slterna-
tive method of keeping this list up-todate
has been adopted; namely, the puhlice-
tion of annual supplements of the "British
Union Catalogue of Periodicals" by the
National Central Library.
The editorial work has been good. The
reader is provided with lists of ahbrevia-
tions and also specific examples of typical
entries. The explanation of these ex-
amples is clear and straightforward.
From the point of view of usefulness to
the non-British user, the limitation of
library holdings to those in the United
Kingdom is unfortunate. In the reviewer's
opinion, this listing does not provide an
advantage (to the chemist) over Chemical
Abstracts' "List of Periodicals with Key
to Library Files," 1961. The Chemical
Abstracts' list includes 305 cooperating
libraries, 50 of whieh are not in can-
tinental United States. On the other
hand, a librarian hss pointed out that
current lists of periodicals, such as "The
Union List of Periodicals," do not have
as large a numher of entries as does this
World List. In other words, there is no
comparable U.S. publication for the en-
tire scientific field.
D. REINAEIMER
JOHN
College of Wooster
Wooster, Ohio
mike,, Entdecker
Otto Zekert, Vienna. Wissensehaftliehe
Verlagsgesellschaft m.h.H., Stuttgart,
West Germany, 1963. 149 pp. Figs.
13 X 21 cm. 15.80 DM (approximately
$4.)
Tho term "chemist" is still used in
England to designate a druggist or apoth-
ecary as well as a. person who is engaged
in or trsined in ehemistry. This usage is
a living relic of the early period in the
development of chemistry when most of
its devotees earned their living in a phar-
macy (chemist's shop). Quite a few of
the eminent chemists of the late 18th and
early 19th century were practicing apoth-
ecaries; they pursued chemistry (a minor
profession) mostly as a sideline or even as
an intellectual hobby. The most notable
of the 18th century apothecary-chemists
was C.W. Scheele. He was horn a t
Stralsund (then a Swedish city) in 1742
and died in Koping, Sweden in 1786.
Thus he spent his entire life in Sweden but
his native language was German.
He received no formal training in
chemistry beyond what was needed for
his professional needs, hut he early
developed an irresistible and unquenchable
urge to experiment in the chemical field.
He had only the simplest equipment, his
aveilahle supplies were limited mostly to
what he could ohtsin with little or no out-
lay of money, and in addition he had to
carry on his experiments during the
evenings, holidays, and days off. None-
theless, the number of his notable dis-
coveries is truly astounding; during his
lifetime they hrought him high honors;
his name is included in every list of the
foremost pioneers of ehemistry. "He
brought to light more new substances of
fundamental importance than any other
chemist without exception." (Psrtington).
The author of the short biography under
review here has given a course on the
history of pharmacy for many years at
the University of Vienna. He began his
intensive studies of Scheele's life and work
many years ago; the fint of his many
papers and hooks in this field was pub-
lished in 1924. The resent hioeraohv
nurnrly wwlwrq, 111&111s, p r u c ~ w m g
clw~~,~sta : i d p l u i r w i h s . 'I%e WXI fiuws
s n _ ~ ~ u t 1l ~ ~ 1\1111d2
1 11 ~ wc'r ottrul.,.tl. T h e
numerous illustrations augment the at-
tractiveness of the well-printed volume.
Useful appendixes provide explsnstions of
the archaic terms, and present the
scientific, political, and cultural setting in
whieh Scheele accomplished his work.
A three-page bibliography (mostly Ger-
man, some English, and Swedish) is
another good feature. A translation of
this authoritative text into English would
fill a gap in our too restricted supply of
books dealing with our eminent chemical
ancestors.
RALPAE. OESPER
Uniuersily of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio