Abstract
THIS is a history of the science of crystals during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries—that is, during the period of its origin and early development. The earliest serious attempts at a study of crystalline forms were those of the Dane, Nico-laus Steno (1669), and M. A. Cappeller (1723), but the first real advance was made by the French crystallographers, Romé de l'Isle (1772) and the Abbé Haüy (1784). Many quotations are given from the old authors, and their theories and quaint ideas are compared and commented upon. In different sections the subject is considered in its relations to (1) mineralogy, (2) biological sciences, and (3) physical sciences. Although the formation of snow and ice crystals and the growth under the microscope of crystals from mineral waters and saline solutions attracted much attention during this period, the study of crystals has always been more intimately associated with mineralogy. The book concludes with a long list of authors quoted, and a more or less complete bibliography, in which there are several misprints. A rather discursive table of contents takes the place of an index, and, as is often the case in French books, there are no head-lines to the pages. The author is a member of the French Mineralogical Society, and has contributed to its Bulletin under her maiden-name of Bruhl.
La Genèse de la Science des Cristaux.
Hélène
Metzger
By. Pp. 248. (Paris: Félix Alcan, 1918.) Price 5.50 francs.
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La Genèse de la Science des Cristaux . Nature 103, 184 (1919). https://doi.org/10.1038/103184a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/103184a0