OUTLINES OF THEORETICAL CHEMISTRY BY LOTHAR MEYER PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TÜBINGEN TRANSLATED BY P. PHILLIPS BEDSON, D.Sc. (LOND.), B.Sc. (Vic.), F.C.S. PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE DURHAM COLLEGE OF SCIENCE NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE AND W. CARLETON WILLIAMS, B.Sc., F.C.S. PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE FIRTH COLLEGE SHEFFIELD WITH A PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR PUBLIC LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16th STREET 1892 W AUTHOR'S PREFACE ΤΟ ENGLISH TRANSLATION As Messrs. BEDSON and WILLIAMS some years ago made a careful and accurate translation into English of my Modern Theories. of Chemistry,' I very gladly accepted their friendly proposal to undertake the translation of this smaller book. It may appear somewhat doubtful whether the long-felt want of a small text-book on Theoretical Chemistry has not been satisfied by the books recently published by Polis, Remsen, and Ostwald. These books are themselves so different from one another and from mine in method and intention and in their conclusions, that they all may be able to exist side by side. This conclusion is satisfactorily confirmed by the ready reception which the German edition of my book has received. In writing this work I have not considered the requirements of students alone, but have been desirous of offering something to those friends of scientific investigation who have neither the intention nor the time to concern themselves with the details of chemical investigation, but wish to become acquainted with the general conclusions arrived at. With this object in view I have abstained from too large a use of the numerical results of observations and measurements, and have avoided giving detailed descriptions of experimental methods. The book has, therefore, in the main been written from memory, and numerical examples have been taken from the existing literature only where it appeared absolutely necessary for the clearer understanding of the subject. The general--I may say the philosophical-review of the subject has been my chief aim, to which the details should be subordinated. I may, perhaps, be permitted to express the hope that this mode of treatment will especially meet with approval in England, where so wide a circle of readers interest themselves in the general results and conclusions of scientific investigations. LOTHAR MEYER. TÜBINGEN: December 30, 1891. |