17 AUGUST 1878, Page 22

Heat. By Dr. Lardner and B. Loewy. (Crosby Lockwood and

Co.) —Standard classic works on science are almost an impossibility. No matter how apparently correct they may ho, so rapid is the progress of science, that some new discovery may to-morrow either upset or very much modify theories built on insufficient data, or a new method of experiment supply more reliable information on whith to work in the future. This is eminently true with regard to Heat. Since Dr. Lardner's "Handbook of Natural Philosophy" was written, this aspiring young science has emerged from her swathing-bands, and walks apart from her elder sisters, demanding separate attention from the votaries of knowledge. The issue of anew edition, therefore, demanded a separate volume for this subject, the rewriting of the greater part, and tbe embodiment of a considerable quantity of new matter, detailing the recent researches of several observers. The execution of this has been entrusted to Mr. Loewy, who, if he has erred, has erred on the side of fullness. The matter is accurate, fairly lucid, and exhaustive, even more so than is necessary in an elementary treatise, and the illustrations are numerous, well executed, and truthful. The large number of tables is a special feature of the work, and not the least useful part is a collec- tion of problems worked out.