9 June 1954

Prof. P. P. Eweld, Editor

Acta Crystallographica

Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn

99 Livingston Street

Brooklyn, 1, New York

Dear Paul:

Before your letter arrived I had received Palmer's answer. It reads as follows:

"I have received your letter dated 18 May last concerning the review of 'General Chemistry' in Acta Crystallographica, and I note that you have sent a copy to the Editor, Prof. Ewald.

"You will understand that, while awaiting any action he may think it proper to take, I cannot enter upon a direct and private correspondence."

I am sorry that he did not answer my letter because I am curious about the explanation of the points that he has raised, and which I could not understand.

I thank you for your offer to me, that I write a letter about the review for publication in Acta. I should prefer not to have to take advantage of this offer.

I feel instead that Dr. Palmer has the ethical duty to publish a statement about the errors in his review.

For example, he wrote that "The chapters concerned with the compounds of carbon … contain … the surprising statements 'formic acid can be made by distilling ants, … ." This statement about formic acid is, however, correct; for example, the article on formic acid in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th edition, begins with the sentence "Formic acid was first prepared by distilling red ants." I do not understand why the reviewer considers this statement, which occurs in many books on organic chemistry, to be surprising.

Another example of an erroneous statement in the review is the following: "The classical topics of physical chemistry are treated with as agreeable freshness, which here and there degenerates into imprecision, as in ... the unfortunate choice of the system hydrogen and bromine, to illustrate a photochemical chain reaction on pp. 410-11."

Prof. Ewald Page 2 9/6/54

I do not see why the choice of the system hydrogen and bromine to illustrate a photochemical chain reaction is unfortunate. I made the choice after careful consideration. This reaction is discussed as a typical chain reaction in textbooks of photochemistry. Bollefson and Burton, in their "Photochemistry and the Mechanism of Chemical Reactions," New York, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1942, begin their chapter on typical chain reactions with a discussion of photosynthesis of hydrogen bromide; their first sentence is "The most completely studied reaction which proceeds by a chain mechanism is that of hydrogen and bromine to form hydrogen bromide." The fact that the authors of the standard textbooks on photochemistry have agreed with me in selecting the reaction of hydrogen and bromine as an example of a chain reaction makes it impossible for me to understand why the reviewer found the choice unfortunate.

I surmise that the reviewer simply made some mistakes, and I think that he should correct them.

I think also that he should write to me to clarify the other matters mentioned in my letter to him.

I am sending him a copy of this letter, as my answer to his letter, and am also sending a copy to Dr. Evans.

Sincerely yours,

Linus Pauling:W