A PRACTICAL SURVEY OF CHEMISTRY
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Walter S. Dyer, late of the University of Arkansas, and Manfred E. Mueller, City College of San Francisco. Revised edition. Henry Holt and Co., New York, 1950. x 564 pp. 176 figs. 13 tables. 14.5 X 21 cm. $3.60.
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Tam revision of Dr. Dyer's book which initially appeared in
1941 is greatly improved in appearance: use of m l l e r size type with more spaoing between lines adds to the readability, and use of paper of better quality with semiglass finish results in much better reproduction of the diagram8 and illustrations, many of which are new and well-chosen. It is a pity that the several topics considered in each chapter were not numbered to facilitate reference and assignment. There are few major alterations, although sections of several chapters have been rearranged and interchanged with resulting improvement in clarity and in the order of presentation of related subjects. Thus, a new chapter combines the topics electromotive series, electrolysis, cells, plating, oxidation-reduction, photography, and the light metals. Also the section dealing mth organic chemistry bas been largely rewritten. Several new topics have been introduced, including silicones, exchange resins, antibiotics, antimalarials, and the Fischer-Tropsch reaction; and two new chapters on nuclear chemistry have been added. The style remains readable and the approach mature. Designed for courses jn general education rather than for training the professional chemist, this book represents one of the best efforts to compromise between a frankly superficial survey of chemistrvand a detailed consideration. such asisde~irable for the .~. ~ " pownrial ehrmiat. Although it is almur chemistry, it adheren to fundnmrutuls with a minimum of arithmetic, and hold8 the reader's i~ltcrestby cmphasiring nppliuxtiona of principles and thcory to every day phenomena. The book deserves consideration by anyone teaching chemistry aa a part of a liberal arts program. ~
Baowrt UNNERUT~ Pnovromoe. Raooa Ia&ano
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The second section by Eakin bas three chapters dealing with the catalytic functions of the B gmup. This might be regarded as the care of the book since all sections deal more or less with the metabolic functioniogof these vitamins. The third section by Beerstecher has six chapters on the role of the B vitamins in animal and plant organisms. Among the subjects dealt with are quantitative needs for each of the several vitamins as required by many differentorganisms and the metab olism of the vitamins. The chapter on physiological, pharmacological, and toxicological effectswas of especial interest to this reviewer. The fourth and final section by Shive is a long one of twelve chapters. It deals with the specificity of each vitamin, i. e., the differences and analogies between the effects of the vitamin and those of related compounds. Also for each vitamin there is an admirable review of interference studies, including all aspects of enzyme blocking by compounds related to the vitamins. There is a separate chapter for each of eight of the B vitamins. One of these, the chapter on thiamine, and the last chapter on "nutritional factors of doubtful status" are contributed by writers not listed on the title page, Thomas J. Bardoa, A. D. Barton, and Lorene L. Rogers. This book will be found to be indispensable to researchers and other students of vitamins and to nutritionists. Bmww U w m s m r Paovroeaorm. Raonr Ialr~m - ~
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OXIDATION-REDUCTION POTENTIALS IN BACTERIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY
L. F. Hewitt, Director, S e m Research Institute, Medical Research Council, Carshalton, Surrey, England. Sixth edition. Williams & Wilkins Company, Baltimore, 1950. viii 215 pp. 44 figs. 31 tables. 18 X 25 em. $4.50.
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ROBERT M. SHERMAN
THE BIOCHEMISTRY OF THE
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PHILIP E. MITCHELL
B VITAMINS
Roger J. Williams, Robert E. Eakin, Ernest Beerstecher, Jr., and William Shive, University of Texas, Austin, Texas. Reinhold Publishing Corporation, New York, 1950. x 741 pp. 29 figs. SO tables. 15 X 24 cm. $10.
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EAWof the four authors has written a separate section which could be a hook in its o m right, although each includes interrelations between the subdivisions of the subject. The avowed purpose of the book is to provide a critical survey of biochemical research on the B vitamins. It covers, especially, literature of the years 1945 to 1948 inclusive; but some papers significant in the hidorical development of knowledge about B vitamina are referred to briefly, and some papers appearing in 1949areven 1950 are reviewed. The book uses so extensively data on intermediary metabolism as studied by the use of microorganisms that i t ia especially helnfnl - to biochemists who have concentrated on msmmaliau metsbolism. The role of these vitamins in higher organism, including man, however, is not neglected. The fist section by Willit~mshas five chapters dealing, respectively, with the cbarscterieation, distribution, extraction (combined forms), assay, and biogenesis of B vitamins. His unione definition of B vitamins, coming as it does from so authori h t & s,source, will interest d l bioohe&isbs.
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116
THISlatest edition is considerably larger than its most recent predecessor, which appeaxd in 1948,twelve years after publication of the fourth edition. The faat two chapters an the theory of oxidation-reduction reactions and on the methods for measuring oxidation-reduction potentials have undergone very little change. The third chapter is new; i t gives a brief account (8 pages) of different methods for measurement of pH. In the fourth cbapter are treated the different oxidation-reduction systrms which are of hioluyieal interest; hew much of the recent work h:m becn included. The filth chsprpr (12paws) is a newly a d d 4 diaeusaion of metabolic eveIra arid chain reactionr with a consideration of the significance of oxidation-reductions, free energy changes, phosphate bond energies and energy storage mechmisms. The hacteriologicd applications are given in the sixth chapter whicb, in spite of relatively few additions since 1936,is still the most important of the book. In the new seventh chapter (17pages) an account of chemotherapy and antibiotics is given, and an attempt is made to show that even in this field potential measurements may be of value. I t is followed by two brirf clmpkrs, on
