JULY,1953
375
as aromatic is an unsaturated six-carbon ring.. ." Then on page 516 is found, "Aromatio properties are highly developed in pyridine. . ." On page 45 two aldehydes are named butyric aldehyde and propionic aldehyde and on page 175 the former is called butsnsl or n-butyraldehyde. The type, binding, and general appearance of the book are good and, for those who prefer to consider the aliphatic and aromatic compounds together, much new material is included on the selected topics. H. MARJORIE CRAWFORD YAssAn C o ~ ~ m e PODOXREEPSIE, NEW YOAK
0
A SHORT COURSE IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Harold Hort and Robert D. Schueti, both of Michigan State 326 pp. College. Houghton Mifnin Co., Boston, 1953. ix 104 figs. 20 tables. 17 X 23.5 cm. $4.50.
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THIShook is designed for use in a short course for students in agriculture, home economics, pharmacy, and in premedical or predental programs. It is not offered as a text for chemistry majors. One must not be deceived by a first glance a t this book. On quickly leafing through it, one's eyes are caught by photographs of kittens playing with their reflections in a mirror, of a. fsshian model scintillating as she chats on the telephone, and of a new* stand with giant headlines soreaming news of a sensational murder. One also sees "stick-and-ball" models of double and triple bands surrounded by flashes of lightning. Such glamor 8Uggests that the book is not so much talking chemistry as i t is talking about chemistry. This impr~ssian is wrong. Closer examination reveals that it is a rigorous textbook within its stated scope. The authors have, as they should in writing such a book, omitted much material that is commonly taught in a full-year course. For themost part their ohoiceof material is goad. Astudent who had studied from this book, and who then decided to continue the study of organic chemistry, would not he seriously handicapped for lack of background. There is appropriate attention to applications, necessary t o maintain the interest of nou-majors. The problems a t the end of each chapter are excellent, calling far thought on the part of the student and not mere recantation of statements made on earlier pages. There is a profusion of good drawings of molecular models, very useful in tertching stereochemical relationships. Reaction mechanisms are strongly emphasized. For example, the chapter on olefins discusses, amongst other material, the lack of free rotation about a double bond, the mechanism of addition of bromine to olefins, the theoretical basis of Markownikoff's rule in terms of the inductive effect of the methyl group and its influence on resonance in propylene, the mechanism of 1,2- and 1 , 4 addition to 1,3dienes, and the mechanism of freeradical polymerization of olefins. I n this reviewer's opinion, this is an overemphasis. So much attention to reaction mech* nism tends to confuse the average student who, in the second or third week of the oourse, is often grappling with problems of nomenclature, has difficulty distinguishing an addition reaction from a substitution or has not yet learned the importance of writing four and only four covalent bonds to each carbon atom. The style of writing is fas&moving and somewhat abrupt. Its temeness will reduce its value to students of moderate ~bility. A few topics are not given adequate attention. Komer's method for distinguishing ortho, meta, and para isomers, an eloquent exercise in scientific method, is not mentioned. Dye chemistry, an aspect of applied organic chemistry of great importance to the students for whom the book is intended, is inadequately treated. The tremendous consequences of stereochemical relationships in life processes are hardly mentioned. JOSEPH F. BUNNETT
UNIVERBITY OF NORTHCAROLINA C H A P EHIT.=, ~ N O R TCAROLINA ~
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PROBLEMS IN PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
Lars Gunnar Sillin, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, P a u l W. Lange, Head of Physical Chemistry Division, Swedish Forest Products Research Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden, and Carl 0.Gabrielson, Head of Research Department for Organic Chemistry, Mo and Domsj6 AB, Ornskbldsvik, Sweden. Prentiee-Hall, Inc., New York, 1952. xi 370 pp. Illustrated. 15 X 22 cm. $5.50.
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THIS is B book which will be of more than passing interest to teachers of physical chemistry. I t is essentially a translation, made by the authors themselves, of the second Srodish edition published in 1951. In bringing out this American edition the authors-translators have taken pains to conform with the symbols and notation in general use on this side of the Atlantic in eases where differences exist. In their effort to do this they have succeeded extremely well. The arrangement and scope of subject matter are indicated by the 11 chapter headings, as follows: First Lau- of Thermodynamics, Second and Third Laws of Thermodynamics, Partial Quantities and Activities, Gas Equilibria, Solution Equilibria, Chemical Electromotive Forces, Solubility, Complex, and Redon Equilibria, Aeid-base Equilibria, Transport of Electricity by Electrolytes, Rate of Reaction, and Phase Boundaries. The 900 or more problems in this collection have been gleaned from many sources. For the most part, they are not "'desk' problems in whioh the quantities asked for nould never, in practice, be determined as described," but are based upon actual measurements as reported in the European and American journals in research papers. The Journal of the American Chemiml Soeief?, figures conspicuously as one of the moat prolific sources. The problems are straightforward and clearly stated and are well arranged for purposes of instruction, Their usefulness is enhanced by brief introductions to the several chapters in which the background theory is summari~ed. These summaries are elear and concise and defmitely helpful to the student. Answers are given in the back of the book. The form and typography of the book are neat. No typographical errors were found, indicating exceptionally careful proofreading. In the opinion of the reviewer, this is a book u.hich merits c a r e ful examination by teachers interested in physical chemistry. WILLIAM B. MELDRUM
0
THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Stephen Toulmin, Lecturer in the Philosophy of Scienoe, Univer sity of Odord. Hutchinson's University Library, Hutchinson House, London, 1953 (available from Longmans, Green and Co., New York). viii 176 pp. 12.5 X 19 cm. Ted, $1.80; trade, $2.25.
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THIS book is primarily designed for university students in philosophy. Now philosophy has been described as "an obstinate at,tempt to think clearly." This book uses mostly simple words, and simple msthematica, and simple scientific illustrations, but it splits hairs with considerable subtlety, and is a t least as difficult to read as a n introductory text in thermodynamics. Dr. Toulmin has much to say about the principle of rectilinear propagation of light, whioh is basic to the use of diagrams in considering optioal situations, and therefore underlies the whole of geometrical optics. An important hair remains unsplit here, for in the phrase "rectilinear propagation" the two wards introduce quite independent ideas. If the velocity of light had been iound to be infinite, so that there were no question of anything being "propagated," we could still use rectilinear representations in our diagrams. One wonders, too, why Dr. Toulmin speaks of light as "a substance tmveling," when the
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