JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
110
munition and pyrotechnics, oils and fats and waxes, miscellaneous industries of chemical interest (compressed gases, matches, tanning, textiles, precious metals), chemistry and public services (an account of the growth and nature of the National Research Council Laboratories, Experimental Farms, Forest Products Laboratories, other Federal laboratories, Provincial Research Councils), Canadian chemical organizations and journals, and lastly, four chapters outlining the dcveloprnent of the teaching of chemistry in the schools, colleges, and universities of Canada. intrigued in seeing the word "earthnut." The reader is made acutely awareof the very extensive developThe proofreading could have been done better because there are a good many misspellings and some errors in formulas. The ment of chemical industry in Canada that has occurred during the printing is open to criticism; letter? are missing sometimes or last thirty-five years. The extent of this growth is not generally known, even to Canadians. In appropriate perspeztive, the book incompletely printed. draws attention to the significant number of Canadian cantributions to the development of the processes of industrial ehemist,ry. Numerous illustrations are included; these have been prepared from maps showing the distribution and grouping of chemical and allied industries, from sketches of men prominent in the development of Canadian chemistry, from sketches of early plants of chemical interest., and from photographs of modern A HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY IN CANADA 0 plants and institutions. A few errors occur, particularly in the Compiled for the Chemical Institute of Canada hy C. J. S. War- spelling of some proper names; it is hoped that these will be corrington, Development Department of Canadian Industries Limited, rected in a subsequent edition, if such there be. An index is inand R. V. V. NicholIs, McGill University. Sir Isaac Pitman and cluded, although it is by no means a complete one. A valuable 502 pp. Illustrated. bibliography of important source material is appended. Sons, Ltd., Toronto, Canada, 1949. r 15 X 23 cm. $4.50. The scope of this book is somewhat broader than the title might Tnt: publienrim of Illis h m k rnnkcs av3ilaLle a couprch~r~nivr imply to some, for there are included, for example, accounts-of (rcatmrnt 111the 1.i;irurj of ('nnndinn clmnical industry and uit1.t. the corporate history of many companies and accounts of the tcscltine. of chcmixrv i n Cnnndr. Ilirhrrro, the mntetml nvail- origins of Canadian universities. Altogether, this volume brings able onthese subjects has, for the most part, been widely seat- together much material of value and interest, and it is certainly tered in papers in Canadian chemical journals. This book col- a valuable contribution to the literature of chemistry. Both the lects this widely dispersed material, and it includes much that has arrangement of the material and the style of writing allow the not previously appeared in print. The authors have drawn book to be read easily. Although the volume will be of especial heavily on invited contributions from qualified individuals in the interest to Canadian chemists, whether of the academic or inindustries, the universities, and the public service of Canada; dustrial persuasion, it deserv~sthe-attention of all who are inthey have organized and integrated their source material so as to terested in the history of chemical industry and of chemical orodnce a book that is not only very informative but also very education. Interesting. Nonchemical hist& h i s been introduced when it R. P. GRAHAM contributes to fulfilling the task of preparing "an account of the MCMABTBB UNIVERSITY impact of chemistry on Canadian affairs, in a form which would a a l a ~ m o n ONTAEK, . CANADA be acceptable to interested laymen and chemists.'' The volume opens with a brief account of the discovery in Canada of ecanomiexlly important minerals and a reference to the ABSORPTION SPECTROPHOTOMETRY first metnllurgiesl indust,ry on the North American continentthe smelting of bog iron ore near Trois RiviAres, Quebec, starting G. F. Lothian, Physics Lecturer, University College of the South in 1736. The reader is given a good account of the development West, Exeter. Hilger and Watts, Ltd., London, 1949. ix 196 of metallurgy in Canada from this early beginning through to an pp. 71 figs. 14 X 22 cm. 26s. account of the very extensive lead and zinc smelting operations T ~ r compact s book, advertised as a. maiual on the measurea t Trail, British Columbia, and of the operations in the Sndbury Basin in Ontario that today supply over 90 per cent of the world's ment of absorption spectra in the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared nickel. Appropriate treatment of thf steel, copper, gold, ti- regions by photographic, visual, photoelectric, and thermal methtanium, uranium, etr., industries is given. A useful feature, not ods, deds with work in the wave-length range of 0.2 to 25 mionly of this first chapter but of many subsequent ones, is thst the crons. The presentation includes the laws governing absorption chemistry of modern processes is separated from the historical of electromagnetic waves by material media, with examples of matter by the use of condensed type. The authors did not set out the ways these laws are being used in research and snalytical labto write a text book of industrial chemistry, but the book never- oratories. The general principles of Part 1 (62 pp.) include chapters on theless contains in compact form much material regarding current industrial processes that is useful to students and teachers of the nature and the laws of absorption, and on the conditions for accuracy and the methods of calculation in spectrophotometry. chemistry Whether Canadian or not. The arrangement of the subject matter is topical rather than The British nomenclature and symbolism differ somewhat from narrative. Subsequent chapters are devoted to the chemical by- thst recommended by our National Bureau of Standards Letter products of smelting (sulfuric acid, sulfur dioxide, and sulfur), Circular 857. The applications discussed in Part 2 (34 pp.) include (1) the fortili~ers,nonmetallic mineral products (salt, magnesite, lime, cement, etc.), chemicals from coal, petroleum and reliltionof absorptionspectra to chemicalstructure and thenature natural gas and their chemical derivatives (including synthetic of certain chemical phenomena, and (2) the qualitative and quanrubber), electric furnace products (phosphorus, calcium carbide, titative analytical possibilities of such data for both organic and chemicals from acetylene, abrasives), products made by elec- inorganic substances. These chapters are merely illustrative of trolysis (aluminum, magnesium, hydrogen peroxide, chemicals the numberless possibilities in the field. An important omission from salt), chemistry and wood produrts (pulp and paper, cellu- is the use of reflectanceor transmittance curves for the caloulation lose derivatives, alcohol, vanillin, eta.), products of agriculture of the I.C.I. values which specify color numerically. Techniques, comprising Part 3 (77 pp.), include separate c h a p and the sea (cereals, corn starch glucose, sucrose, fermentation industries, fish oils), medicinal and fine chemicals (vitamins, ters on speotrophotometers having visual, photographic, photohormones, antibiotics, insulin, sulfa drugs), explosives and am- electric, or thermal detectors. A fifth chapter treats various page 4, in the r6sum6 of methods of manufacturing aniline, there is no mention of its manufacture from chlorobenaene. The book is filled with tables, figures, organic structural formulas, and photographs. It contains so much theoretical and technical information that it o m be used as a small referencevolume.
+
+
FEBRUARY, 19%
111
accessory items and operating details. Although Hilger instruments are emphasized, various others are described briefly. Zeiss and Hilger filter photometers are included. Throughout this section occur many helpful suggestions on testing and manipulating instruments, and on the merits of each type of equipment. Alt,oeet,her.the reviewer is well imoressed with this book. I t
on the point of view of the reader. For example, it seems the inclusion of the addition of alkanes to alkenes and the omission of the addition of alkenes to alkenes as a simple type of polymeriastion was not too wise. The latter seems more significant than the former to the general student. Although the book contains muoh more material than could he covered adeauatelv in a. semester course it enables the instructor
t,he price is high
0
KAOLIN CLAYS AND THEIR INDUSTRIAL USES J. M. Huber Corporation, New Yolk, New Yo&, 1949. 141 pp. 49 figs. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. Gratis to and technicians in the clay consuming industry. THIS book describes the production of kaolin clays and gives many illustrations af the operations at the company's plants. I t then relates the manner in which the clay is used in the mbber and paper industries. This book would be of interest only to a technical man in a olny consuming industry. KENNETH KOBE UNIVERBITT OP TEXAS
A ~ T I N T. e x m
0
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Roy (2. Brewster, Professor of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York, 1949. v 409 pp. 12 figs. 34 tables. 17 charts. 16 X 23.5 cm. $6.
+
T m purpose of the author as given in the preface is that a semester's course in organic chemistry should acquaint the student with the most important descriptive mstcrid and also give same insight into t.he theoretical interpretation of the phenomena studied. In this wsy he will have acquired bhe basic facts for the study of biology, medicine, and relsted sciences and also theability to interpret the bomplex processes met in these fields. The plan of the text is well adapted for this purpose. I n Chaptar 1, General Principles, the author bas summarized very setisfxtorily atomic structure and linkages, the types of bonds and the relative eIeotronegat,ivity of elements, thus correlating the prinoiples of inorganic chemistry with organic. In presenting a clear, simplified discussion of bond energies, resonance, and the mechanism of react,ions, including acid and bane oatalpis, he makes it possible for t.he sbudwt to give an el~ctronieinterpretation to typical reactions which should eliminate his tendency to think that organic chemistry involves only memory. The present reviewer found this treatment very valuable in the use as a text of the author's larger hook, "Organic Chemistry" (1948), which is revised and condensedin thisBriof Course. The material is covered in much the same manner but the illustrat,iona and certnin specializedreactions are necessarily omitted. The material is systematically arrenged with 21 chapters given to the study of aliphatic compounds including amino acids, proteins, and carbohydrates and with the remaining 13 devoted to aromatic, alieyolic, and heterocyclic compounds. The order of topics can be changed a t the convenience of the instructor. The problems at the end of each chapter are well chosen. Illustrations of medicinals, vitamins, and hormones are given in the cor-
relative merit of the topics included or omitted will depend mainly
RECENT ADVANCES IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY:
FRONTIERS IN CHEMISTRY. VOL. VII. R. E. Bur*, Plastics Dept.. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington. Delaware; and Oliver Grumitt, Modey Chemical Laboratory, Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, Editors. Intersoienoe Publishers, Inc., New York, 1949. 10 tables. 9 3 figs. 15.5 x 23.5 Em. $4.50.
TEEmost recent volume in the series based on the Frontiers in Chemistry lectures presented a t Western Reserve University consists of a survey of the fundamental background and of the current status of half a dozen of the active fields of contemporary analytical chemistry. In keeping with the other volumes of the series, the volume is well printed and illustrated. The subject matter, as one would expect from the authors of the different chapters, is well organized and presented. The volume would be valuable to anyone engaged in analytical chemistry as well as to any chemist who would desire a knowledge of certain contemporary analytical techniques and of their possible applicability to his own problems. The book wauld serve admirably as the text for a graduate seminar in analytical chemistry. The chapter on voltammetry (polarography) and amperometric titrations by I. M. Kolthoff (30 pages) devotes two-thirds of its length to an excellent introduction to the fundamental phenomena observed at a polarizable microelectrode. The five pages of applications and the five pages on amperometric titrations are well bdmced discussionsof what can be done with the dropping mercury electrode and the rotating platinum electrode, including the limitations of the two types of electrodes. The reviewer is sorry that two of the examples cited on the use of polsrogrephy in organio chemistry (effectof halogen on acetone reducibility and study of keto-en01 equilibrium) were included since studies published since the lectures were given have indicated the incorrectness of the earlier interpretation of the experimental data. The two chapters on inorganic analysis with organic reagents and on some recent colorimetric and gravimrtric organic reagents by J. H. Yoe (48 pages) are refreshingly new treatments of the subject. The former chapter is divided into short disoussions of the various ways in which organic reagents are used; the greater portion of the chapter covers chelate compounds on the basis of the types of the two reacting groups. The reviewer would be inclined to debate the statement that "comparatively few chemists at the present time have seemed to realize the adwntages and possibilities of organic reagents in inorganic analysis." The first part of thesecond chapter by Yoeis devoted to an outline for the development of a new colorimetric method in which the various fsotors to be studied are discussed. The latter half of the chapter discusses some of the reagents for five commonly determined cations. The material presented is largely based on Yoe's book written with Sarver and on his published research. In his chapter on the application of infrared spectroscopy in analysis (33 pages), Otto Beck, after a short but informative account of Beer's law and of the origin of infrared spectra, surveys the development of infrared instrumentation for analytical work during the past decade and indicates the merits and faults of
