chemist faced with a. problem involving that element, and the selected laboratory procedures which conclude each chapter should indeed be helpful. Some chapters, such as that on Fluorine, are particularly strong in their treatment of the inorganic chemistry of the element. As the treatise continues to develop and to occupy a longer section of the book shelf one notes that it would be a convenience if the individual vdnmes were to desimate. the correlation between volume number and periodic group is not perfect.
JOHN R. HAYES The Pennsylvania State University
University Park
Advancer in Electrochemistry a n d Electrochemical Engineering. Volume 1, Electrochemirtry Edited by Paul Delahay, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. IntersciencePublishers, Inc., NewYork, 1961. ix 326 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 23.5 em. 812.
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The work being reviewed constitutes the first volume of a new series of authoritative artirks in pure and applied electrochemistry. The first volume is concerned with the fallowing topics in academic electrochemistry by the indicated authors: the electrical double layer and its influence in electrode kinetics (Parsons); hydrogen overpotential and adsorption phenomena a t mercury (Frumkin); problems in oxygen evolution kinetics (Breiter); electrode reactions a t semi-conductors (Cerisrher) and relaxation methods in the study of fast electrode reactions (Ilelahay). The second volume will cover nome general prohlems in electrochemical engineering inrluding applications of mass transfer theory and design of fuel cell systems. The new series is evidently aimed at the specialist in fundamental electrochemical research and the professional technologist in its applications. The chapters in Volume I are presented a t a.high standard and presume familiarity with the field. Volume I covers the type of material treated in the related series "Modern Aspects of Eleetraehemistr,v" of which the first two volumes are currently available. Chapter I, by Parsons, gives an u p t n date and competent review of double-layer effects in electrochemistry with special reference to kinetirs and thermod.~amicsof adsorption and the role of the structure of the double-laver in the kinetics of eleetrochemiosl reactions: in this r e s ~ e e ct h a ~ t e r
count of B special aspect of the role of adsorption in electrochemical reactions, name1.v widh regard to hydrogen evolution. Frumkin, has, of course, himself contributed much of the essential theory and neerasarv exnerimentnl data, in this
tive way. (Continued on page A606) Volume
39, Number 8, August 1962
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BOOK REVIEWS I n a briefer chapter (III), Breiter reviews problems in oxygen over voltage. This review is by no means .a8 authorit,% tive and comprehensive as those in the first two chapters and some important recent work is overlooked. The chapter (IV) on semiconductor electrode reactions by Gerischer again coven x subject which has been reviewed elsewhere within the last two years, but is a thorough account of a. field which has rapidly gained considerable technological importance while involving new fundamental ideas concerning kinetics of electrode processes where charge distribution both in the solid state and in the solution double-layer can be import,ant. The volume concludes with a chapter by Delahay on fast electrode reactions-a field t o u-hich he himself has made notable contributions. The chapter is a very useful introduction t o this somewhat specialized aspect of electrode kinetics and complements his earlier book on subjects related t o this field. Volume 1 and the remainder of the series must constitute an essential addition t o the leet troche mist's lihmry. The production and format of the book are excellent and it is t o be recommended both t o electrochemical sperialists and to those who wish to gl~ina perspective of modern elect,rochemistlly. B. E. CONWAY TJniuersitg of Ottawa Ottawa, Ontario Canada
Scientific Foundations of Vacuum Technique
Saul Dzrshman (deceased). Revised by members of the Research Staff, General Electric Research Laboratory, J. 1W. L a f e ~ t g Editor. , 2nd ed. John Wilry B Sons, Inc., New York, 1962. xviii 806 pp. Figs, and tahles. 15.5 X 23.5 em. 519.50.
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The second edition of this test which is well known t o researchers in high vacuum contains eleven chaptem entitled: (1) Kinetic Theory of Gases, (2) Flow af Ciases through Tubes and Orifices, (3) Vacuum Pumps, (4) The Utilization of Pumps, (5) Manometem for Low Gas Pressures, (6) Sorption of Gases and Vapors on Solids, ( 7 ) Sorption of Gases h y "Active" Charcoal, Silicates (Including Glasses) and Cellulose, (8) Geses and Metals, (9) Chemical and Electrical Clean-up and Ultrahigh Vacuum, (10) Vapor Pressure and Rates of Evaporation and, (11) Dissociation Pressures of Oxides, Hydrides and Nitrides. A revision of portions of the earlier edition which appeared in 1949 has been carried out by members of the resei~rch staff of the General Electric Company. The present edition represents an improvement over the earlier edition in a numher of respects. The material covering the subject of vacuum pumps has been reorganized into two chapters instead of
A606
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Journal of Chemical Education
