An american genius the life of Ernest Orlando ... - ACS Publications

view of the paucity of courses dealing with heterogeneous catalysis in this cormtry, it is dortbtfol that the book will ... the English speaking sbnde...
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book reviews tron microscopy are discussed. There are ,556 referencw a t the end of this chapter; this is a11 indication of t,he scope of this chapter. In Chapter 4 the role of pore struct1n.e and surface area in hetemgeneorts cat.alysis is disrussed. hluch of the material covered, while relevant to chemists, is not, readily available i n other chemistry texts. Chapter 5 is entitled The Itole of Lattice Imperfections in Heterogeneous Catalysis. The first part. comists of the usual brief inlmduction to dislocations and point imperfectiony. The detailed role of such imperfections in catalysis is

then considered; far example, t,he possibility that emerging disloealions may be a site of enhanced catalytic activity is bhoroughly examined. Geometric, electronic, and related theories of hete~.ogeneous catalysis are grouped together in Chapter 6. This is a short, chapter. It, strongly 1.eflect8 the authors' owu views. The central thesiz is that more xt,tention should he paid to the properties of the individual atoms nud complexes a t the surface and less to the geomet,ric and electronic factors. Recent contributions of the I h t o h school are rited ns evidence for this thesis. The mechanism of some specific catalytic reactions are developed in Chapter 8. The cxamples in general are wellchosen, ranging from reaet,ions of paramount industrial importmce tr, those oi

more academic interest. The inclusion of electrocatalysis seems somewhat out of place here as the brevity of its presentation severely limits the development of any mechanistic considerations. The final chapter, 9, deals with the design of catalytic reactors. This is s. usefd introduction to t,he subject not only for industrial chemists but for research strtdents who wish to employ flow techniques. This hook was intended as a text. In view of the paucity of courses dealing with heterogeneous catalysis in this cormtry, it is dortbtfol that the book will be widely used here as a classroom text. I t is strongly recommended for g r d u s t e students beginning research projects in heterageneuns catalysis or related areas. Hopefully it will be purchased also by established workers in heterogeneous catalysis for it is not often that such a. lively and literate breatment of a. specific research area becomes available.

TEDB. FLNAGAN llniversily of Vermonl

An American Genius The Life of Ernest Orlando Lawrence, Father of The Cyclotron

Herbert Childs. E . P. Dntton & Co., New York, 1968. 576 pp. Diagrams and photograph. 15.5 x 23 cm. $12.95, This is an extraordinary hook about an extraordinary man. The author states that. he spent almost seven years writing it. I t is written for the general public rather than for scientists; consequently it contains no mathematical equations or any of the technical language that might scare off all hut technically trained readers. The photographs add mneh to the interest of the text. Ernest Orlando Lawrence, or E.O.L. as he was known to many, had a kind of Horatio Alger career (1901-1958). He was of Norwegian stock, raised in South Dakota where his father was a. poorly paid educator. His first excursion into science was in wireless telegraphy; mnchof the eqoipment was homemade. He went to St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, planning to go into medicine or teaching, then transferred to the University oi South Dakota where he was steered into science by Dean Akeley. He began graduate work a t Chicago, later transferred to Yale. There he made such a n outstanding record that he was called to Berkeley where he advanced to full professor s t age 29. At California he developed the cyclot,ron and made an international reputation. He gathered a. faithful group of students and collaborators, whose outstanding characteristic was "to invent around hurdles." I n time he became intimate with most of the great men of physics in all countries; his papers and publications brought him uncounted honors. In time he received fourteen honorary degrees, the Nobel Prize, and the Fermi prize. This biography gives what might be called a blow by blow or a day hy day (Continued on page A847)

A844 / Journal o f Chemical Education

book reviews account of his career. Some may find it too detailed but certainly it provides a picture almost withortt parallel of the life and actions of a great man of science. The name Lawrence will be kept alive not only by the record of his accomplishments but also by the deserved honor bestowed orb him when element 103 was discovered in 1961 aud named lawrencium.

Universily of Cincinnali Cineinnali, Ohio

The Fundamenfolr of Theoretical Chernirtry-Wave Mechmirr Applied lo the Study of Alomr and Molecules

Ilaymond Daydcl, Professor a t the Sorbonne. T~.anslated by K. E. Walls. Pe'ergnmou Press, Ltd., New York, 1968. xx 211 pp. Figs. and tables. 14.5 X 22cm. $10.

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This is a. translation of a French text book wit,h the somewhat over generalized title "Les Fundements de la Chimie Theoretiqne" published by Gsothier- villa^ in 1956. I t has probably been a useful text for t,he French speaking student of quantum chemistry. It is doubtful whether the English speaking sbndeut will find it eqttally t~sefitl. Any merit which can he funnd in the bnok stems fmm the fact that bccanse the a ~ t t h ais . a n active contrihnLo~.

to the development of quantom chemistry, his occasional assessments and criticisms add color to the material. Furthermore some unconventional topics (such as "Loges") are found here and not in other standard ttexta. Though their usefulness is still debatable, some readem may find American these concepts appealing. chemists are currently exposed to material of this depth rtt the senior or graduate level. I t is perhapa worth noting that the text contains no problems for the student,, a n inadequate index, and no references to work after 1954. The author assumes a familiarity with standard wave mechanics of one particle systems, and some understanding of matrices and Hilbert space. Ire then begins by stating, without proof and only occasional references to French texts, equations governing angular momentum quantiaation. It would be impossible for the reader to follow the author without a rigorous introductory Course. Even then the reader is frustrated by s n unconvent i a n d notation. The translation editor justifies some of this by pointing out that he is thus "enabling the reader in most eases to refer hack quickly to the French edition." I t is difficult to imagine many readers benefiting from this "advantage." Some of the ~~nconventionnl notation is probably the author's. Fur example, it is doubt,ful whether there is any merit in \!sing the symbols o, n, 6, et,c. for atomic orbitals as proposed on page 23. The diagrams in this sectiun d m , leave something t o he desired, namely accuracy, labeling, and i:aptions. The remaining part of the "Atoms" sectiun deals competently with many electron at,oms with

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particular emphasis on the concept of "shells" and "loges" which are the invent,ion of Professor Dslldel and may be of some pedagogical value. The section on molecules covers the standard methods of calculating electronic and nuclear wave functions, and then deals a t some leneth with the "low" canceot as

provide the more fundamental derivations and explanations, the reader may find other annoyiug featores. The literary style is rather tortured. I t is written almost entirely in one sentence paragraphs. The construction is often strange and cnmbersome. Take for example thia sentence whieh is found on page 111. "We meet a t the beginning of the study of molecules a theorem which recalla that of the separation of the electron and nuclear terms in the case of the atom and has, in fact, the same origin: the much greater mass of the nucleus with respect to the electron." A justification for this translation by J. M. Wilson and R. E. Watta lies in the recent translation by Professor Daudel of his text: "The Electronic Structnre of Molecules" (Pergamon 1966). Since this more advanced text continnally refers to secbions in the earlier one, the two books form a unit which serious students of the Horbonne School will wish to own. However, there exist much more readable introdnctions t,o the fundamentals of quantum chemistry. E. A. OGRYZLO Uniuwsilv of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada

Volume 45, Number 10, October 1968

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