problems. Then there follow two essent i d y identical groups of problems or exercises. Answers for one set are in the back of the book. Explanations are given in a clear orderly fashion. Errors frequently made by beginning students are pointed out. Reason in solving problems is stressed rather than the use of mpthematical formulas. There is considerable emphasis an the oorrect use of dimensional units and significant numbers in chemical computations. Whereas the original edition explained weight relations in chemical chsnge by boti proportion and molar methods, the new edition has deleted the former. Oxidation-reduction equations are discussed from the viewpoint of oxidation numbers and hdf-reactions. The emphasis is on the writing of ionic equations. The second edition contains some new problems, hut many are in the original work. All problems seem to he well thoueht out and cle&rlv stated. Pracrwal npplicntions and nru c h e m d pro(,ezws m:,ke m:tny p r o l h m of f.lr grwrrr inrrrc-t than tho* gcncmlly found in r l w average textbook. This book should be very useful as a supplementary workbook for the first year course in college chemistry. E. F. FURTSCH Vi~giniaPolytechnic Institute Blacksburg
A n lnhoduction to Electronic Theories of Organic Chemistry
G. I. Bmum, Assistant Master, Eton College, England. Longmans, Green & Co., Inc., New York, 1958. v +209 pp. 13.5 X 19 em. $3. Brown wrote this little book for "advarwrd sixth-form" 3ud "lirt-year oniwr~ Sexpanding sit?" rtudrurs RJ R ~ I C H 01 r h i r knwlnlgr of rhr theories of wgmie chemistry after they know a reasonable body of facts. This appears insufficient reason for its distribution in this country since here beginning textbooks of organic chemistry in recent years are given over to theories of organic reactions and bave simply grown larger by virtue of the dual presentation of facts with theories. Fewer and fewer teachers of organic chemistry are forcing students to learn reactions first and theories later. The topics discussed in some detail on a nan-msthematicd basis are moleculm orbitals, resonance and inductive effects (in the language of the English school), conjugation, hyperconjugation, structure of and substitution in benaene, hydrogen bridging, and rextion mechanisms (the last 48 pages). The discussion of individual topics in the chapter on mechanisms is all t w brief for understanding except to the Demon alreadv familiar with the ideas since the treatment is condensed to say the least. The disounsion on anv " one suhieat is t,oo skimpy to satisfy a graduate student in organic chemistry, but it may serve as a refresher for students in other fields of chemistry. It may well serve as a reference for retreading high school teachers in a Sum~
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journal of Chemicd Education
mcr Institute course when the instructor wishes to give a. modern view of theoretical organic chemistry in a week or two without forcing anyone to learn a single reaction. Students who feel lost in reading Tngold or Hine might first want to delve into this book. In a sense it is a companion to Brown's "A Simple Guide to Modem Valency Theory."
LEALLYN B. CLAPP Bmwn Univwsity Providence. Rhode Island Science
A course of selected reading. Revised edition. International University So322 ciety, Edinburgh, 1957. xriii pp. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $4.50. Sole distributors: Callings, Inc., 507 Fifth Ave., New York.
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The usual book on the philosophy of science is frequently more "of" than "scienoe." In contrast, this ealleotion of readings (entirely in English) allows the reader to build his own philosophy by listening to the words of 43 great men of science. I t has been selected imagins, tively, edited carefully, and presented attractively. All who stop to ask the reflective and far-rertehing questions about the role of science in our culture will find this volume rewarding. Those who want to use the apt quotation to help establish a historioal perspective may find just the item here. Dalton, Lavoisier, Faraday, Thompson, Aston, Rutherford, and other giants are included.
W. F. K.
perhaps a few too many pictures of industrial plants, which do not have muoh teaching value. Two of these, at most, would suffice to inform the student that industrial operations are f a t s of engineering genius. At the close of many chapters are summaries of important reaction types in precise, tabular form. Many of the more important newer developments in organic chemistry are given. Some errors are found, as is true of all texts. One might wish to see the terms al-enesulfonate used in place of aryl sulfonate and alkanesulfonate instead of alkyl sulfonale, for example, and the word glyewyl should he employed far the aeyl radical of glycerie acid, rather than far the radical derived from glycerol. Electronic structure, hydrogen bonding, resonance, and molecular models are included in a sensible way. The author tends toward a scientific approach rather than a popular one, which is in keeping with the present trend in this direction across the nation. Praoticsl applications are emphasized with significant descriptive materials to make them understandable. This text will be very useful in the short course of organic chemistry and will provide the essentials very adequately and attractively.
JOHN LEOABERNETHY F ~ e m oState College Fremo, California
Orgenic Syntheses with Isotopes. Part 2
Arthur Muway III and D. Lloyd Williams, University of California, Los Angeles Scientific Laboratory. Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York, 947 pp. Figs. and tables. 1958. ix 16 X 23.5 em. $25.
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Organic Chemistry.
A Short Text
George K . Estok, Texas Technological College, Lubbock. W. B. Saunders Co., 275 pp. Philadelphia, 1959. ix 73 figs. 31 t%hIes. 16.5 X 24.5 cm. $5.50.
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This text is designed for one quarter or one semester of organio chemistry and will be a weloome addition to this field, where a concise treatment of oreanic the index. On the inside covers are schematic diagrams relating, respectively, to various classes of aliphatic compounds and ol aromatic compounds. At the beginning of many chapters are a few well-chosen, enlarged, boldly-printed, typical class compounds. A very few mechanisms of reactions are given, which will be satisfying t o most teachers of these short organic courses. Although highly restricted, the student must appreciate the meaning of a reaction mechanism. The tables are clear and concise. Study questions and exercises are excellent and neither too burdensome nor trivid. Aliphatic and aromatic compounds are developed together, which has many advantages over a separate treatment. The photographs are well done, especially those of personalities of historic interest. There are
Part 2 of "Organic Syntheses with Isotopes" contains chapters 15 through 20, which are devoted to syntheses of compounds of the isotopic halogens, isotopic hydrogen, nitrogen-15, oxygen-18, phospharaus-32 and sulfur35. Each chapter is further subdivided into classes of compounds appropriate to the isotopic element. Chemicd equations summarizing the synthesis precede each description of procedure. The index far both volumes is included a t the end of Part 2. The present volume is in the same form, style, and clarity its Part 1. As with the first volume, there is little to criticize and much to praise. Murray and Williams appear to bave given us a truly exhaustive survey of the field of isotopic syntheses; in fact, so exhaustive, and so com$ets, that it is difficult to see how it could have been accomplished in the present decade. In addition to such data as the results of infrared and mass-spectrographic analyses, whioh relate to the purity or to the isotopic content of the compounds prepared, the notes following each procedure often contain information of meohanistic importance, or information relating to degradative techniques by which positions of the labels were determined. Further, the book contains tables summarizing vast amounts of data. Table XV ( I ) , for example, is eleven pages in length and
