474
JOURNAL O f CHEMICAL EDUCATION
diagrams for the chemicd and electrochemical equilibria between an element, water, and all the ions, oxides, hydrouides, etc., which can be formed hy interaction of the element with aqueous solutions, first appeared in various Belgian and French technical journals before the last war. Presentation of a complete treatment of the subject was unavoidably delayed. In 1946 and later years Pourbaix's methods met with a very favorable reception in various countries, particularly in Great Britain where U. R. Evans and his collaborators in the field of corrosion research quickly saw the possibilities of these potential-pH diagrams as guides to research and as a means of coordinating multitudes of facts. U. R. Evans has written an enthusiastic foreword to this English translation. He has also.called attention to the importance of Pourbaix's work in his recent "Introduction to Metallic Corrosion." The main title of the book, "Thermodynamics of Dilute Aqueous Solutions" may be somewhat misleading because only those aspects of the theory of solutions are presented which are needed for what the main purposes of the hook really are. These purposes can well be cheracterieed by joining the subtitles of the French and English editions which are, respectively, "Graphic Representation of the Role of the pH and of that of Potential" and "With Applications to Electrochemistry and Corrosion." The book consists of six chapters, four of which are systematically divided and subdivided with the result that a great deal of information is presented in a clear and concise manner. In the fist three chapters the essentials of the theories of pH, homogeneous, heterogeneous, and electrochemical equilibria are summarised. In Chapters IV and V we find general remarks concerning the complete potential-pH diagrams. Chapter V particularly will no doubt be of great interest to electroehemists and students of corrosion who will find here a number of guiding principles greatly needed in their fields. The few pages of section B 4 of this chapter are, besides the diagrams themselves, the most useful contribution of this hook. Chapter VI constitutes more than half of the book and contains the detailed construction and discussion of the potential-pH diagrams for the systems eopper-water, iron-water, ohromium-water, and nitrogen-water. The many possible usrs of these diagrams, not only in electrochemistry and corrosion, but also in analytical and general chemistry, are made quite evident. Also these diagrams show where investigations concerning irreversibility, overvoltage, polarization curves, ete., are needed. The grsphiphic representation of domains of ~assivitv " (or . immunitv.",the terin selected bv the translator). oassivation. and oorrosion constitutes a strikine sum--~mary of the behavior a metal in the various conditions of pH and potential to which it is exposed. Pourbaix's book contains only samples of such diagrams and a collection including all common elements appears highly desirable. In the appendix will be found a table of standard chemiod potentials, a useful discussion of the construction of several types of curves appearing in the diagrams, a table of symbols. A list of references and an index close the volume. The price of the hook seems too high and will no doubt be an obstacle to the wide circulation it deserves. ~
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PIERRE VAN RYSSELBERGHE
U m v m a r ~ rOP OBEBON EOBENE.OREGON
AUTHOR'S GUIDE John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1950. xi f 80 pp. 15.5 X 24 cm. $2. Tms little hook previously published under the title, "The Manuscript-A Guide," was written to serve two purposes: "to guide the author in the efficient preparation of 6is material, and to inform him of the publishing procedure from the time he submits his manuscript until the printed book [is] in hand!' In both these respects the hook succeeds admirably. All phases of editing are painstakingly illustrated with frequent
hints to the author concerning what things are to be specially checked and what can be overlooked. The publishing process is well outlined. The hook serves as a quick reference handbook, for inside the front and back covers are lists of "do's" and "don't's" which cover the items in editing which occur most nftpn ... -...
Any nurhor not well vrrsrd in the printing routine ~ o u l dfind this little volume well worth his time awl cprtninly any puhlisher mould be hnppy if all its tiutLon followel the prtm~lureoutlined. DANA JOHNSON
0
CHEMICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THYROIDOLOGY
William T. Salter, Professor of Pharmacology, Yale University, School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, 1950. v 87 pp. 6 figs. 14.5 X 22.5 cm. $2.
+
TRIS little volnme is a monograph in American Lectures in Endocrinology, Publication No. 26 of the American Lecture Series. It includes a discussion of: Synthesis of the Thyroid Hormone, The Blocking of Thyroid Activity, Circulating Thyroid Hormone, Application of Radio-Iodine, as well ss a bibliography of related work.
THE NATURE OF THE BACTERIAL SURFACE Edited by A. A. Miles a n d N. W. Pirie. Springfield, Illinois, 1949. vii 179 pp. 22.5 Ern. $3.
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Charles C Thomas, 12 plates. 14.5 X
Tms hook is a series of articles originally presented as a Symposium of the Society of General Microbiology, at the April, 1949, meeting. A listing of the titles gives a good indication of the material covered: The Surface Structure of Shigella shigoe as Revealed by Antigenic Analysis, by W. T. J. Morgan; The Nature of the Surface of Gram-Positive Bacteria, by M. Stacey; The Osmotic Barrier in Bacteria, by P. Mitchell; On the Mechanism of Adsorption of Bscterioph~gesan Host Cells, by T. F. Anderson; The Status of Some Arguments about the Bacterial Surface, by A. A. Miles; The Nature of Bacterial Surfaces, by E. T. C. Spooner; Capsule Formation in the Pneumoooccus, by Harriett Taylor; Bacterial Surface, Fhgella and Motility, by A. Pijper.
THE AROMATIC DIAZO-COMPOUNDS AND TECHNICAL APPLICATIONS
THEIR
K. H. Sounders, Chemist, Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. Edward Arnold and Company, London, 1949. xi 46 tables. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $10.
+ 442 pp.
TEE second edition has been expanded and rather thoroughly revised. This useful book will receive a cordial welcome. The Chapters me as follows: I, The Formation of DiaaoCompounds; 11, The Stability of Diazo-Compounds in the Solid State and in Solution; 111,IV, V, VI, VII, m d VIII, Reactions of the Diazo-Compounds; IX, The Analytical Determination of Diaeo-Compounds; X, The Action of Light on Diazo-Compounds; and XI, Theories of the Constitution of the DiazoCompounds. In addition, there is an author index, a subject index, and an index of British, United States, and German P a t ents. HENRY OILMAN
IOWA STATEC O L L E O ~ Anrra, IOWA
