conversion factors, useful equations, and molecular weights; tables of selected values of propert ies; specific references for tables of properties; and a general list of references.
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Principles of Chemistry. Joel H. Hildebrand. Fifth edition, χ -f- 446 pages. Macmillan Co., 6 0 Fifth Avo., N e w York, Ν . Υ., 1947. $4.25. T H E fifth edition of Hildebrand's wellknown book follows t h e pattern set in pre vious editions but has undergone a n ex pansion of approximately 100 pages over the 1940 revision. Three new chapters have been added, one dealing with car bonic acid and its ions, a second with sys tems of acids and bases, and a third with structures of inorganic compounds. Nearly all of the other chapters show evidence of revision and expansion; sections having been added, for example, on heat capacity of gases, solubility product, polymers, sili cones, transuranium elements, and elec trode designations. T h e chapter on types of equilibria is particularly well done and now contains a discussion of buffers, a sub ject which had been ignored i n previous editions. The exercises at the end of the chapters have likewise been expanded. The author points o u t in his preface that he i s continuing the practice of presenting the more difficult optional material i n dif ferent kinds of type than is used i n t h e main text. However, the difference i n size of +vpe in thé new edition is so small as t o bo almost imperceptible. T h e previous edition was much more satisfactory i n this respect. The cuts i n the new edition are also less satisfactory with regard to clarity of detail. T h e tables have been reset in more readable form. "Principles of Chemistry" is devoted entirely to t h e purely theoretical aspects of chemistry. Descriptive chemistry has been kept at a bare minimum. Y e t the book, like its predecessors, has been ostensibly written for college freshmen. One is led to question its suitability for students other than those who have already had a good background of high school chemistry and mathematics. I t would appear to be well suited t o a course given solely for chemistry majors and chemical engineers, particularly if supplemented with such a book a s Latimer and Hildebrand's "Reference Book of Inorganic Chemistry." AARON J . I H D E
The Scientists Speak. Warren Weaver, editor, xiii 4- 369 pages. B o n i & Gaer, Inc., 133 West 44th S t . , New York, Ν. Υ . , 1947. $3.75. S E V E N T Y - N I N E science essays, originally prepared for a n intermission feature in the N e w York Philharmonic Symphony pro gram sponsored b y U. S. Rubber, are the
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substance of this book. Their caliber is top-flight, for they were prepared by leading scientists in the fields covered. In approach, the essays are essentially de scriptive, for the audience for which they were prepared w a s the intelligent layman However, there is no shortage of quantita tive information when i t serves a func tionally useful purpose in highlighting a point. Several triumphs of applied tech nology are covered, but most of the series is devoted to status of, and advances in, the fundamental sciences. About 20 from the chemical profession are represented among the authors, quite a respectable showing when the compre hensive scope of the book is considered. Subjects of a specific chemical nature that are discussed include the role of chemical research in our future, biochemistry, pro tein chemistry, virus chemistry, nutrition chemistry, streptomycin, D D T , 100octane gasoline, isotopes and atomic re search, and structural chemistry. The role and achievements of the chemist are frequently mentioned in numerous other articles n o t specifically built around a chemical theme. The articles are necessarily brief and elementary in their description of tech nology, b u t a supplemental bibliography is included for those wanting more detailed information. I n the book itself the chem ist or chemical engineer will find no scien tific baby talk to distract him. On the contrary, reading it engenders an appre ciation for the far-reaching advances being made in fields other than our own spe cialty and a renewed respect for the con tributions science is making in advancing man's mastery over nature. D . O. M Y A T T Selected Values of Properties of Hydro carbons. Circular of the National Bureau of Standards C461. xiii -f- 4 8 3 pages. IT. 8. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D . C , 1947. $2.75. ΜΓREPARBD as part of the work of the American Petroleum Institute Research Project 44 by F . D . Rossini, K. S. Pitzer, W. J. Taylor, Joan P. Ebert, J. E . Kilpatrick, C. W. Becket, Mary G. Williams, and Helcnc G. Werner, this volume is a complete collection of all the numerical tables issued b y the project as of May 31, 1947. A second volume will be pub lished a t the end of the second five-year period. Divisions are an introduction giving. sources of data, methods of cal culation, uncertainties, and other explana tions; tables of fundamental constants,
CHEMICAL
Rubber Red Book. Directory of the Rub ber Industry. 1947. Sixth edition. 835 pages. The Rubber Age, 250 West 57th St., New York 19, NT. Y., 1947. $5.00.
Library
Foundation
Chemical journals published in 14 different countries will be subscribed to by the John Crerar Library with funds pro vided b y the Chicago Chemical Library Foundation. The gift represents the initial donation to Crerar by the founda tion, which intends t o spend up to $100,000 over a 10-ycar period t o help build up Crerar's collection of chemical literature. The foundation was started last year as a joint project of the Chicago Section of the AMERICAN
CHEMICAL SOCIETY
and
the
Chicago Chemists' Club. Funds are being raised by contributions from Chicago area companies employing technical per sonnel. Officers of the foundation for 1948 are: chairman, D . L . Tabern; vice chairman, J. J. McLaughlin; secretary, Lloyd Cooke; treasurer, Edward Lang; trustee, H . I. Schlessinger; chairman, library committee, M. M. Piskur; and chairman, finance committee, Lynn Wilson.
New Books Recent publications include: Corrosion Handbook. H. H. Uhlig, editor. Electrochemical Society, Inc. sponsor. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York 16, Ν. Y. $12. Cyanogen Compounds. Their Chemistry, Detection, and Estimation. H. E. Williams. Second edition. Long mans, Green and Co., Inc., N e w York, Ν. Υ . $10.50. Detoxication Mechanisms. The M e t a b o lism of Drugs and Allied Organic Com pounds. R. T. Williams. American edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York 16, Ν . Υ. $5.50. Newer Methods of Preparative Organic Chemistry. First American edition, translated and revised from German. Interscience Publishers, Inc., N e w York 3, Ν . Υ . $8.50. Organic Chemistry. R. Q. Brewster. Prentice-Hall, Inc., N e w York 1 1 , Ν. Υ . $7.35. Proceedings. Vol. XXVI. Chemical Engi neering Group, Westminster, London, S. W . 1, England. 21s. Properties of Engineering Materials. Glenn Murphy. Second edition. I n ternational Texts in Civil Engineering. C. E. O' Rourke, consulting editor. I n ternational Textbook Co., Scranton 9, Pa. $4.50. Stress .Analysis a n d Design of Elementary Structures. J. H. Cissel. Second edi tion. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., N e w York 16, Ν . Υ . $5.00.
AND
ENGINEERING
NEWS
