BOOKS
Majority of Schools Teach Chem Literature A survey of 330 schools that teach chemistry and chemical engineering shows that more than 96% of them are teaching the use of the chemical literature. The survey was made by the joint committee of the ACS Divisions of Chemical Literature and Chemical Education. The committee sent questionnaires to 600 educational institutions, including all the significant graduate schools of chemistry and chemical engineering. It received 330 replies. About 40% of the 330 schools teach chemical literature in formal courses, the survey shows. The other 56% that teach the subject do so by such means as course projects, assigned reading, reports, term papers, and the like. Survey results suggest that both formal and informal means are effective in introducing the student to the literature. Former students who had had a formal course have told one survey respondent that such a course was one of the most valuable aspects of their training. On the other hand, one instructor feels that students can be more effectively introduced to chemical literature in connection with other courses. In this way, he believes, they can see the real need for its use. Among institutions surveyed who grant the Ph.D., 5 3 % use formal courses, 40.5% instruct without a formal course, and 6.3% consider instruction unnecessary. Among those that do not grant the Ph.D., 36.6% use the formal course, 60.6% use informal methods, and 2.8% believe instruction is unnecessary. In informal courses, the major emphasis is on periodicals in general and Chemical Abstracts in particular. However, both formal and informal courses appear to cover material that varies widely in nature and value. Least attention is paid to government bulletins.
Food Chemistry Text Although the author designed this volume on food chemistry as a text for undergraduate students in home economics, food technology, and chemistry, she has turned out a useful reference book for research workers in these 118
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fields as well. The plan she has followed is to present the chemical composition of foods and then follow the changes which occur in them when they are subjected to processing of various kinds. Lillian Meyer has introduced considerable information from other fields of science, including biology, physics, mycology, and engineering, where this leads to better understanding of the chemical changes involved. The breadth of the topics considered has, of necessity, caused considerable inequality in the treatment in depth. Excellent bibliographies appended to each chapter enable the student to find readily more detailed treatment of particular subjects. Very ample discussions of lipides, carbohydrates, and proteins in food are followed by one dealing with flavor and aroma in food, with particular attention to recent developments in flavor research. Pigments in fruits and vegetables receive rather more space than seems warranted in a book of this length, accounting for about 10% of the total pages. Nonenzymatic browning in dried fruits is adequately discussed but this important deteriorative change in dehydrated vegetables is ignored. Meat, dairy, and cereal products are covered reasonably well in fairly short chapters, while vegetables and fruits are considered at length. Many excellent tables are found throughout the text, thus making it a good source of information otherwise scattered over many publications. The extensive use of structural formulas presupposes a good background in organic chemistry. Despite several typographical errors, such as in the formation of glucosazone, page 101, these formulas serve a useful purpose in understanding the pathways of the chemical reactions discussed. Microphotographs are employed quite freely to exemplify cellular and tissue structures and point out changes occurring in processing. The orientation of this volume is toward teaching of home economics, with consequent emphasis on chemical changes in fresh foods which occur during storage, boiling, baking, roasting, and the like. Effects produced by canning, freezing, or dehydration of foods are not treated, except for some reference to dehydrated potatoes. Hence, chemists in the food processing
industry should not expect sophisticated treatment of many of their problems, as they endeavor to preserve foods in their pristine form as to color, flavor, and texture. A discussion of the Food Additives Amendment of 1958 to the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, which composes the final chapter, is most timely. It is followed by an appendix listing those additives generally recognized as safe, as well as those which may be used within specified tolerances. Format and printing of the book are good and its reasonable price should favor wide adoption as a text in many colleges. Dr. Meyer has carried through a valuable project in a useful fashion. Food Chemistry.
LILLIAN H. MEYER.
xiv + 385 pages. Reinhold Publishing Corp., College Textbook Department, 430 Park Ave., New York 22, N.Y. 1960. College ed. $6.75. Trade ed. $8.10. Reviewed by John H. Nair, Summit, N.J.
BRIEF Radiological Units and Measurements is the subject of a report of the International Commission (ICRU) set up to develop basic principles of units, standards, and measurements needed in radiation dosimetry, and to develop specifications of radiation treatment. The new publication, Handbook 78, supersedes National Bureau of Standards Handbook 62 and may be ordered from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D.C., for 65 cents.
NEW BOOKS Bibliography of Rubber Literature for 1955-56. 573 pages. Division of Rubber Chemistry, ACS. Treasurer: D. F. Behney, Harwick Standard Chemical Co., 60 South Seiberling St., Akron 5, Ohio. 1960. $7.50. Provides rubber scientist with references to all literature on chemistry, engineering, and economics of rubber. Arranged by subjects. The Chemistry and Technology of Edible Oils and Fats. J. DEVINE, P. N. WIL-
LIAMS, editors, xiii -f- 154 pages. Pergamon Press, Inc., 122 East 55th St., New York 22, N.Y. 1961. S6.50. Proceedings of a conference sponsored by Unilever, Ltd., March 1959.
Computing Methods and the Phase Problem in X-Ray Crystal Analysis. RAY PEPINSKY,
J.
M.
ROBERTSON,
J.
C.
SPEAKMAN, editors, viii + 326 pages. Pergamon Press Inc., 122 East 55th St., New York 22, N.Y. 1961. $9.00. Report of a conference in Glasgow, Scotland, August 1960. Crystallization.
J. W .
MULLIN.
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The Electrical Double Layer Around a Spherical Colloid Particle. A. L. LOEB, J. T H . G. OVERBEEK, P. H. W I E R S E M A .
375 pages. T h e M I T Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1961. $10. Theory, experimental methods, calculations, and data. The Electron Microscope. M. E . HAINE. xvi -f- 282 pages. Interscience Publishers, Inc., 250 Fifth Ave., New York 1, N.Y. 1961. $9.25. Exposition of basic physical factors affecting design and performance. Engineering 2nd. ed. CLIFFORD
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RANDOLPH P. H . SPRINGER.
HOELSCHER, 583 pages.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 440 Park Ave. South, N e w York 16, N.Y. 1961. $8.95. Provides clear, well illustrated text emphasizing principles rather than manual skills.
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Paperbound Bibliographic Survey of Corrosion 1956. Publication No. 60-12. 240 pages. National Association of Corrosion Engineers, 1061 M&M Bldg., Houston 2, Tex. 1960. Members, $22.50; nonmembers, $27.50.
GA8 A N A L Y S E INSTRUMENTS SINCE 1935
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The Chemical Industry in Europe 19591960. Trends in Economic Sectors, 7th Year. A study prepared by the Chemical Products Committee. 221 pages. O.E.E.C. Mission Publications Office, Suite 1223, 1346 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Washington 6, D.C. 1961. $3.00. Directory of Continuing Numerical Data Projects. A Survey and Analysis by the Office of Critical Tables, 1961. Publication No. 837. xiii + 66 pages. National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Washington 25, D.C. 1961. $1.00. Gmelins Handbuch cler Anorganischen Chemie. 8 Auflage. Mercury, Section 1. System 34. xvii + 466 pages. Dimitri R. Stein, 193 Mulberry Lane, Larchmont, N.Y. 1960. $67.50. Gmelins Handbuch der Anorganischen Chemie. 8 Auflage. Lithium. Supplement Volume. System No. 20. xxxviii -f 525 pages. Dimitri R. Stein, 193 Mulberry Lane, Larchmont, N.Y. 1960. $77.50. Gmelins Handbuch der Anorganischen Chemie. 8 Auflage. Sulfur. Part B, Section 2. System No. 9. xxxviii -}758 pages. Dimitri R. Stein, 193 Mulberry Lane, Larchmont, N.Y. 1960. $111.
The Sulfur contained in the ore we process yields Virgin Sulfuric Acid of highest quality—We produce all grades and strengths of Sulfuric Acid from 60° Baume through the various Oleums.
Guide to U.S. Government Statistics. 3rd
Call JAckson 3-5024, Atlanta, Ga., or write:
rev. ed.
JOHN L. ANDRIOT.
402 pages.
Documents Index, Box 453, Arlington 10, Va. 1961. $15. MAY
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