.
eongrnfulafed filrttie'verjsueeessful manner in which he has written this first volume. The book contains. first of all. a c h a 3 e r on genera1 conideration., which inelude the theory of solution. This chapter could hardly be improved upon m t h the possible exception of more material regarding the use of the polarity factor in predicating solubilities as outlined bv Joel H. Hildebrand. T h i s chapter ia followed by a chapter covering the use of different types of organic ~olvents,svch ru alcohol, ethers, ncidn, esters ketones, and hydrocarbons. There are two final chapters: one on special mean. of indudng crystallization, and another on "salting out." The chapter on crystallization ir especially good and is undoubtedly the best summary of methods written in English. I" order t o get an idea of the magnitude of this work, it should be noted that there are over 900 references. ~ a c hreference has been gone over by the author and he has made an excellent abstract of each, the summation of which comprises the body of the bwk. 1t will beimpossible to give in ashort space the many different references which seemed d special interest. It should be stated, however, that the reviewer found many references that will be of particular value t o him in his own line of work. The book is not written from a critical standpoint. and though it is realized that a critical review would be almmt impossible, nevertheless the "due of mch a review ~ o u l dbe enormous. The author, furthermore, has confined himself to an academic viewpoint and hru not attempted t o f a l l o ~up the use of solvents in industrial synthetic operations. Thia is perhaps not nccesraw, but it- would, however, in the reviewer's opinion, add t o the value of the treatise a. a tertbook. one amusing instance where the writer failed to appreciate the significance of industrial pmeesres was noted in his chapter on the preparation of absolute ethyl alcohol. There is probably no modern develoIIrnent in solvent manufafture that ha. meant more than the manufaeture on an indurtrial scale of absolute ethyl alcohol. The author gives twenty-five pages of subject-matter on the laboratory preparation of absolute alcohol while he allows only four lines to the ohly successful process for the manufacture of this solvent. Furtheimore, he gives credit for the invention of this process t o an English patent attorney who was acting for one of the American inventors. The reviewer wa. especially interested in the apparent lack of use of anhrdrous esters as solvent.; for example, anhydrous ethyl acetate. Thirie probably due t o t h c fact that an anhydrous ethyl acetate practically free from alcohol has been a commercial product for only a few years. I t would seem to the reviewer that research on the d t h i n new d~lvenfmight lead t o interestins result% i
. . . . . : .. ,.
.:.
.
. .a.
Bvndamental Concept$ bf Physits. PAUL R. H B ~ .The Williams & Wilkins CC.,Baltimore, 1926. xii 112 . DO. . 12.5 X 18.5 ems.
+
82.00. I n three lectures the author di%cusses the changes in the scientific conceptions of physical phenomena, presenting clearly and lucidly the fundamental factors that led t o the reviseq concepts for each century from the eighteenth t o the present. In the scientific world of the eighteenth cmtury there were three predominant characteristics. (I) an interpretation ~i physical and chemical phenomena, (2) ah in! consistent tendency to resort t o supernatural explanations, (3) a failure t o lay emphmio on quantitative data. Science war a study of matt& only; matter as a hard, heavy,ultimaterubrtance. Gravitational, mechanical, electrical, and mag: netic farces were known, but were regarded ss properties of matter. The "imponderables" were introduced, resulting in such theories & the caloric, the. eorpuneular, the electric Euids. the magnetic h i d . The exception t o this materialism war the "vital force." which suppaeedly resided in all organic matter aod eontrolled all organic renetians. The nineteenth century was one of cornlatiod. The isolated and distinct concepts of matter, heat, light, electridty, magnetism, and the various forces, handed down from the previous century were correlated-all except that o! gravitation-into two, the concept of matter, mafeiralisfie, and of energy. immaterial, yet always associated with mstter. This l a t t q association necessitated the pmtulhtion of a new "imponderable:' the ether of space, t o explain the apparent existence of tight energy in space empty of matter a. usually conceived. The law of the conservation of energy wa. advanced, c o m ~ l e m e n t a vto that of the eonswation of matter. The twentieth century ha. furnished a correlation between electricity and matte-matter is merely an electrical phenomcnm, and the doctrine'of the i n v t i a of energy-matter and energy are not independent entities, but are as: pects of inertia; matter, static; energy, kinetic; The assumption of the quantum concept that energy is di.cootinuous in its nature seems justi: fied by its various successful applications. The reiativity theory unites the concepts of gravitation and inertia, hitherto the definihg pro~ertie9 of matter, by advancing the concept of curved ~ p i e e . "Matter is a s t a f l e e u r v a t w e i n ~ ~.:~ ~ ~ ~ if the static becomes kinefie, matter 'becomes radiant energy." The book is very readable, e-ly undbrtood, written in a semi-popular style. It Y well worth teading for everyone interested in science, espccially for the di3eussIons of thc "disripAtion of energy:' the quantum theory, and ielativity in general. , . .. C. .G. E l c a ~ a
.
