book reviews German edition (s. 167) of "Mittlere Xnderung der Atom-und Ianenradien mit der Koordinationsmhlhl"comes out (p. 170) "Average alteration of atomic and ionic radii. . . !' There are a number of lapses, e.g., the number of known crystalline modifications of sulfur is at least six, not five (p. 136); helium crystallizes in three different structures not just hexagonal close packed (p. 133); similarly, the polymorphism of bath oxygen and nitrogen (pp. 134-5) is not mentioned. These are minor annoyances, however, and detract little from the value of the book, which is highly recommended to inorganic chemists.
JERRY DONOHUE University of Pennsyhania Philadelphia
Catalytic Conversion of Hydrocarbons
I t is a little unfortunate that in an otherwise very well organized and written book some awkward usages were not edited out. For example, the author's insistence on hyphenating the word coordinate gives rise to the strange-looking words trico-ordinated and pentaco-ordinated, and the author has uniformly used the spelling Bronstedt for Brbnsted, a curious simplifica.tion of typesetting in a book which is already a. challenge to the typesetter. Surprisingly, there appear to be very few sctnal typographical errors. This brief book will inevitably irritate the expert because of t,he sketchy treatment of important subjects. I n a foreword Professor Pines states that the hook "will certainly serve as a. much needed textbook far the advanced students and as a reference book for those interested in the field of catalysis." The book is not suitable as a text, even for advanced students, without considerable supplementary reading. But ss an outline and as a source of references Professor Germain's bogk will be invaluable to those who are interested in getting a broad understanding of the field and to those who can make use of extensive references to the important literature on specific topics.
J. E. Gemain, University of Lyon, France. Academic Press, Inc., New 322 pp. Figs. and York, 1969. xi tables. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. 512.
JOHN E. BENSON Diekinson College Cadisle, Pennsylvania
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After examining Professor Germain's book quickly, one is tempted to call i t a bird's-eye view of hydmcmhon catalysis. But d t e r closer examinstion i t might more properly be called s n astronaut's view: the main features of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis of hydrocarbons are described with remarkable conciseness. After two introductory chapters the author succeeds in reviewing hydrocarbon catdysis in a little over 200 pages. Such a brief treatment of a complex subject is to be commended. The main features are touched upon, the documentation is quite complete with over 900 references to the literature through early 1968, and very little of general interest has been omitted. It should be emphasized that this book does not deal primarily with the properties of catalysts hut more with reaction patterns, selectivities and yields for a variety of catalyzed organic reactions. One will look in vain for any lengthy discussions of such important topics in catalysis as specific catalytic activity, metal dispersion and the nature of active centers. As a n example, the very important subject of bifunctional catalysis is introduced in two pages with two references to the vast literature and then more extensively discussed when specific examples of hydrocarbon reforming are treated. The author has defined his purpose in the preface, where he states that "It is t,he aim of this book to help both the classical organic chemist unfamiliar with catalysis and the catalytic worker unfamiliar with organic chemistly, and to bridge the gap between the chemical and physical approaches to catalysis." Because of his organization and emphasis the book will probably be mare useful to the catalytic worker than to the orennir chemist.
A64
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Journal of Chemical Educofion
Atlas of Mass Spectral Data.
3 Vol.
Edited by E. Stenhagen and S . Abrahamsson, University of Gateborg, Sweden, and F . W. McLafferly, Cornell University, Itheca, New York. Interscience Publishers (division of John Wiley 81 Sons, Inc.), New York, 1969. Vol. 1, xiv 759 88 pp.; Vol. 2, 88 pp.; Vol. 3, xiv 758 xiv 747pp. 88pp. Tables. 22 X 28.5 om. 5150 the set.
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Here is s. massive compilation (over 6600 compoonds) of low resolution mass spect,ral data. All are data produced by electron-bombardment ionization. Compounds are ordered by elemental composition. A separate register, included in each volume, makes searching efficient. Relative abundance values far each mass/ charge ratio are given. I n addition a total of relstive abundance values, most abundant peak^, inlet system temperature, and ionizing electron voltage are given. Also the contributor (one of 39 sources) is identified. Molecular weights are calculated on the basis of exact n w clidio masses of the mast abundant isotopes. The major part of the "Atlas" represents data from Dow and API. The tables are print-outs of the camputerbased storage and retrieval system a t the University of Gateborg. The importance and utility of this unique "Atlas" are obvious for anyone using mass spectrometry as an analytical tool. WFK
