VOLUME 33, NO. 8, AUGUST, 1956
419
find nothing on the chemistry of androgens which has not been covered elsewhere in greater detail and the brief chapter (number 4) dealing with this subject is primarily addressed to nanchemists. There is no particular disadvantage to such an arrangement &nee the chemistry of steroide is covered adequately in books such as Fieser and Fieser's "Natural Products Related to Phenanthrene!' Neverthelens, it is curious that aaa an example of the partial synthesis of testosterone from cholesterol, the original method is given rather than one of the more modern ones. To the steroid ohemist, such as this reviewer, Chapters 7 (metabohm of the androgens) and 8 (relative activities of the androgens) appeared particularly appropriate, while Chapter 18 (androgen therapy) will probably interest all readers of the hook. Chapter 20 (the excretion of androgens and 17-ketosteroids in various clinical conditions) together with appendices B-D contain an enormous amount of very useful material for the practicing clinical endocrinologist and biochemist who is concerned with methods for the isolation and characterieation of androgen metabolites. their way to make matters easy for the nonchemist and complete s t ~ c t u r formulas d are reproduced even when only minor changes are involved (e. g., free alcohol in one caae, acetate in the other). Nevertheless, this is one section where the reviewer has noticed a fair number of minor mistakes which probably should have been corrected. For instance, mistakes in the formulas of testosterone (page 454), LII, and CXCVI were noted; equilin is misapelled throughout the book; structural formulas (with different numhers) are given twice for androstan-17-one (pages 474 and 515) and for 11-hydroxy progesterone (pages 508 and 518); pentavalent nitrogen (LXXXIII) is used in places; and there are several minor mistakes in nomenclature (e. g., XXV versus XXIX). These, of course, m e very minor erit&isms which undoubtedly will he taken care of in s future edition. It is doubtful whether this compendium will he used extensively as a textbook, but as auxiliary reading and as an authoritative reference work it will prove invaluable. CARL DJERASSI WAYNEUNIVBBBDE~OIT MICRIOAN ,
0
THE METALLURGY OF ZIRCONIUM
Edited by Benjamin Lustman, Westinshouse Eledric Corporation, Atomic Power Division, Pittsburgh, and Frank Kerze, Jr, Reactor Development Division, Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, D. C. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Ino., New York, figs. Tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. 1955. ~ v i i if 776 PP. $10. Mucn of the material in this important treatise on eirconium came from reeentlv declassified U. 8. AEC literature. The
titanium, zirconium is nearly as dense as iron and, therefore, does not present the weightsaving promise of the former. It is now known t h d zirconium has, on the other hand, a low capture cross-section for thermal neutrons. Because of this f x t , it has been subjected to an extraordinary development since 1943, when a little was sold for $630 a pound far certain electronic uses. Before it could be used in nuclear reactors, methods had to be developed to separate it from ever-present hafnium. Contrariwise, the high capture cross-section of the latter has made hafnium interesting for possible application in control rods of nuclear reactors. Briefly, the rapid adoption of zirconium to serve as cladding of the fuel elements of the submarine reactor resulted from the discovery of its inherently low cross;section, the develooment of the Kroll Dracess for its commercial nroduc-
method of induction melting of metals without a. crucible, using levitation or float melting, illustrates the extremes to which workers were driven to bring the Navy's crash program on zirconium to fruition. Starting with a. Ishoratory curiosity in 1943, by June, 1953, the STR Mark I alconium-clad core had been completed and reactor had gone critical. The price of hafnium-free zirconium had dropped to $37 (1953) and massproduced cruder metd was down to less than $15 a pound. Now that it is commercially available, zirconium is receiving industrial recognition and promises to he an increasingly valuable ~ t ~ ~ t u r a l material. It is more olentiful than comer and manv of the to exhibit continuous growth. This hook of 776 pages is the result of the collaboration of 53 contributing authors, each a specialist in the particular topic assigned to him. The editorial work has been very skilfully done to blend their effortsinto a smooth-reading, well-intemated whole. The details are documented hv reGrences to- 1138 individual books, technical articles, or, mare usually, previously classified research reports. Much of the information is made publicly available in this volume for the first time. Not only will it be of great value to metallurgists in plants who now have to learn how to handle a strange new element, but also to inorganic chemists and chemical engineers, because another one of the "less familiar elements" of the period before the war has become commonplace. LAURENCE S. FOSTER
BELIIONF. MA88Ao~uehm~s
0
CHEMICAL PILOT PLANT PRACTICE
Donald G. Jordan, American Cyanamid Company. Interscience 152 pp. 1 7 figs. 3 Publishers, Inc., New York, 1955. viii tables. 14.5 X 22.5 om. $3.50.
+
Tmn 147-oaee hook should he read hv everv chemical - -- - -. " vounn " engineer and by every practicing engineer engaged in developmental work. Donald Jordan has presented in a readable manner the philosophy, the principles, and the techniques of pilot. plant experimentation. Each young chemical engineer who enters development work must learn the teebnirrues from more experienced men. After a few years, he gadual$ becomes aware of a central core of principles m d techniques which are common to all pilot-plant prohlem, ~h~ has done much to this painful period of learning by assembling, for the first time, the methods ofpiloeplantpractiee. In the first chapter the general considerations in the design and operations of a. pilot plant are discussed. The second chapter deals effectively - 6 t h the problems of scaling up pilot-plant data to large plant equipment. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 include a discussion of pilot-plant equipment and give suggestions on its operation and selection. The problems of cost estimating and report writing are discussed in the find chapter. The hook is filled with many helpful hints and rules of thumh in addition to proved theory. Rules of thumh are invaluable when used with an understanding of their limitations. The author fails in some cases to emphasize these limitations. The drawings me of good quality and aid comprehension of the text. The phatogrttpbs of sections of pilot plants are more confusing than helpful, however, since pilot plants are never noted for neatness of arrangement. L'Chemical Pilot Plant Practice" should make an excellent text for chemical engineering laboratory students and should also prove a. popular hook vith all practicing chemicd engineers. The author writes with the authority of a man who has pent many hours in pilot-plant work and he should be commended for an excellent job. &
~
~
~
-
~
~
~~~~
~U
HOWARD F. RASE
