BOOK REVIEWS references induded in the work. Yet despitp B publication date of 1963, with some exception, most of the searching r,f the literature annears t o have been done
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Illustrations are employed frequently throughout the volume, as well as numwaus tables. Ten pages of indexes are included, but in general the indexes are not especially thorough, although metal systems are well indexed. This is helpful in locating various phase diagmms. The organization of the material on the elements and their compounds is well done, and this makes the volume an excellent reference source. Generally high standards have been maintained throughout publication of the treatise t o date, and this volume indicates that they are being maintained. ROGERV. KRUMM University of Florida Gaine.scille
The Chemistry of the Lanthanides
Thmald Moelle~,University of Illinois, Urbana. Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York, 1963. ix 117 pp. Figs. and tablea. 12.5 X 19 cm. Paperbound. $1.95.
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The editors of the paperback series, Selected Topics in Modern Chemistry, have recognized in the lanthanides an excellent tnpic for one of their little books intended as supplements t o m y standard text in first-year chemist,ry and medo a wise choice in selecting Professor Moeller to write the book, sinre he is a lucid writer and an expert on this topic. The book is very well planned. The first two chapters cover the subject quite adequately for the reader who is seeking only general iniormation. The third and fourth chapters discuss chemical and technological matters in some detail, and the final chapter briefly presents the actinides as another series of closely related elements whose chemistry has rendered that of the lanthanides no longer completely unique. Professor Mocller approaches his suhjeet with a historical account that begins with the discovery oi a n unusual black mineral specimen a t a quarry a t Ytterhy by Swedish Army Lieutenant C. A. Arrhenius in 1787. The unraveling of t h e eomploxity oi the "earths" named yltria and aria is an object lesson in the rewards of infinite patienee. The historical account is concluded with a. section on the elusive element 61, which was finally identified in materials obtained a t Oak Ridge from the fission of uranium by Marinsky, Glendenin, and Coryell in 1947. In the serond chapter the essential oniqueness of the chemistry of the lant,lranides is related t o the uniqueness of their atomic structure. Here the reader (Continued on page A832)
A830 / lournol of Chemical Education
BOOK REVIEWS learns t o identify the lnnthanidcs as the -If dements. Keverth~less,ytt,rium and lanthanum because of their chemical pmprrtips are het,ter discussed with the lanthanides than with any other elements. Scandium is markedly different; even though i t was first isolated from yttria, its primary mode of occurrence is not with thc lanthanides. d l amounts for the oxidation states of the lanthanides in terms of rlectronir ronfiguration, insoiar as this is possihl~. Tlw reader is candidly told, and shown, that direct eorrclatiun between the two is the exception rather than thc rule. The pomrful reducing action of the d e mental lanthanides is correlated with their large atomic sire, as are the pronounced ionic character oi lanthanide compounds and the paucity of complex spccies. Consequences oi the lanthanide contraction are discussed, such as the invariable nr~tural occurrence of yttrium with the heavier lanthmides and the small variations in properties that permit separation of thc lanthanides by fractional operations. The third chapter supplements the chemical information already presented by discussing in some detail the general chemistry of the lanthanides in terms of their several uxidatiun states. This presentation provides the background esscntial to underatanding the problems or recovery and separation h a t e d in the fourth chapter. The fifth chapter provides n brief consideration of the actinides. The thcmr of this final chmter is Seab:,re's h v ~ o t l l ~ ~ i s that bhey are 5felements. The value of this excellent little hook, the seventh in the series, is enhanced by a. complete index and by a valuable list, of selected readings a t the end of each chapter. LAWRENCE P. EBLIN Ohio Uniuwsily Athas
Nouveau Trait6 de Chemi6 Min6rale. Volume 8, Germanium, Etain, Plomb
Paul Pascal, general editor. Masson 816 pp. e t Cie., Psris, 1963. xxxix Figs. and tables. 17.5 X 26 cm. 136XF, brochP; 148WF, eartonne toile.
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Volume 8 of the new treatise by Pasral on inorganic chemistry is t o appear in three part,s, and it will include the material on the elements carbon, silicon, germanium tin, and lead. Part Three is the only part puhlished t o date, and i t includes t h e elements germanium, tin, and lead. With volume 9, this volume, will cover the elements in Group IV. The section on germanium was written jointly by A. Tchakirian, P. Bevillard, and A. Godfrin. The section on tin was written by B. Lemanceau, except for t h e material concerning organic compounds of tin, which was written by Payeal himself, and the section on lead was written by It.
A832 / Journal of Chemical Education
