the cast has advanced with each successive volume of the series. I t is understood that full-time students may now purchase any of theae volumes st a reduced price; this action by the editorial board and publisher is highly commendable. The reviewer will refrain Rom a discussion of his more favorite topics included in this volume; suffice it to say that each chapter meets the high standards which chemists have come to expect of each new volume of the series. ROBERT K. INGHAH Onro U N I V E ~ ~ L T Y ATXENS.OHIO
CHEMISTRY, VISUALIZED AND APPLIED Armand I. Courchoine, Biochemist and Laboratory Supervisor, Philadelphia General Hospital. Second edition. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1957. vi 687 pp. 122 figs. 15 X 21.5 cm. $5.50
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As THE title of this book suggests, there is much more attention t o descriptive details concerning chemical properties and uses than to systematic development oI chemieal principles. In those sections where theories arc considered, the discussion is often rather brief. Several of the earlier chapters in this worlc cover in s few pages the topics which many authors would consider in 8, dozen. For example, Chapter 2 (45 pages) entitled Matter includes such diverse topics as physical states, atoms and molecules, structure of atoms, atomic and molecular weights, valence, laws of chemioal combination, formula writing, chemical equations, calculations based on equations, t,yper: of chemical reaction and physical properties of substances. The scope is rather broad for one single chapter. Chapter 5, likewise, starts with a ten-page summary of the properties of same 17 common elements, continues with a brief interlude concerned with the periodic table, then launches into a discussion of radioactivity and nuclear phenomena. This latter section needs a considerable amount of revision. The following statements are illustrative of the many which need correction: "The cyclotron. .is capable of imparting . .energy. . .to neutrons" (p. 111). "Cadmium and boron absorb neutrons without undergoing any change in mass" (p. 113). "In 1948 mesons, each with a mass of only 1/313 of the planetary electron of the atom, were created.. .(p. 113). Many chemists also will object to C + ' O a - - ( ~ . 3 l ) a n d H a + / SO,-- (p. 174). The inclusion of a single illustrative equation, that of the hydrolysis of sucrose, in a section entitled Hydrolysis of Salts (p. 207), is completely mislesding. The second part includes within its 160 pages as comprehensive a survey of organic chemistry as can be expected in a work of this type. The treatment of this branch of chemistry is perhaps a hit more complete than that usually found in the general course. Once again attention is
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d i r e c t d pnrtieularly t o propertips and uses of those compounds which are of particular significance in medical science. There is minor attention t o synthesis and theoretical principles. The third part dealing with phpioloyical chemistry is one of the more complrte and up-to-date texds knoh-n to the rcv i m ~ for r student nmsrs. The illustrations rleniing d h rhrmirai rrartions taking plaw an foods in the gas-trointestinal tract during thr prorrss of digestion arc commmrdnhle. I t may he that in thc r u r r m t rash or new t,ypcsof ehwniat,ry roln-we, there is a place for n high-level rotme based upon an outline similar to Co,~rehaine's. It seems rensonahle to suppose bhst students of psychology, hiologicd sri~nces,education, pr-me& and other- may find this type of roursr more valunhlr than onr emphasizing npplicatiom chofien largrl?from the inorganic p ~ O C W S industries. Authors of chemistry teats far studmt rnmes, such as that of Courrhains, may have givrn us the blueprint of anothcr fruitful approach to the study of ehemistry. DONALD S, ALLEN STATE U x w i i n 8 i ~TEACXERS' ~ COLLEDE NEW PALTZ, NEW YOBK
SYSTEMATIC ORGANIC CHEMISTRY Hugh C.Muldoon and Mortin I. Bloke, North Dakota State College, Fargo. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York, 1957. viii 828 pp. 54 figs. 16.5 X 23.5 cm. $7.75.
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As STATED in the p r e f ~ r e , "Modern ideas of hond formation m ~ dof pure and hybrid bonds . . . are included." Aside from the usoal brief mention of the hybridization of carbon, thr remainder of this topic is covered v i t h the rather insceurat,e statement that (p. 28) "Hybridiznt,ian of orbitals ii; not' t o he expected in nitrogen, osygm, and fluorine, since they have no vacant 2 p orbitals t o which an s eleettm mag be devated." The concept of merhanism in organic reactions is introduced an page 72 v i t h a discussion which cannot I r ~ l phot be misleading t o s beginning student: "The electrons forming a chemical hond are always in motion. I t ran i w w a o n e d t h a t a t timea the electrons forming the double hond in ethylene can he shifted rinse t o one of the mrlmns partieipnting in the bond: H
H
H-&=L
H .. H .,
+ H : c+: c..: H -
The authors presumably intended hy this equation t o mean that
H H
-I
E - L+ - H
irr a reactive intermediate. They clearly suggest this with another equation:
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JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
