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T h e Problem of Reducing I’iilnerability to Atomic Bombs. By AINSLEY J. COALE. 1113 pp. Princeton, S e w Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1947. Price: $2.00. Prepared under the direction of the Committee on Social a n d Economic Aspects of Atomic Energy of the Social Science Research Council, a factual analysis of the problem of dealing wit,h a n attack employing atomic bombs is attempted. The writer a t the outset wisely discards the possibility that there will be any means of warding off or nullifying such an attack by a n enemy possessing atomic weapons. Although the various aspects of amelioration or reduction are studied and expounded a t length, one is left with a deep sense of futility. What is the point of recommending dispersal of centers of production, transportation, communicat,ion, and defense without considering the means of putting the proposals into effect within a n allowable period of time? The latter, necessarily indefinite, is estimated a t 3-15 years. If, then, the proportion of our critical industries and defenses that must be dispersed or go underground is a s great as estimated-one-third of our present economy-the question becomes first a practical and economic one: can i t be done? and secondly, is there any reasonable likelihood that it xill be done? When one considers the dislocations from the recent war, the difficulty of building, the scarcity and high cost of materials and labor, the maladjustment of distribution and allocation, it seems certain t h a t such a huge program of relocation could not be carried through within the time limit, even if we had the will t o do it. KO tlouht the Social Science Research Council has also considered all the means of avoiding an atomic war. T h a t would seem t o the reviewer the much more profitable a p proach t o the problem, the one in which the talents of the Social Science Research Council can hest be applied in its own field of human conduct. S. C. LIXD.
Concise Chemical and Y‘ecknical Dictionarii. Edited by €3. BEXSETT. 6 s 0 in.
+ 1055 pp.
sssix Brooklyn, Kew T o r k : The Chemical Publishing Company, Inc., 1947.
Price: $10.00. “This is a dictionary for t)oth professionals and laymen: chemists and engineers in all industries, technical workers of all trades, manufacturers, importers, brokers, salesmen, teachers, librarians, students of all professions, and every intelligent person who wants to understand what he is reading when he comes across a technical espression in a book, newspaper or advertisement of a chemical product.” This quotation from the editor’s preface, and another section which states t h a t the volume ‘‘ . . , covers every field of scientific and technical development,” indicate the wide range of usefulness of the dictionary. A compilation of thousands of trade-name or proprietary products in many fields is, in the opinion of this reviewer, the most valuable part of the dictionary. The list i s strictly u p t o date, inasmuch as surprisingly few of the names appearing in journals and trade literature fail to show up in the dictionary. Among the 50,000 definitions included in the volume there are said t o be ‘‘ . . . descriptions of every common or rare chemical, etc., etc.” Surely the editor does not expect the literal acceptance of this statement by an intelligent chemist! Among the thousands of organic and inorganic compounds listed there are too many for which no uses are given and which are therefore out of place in a book of this character. These entries serve t o make a n unnecessarily large volume which sells a t the relatively high price of $10.00. Working chemists and research students who wish to have exact information about the physical properties of a particular compound will probably prefer to use one of the standard handbooks rather than a dictionary. This preference might well be dictated after a reading of the following statement: “When properties such as boiling and melting points are given, they may he for commercial rather than for pure products and slight differences must be expected.”
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The book is well made, the printing is good, and the proofreading has been very carefully done; the reviewer did not notice a single typographical error. The dictionary should prove valuable on many occasions to most of the persons whom the author intends it to serve, and it deserves a place in the libraries of those who can afford the purchase price.
J. LEWISMAYNARD.
