334
NEW BOOKS
International Table of Slable Isotopes. First report of the Committee on -4toms of the International Union of Chemistry. General Secretariat, 28 rue Saint-Dominique, Paris. F. TI’. Aston, Chairman, K.Bohr, 0 . Hahn, W.D. Harkins, G. ITrbain. The table of stable isotopes published in English, French and German contains the atomic numbers, the mass numbers (in whole numbers only), and the relative abundance of each isotope for all the elements except numbers 43,61, 85. and 87 and the radioactive ones 84, 86, 88, 89, and 91. Although no discussion by the Commission accompanies the table, one must be struck, not only by the number of individual isotopes and the diversity of their distribution, but also by the evident fact that a s means for detection or fractionation are refined, a much larger number of those of rare occurrence is certain to be disclosed. S.C. LISD. Fundamentals of Qualitatwe Chemical A n a l y s i s . By ROYK. XCALPINEand BYROX A. SOULE. 54 x 82 in.; ix 325 pp. New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., 1936. Price: 82.40. This brief text can be used to excellent advantage in a course in qualitative analysis. This is not a mere condensation of the author‘s classic, Prescott and Johnson’s Qualitative Chemical A n a l y s i s , but as the authors state in their preface, “An attempt has been made to provide more specific assistance than usual for the teacher and the student.” Anyone who has had much experience teaching this subject will acknoiT.1edge that their aini has been attained. Among the meritorious new features of this text, particularly from the pedagogic point of view, are two t h a t are outstanding: (I) A chapter devoted to study aids. Material is given here to show the student hoxv and what to study. Fourteen questions of the usual type on group I are given, with brief but comprehensive answers The student may follow a similar plan with the other groups. ( 2 ) A splendid summary and review a t the end of each group separation. An interesting and probably reasonable departure from the usual procedure, to quote from the preface, is: “placing the arsenic division of group I1 in a chapter by itself and postponing its introduction until the other groups have been presented in detail. In a scheme arbitrarily limited in scope, there is a definite advantage in using the arsenic division to illustrate the increase in complexity of procedure t h a t will normally be required when the list of metals is expanded.” The first four chapters are devoted to (1) review material, which is essential for a n understanding of qualitative analysis, ( 2 ) chemical arithmetic, (3) formulas and equations, (4) ionization theory, including common-ion effect, solubility product, hydrolysis, etc. The remaining chapters include the usual ones,-one on laboratory technic, a separate chapter on each group or division, including common compounds, reactions of the ions, separations, relation to other groups, equations, in the case of metals a summary and review, problems and laboratory exercises; an excellent appendix with useful reference tables is provided. The authors do not employ the more modern meanings of acid and base as proposed by Bronsted and by Lowry. The physical make-up of the book is in keeping with the contents. The book is to be recommended. LILLIAK COHES.
+
and F. T. GUCKER, JR. Introduction to Theoretical Chemistry. By IT. B. RIELDRUM 614 pp. Kew York: American Book Company, 1936. Price: $3.50. In the preface to this book the authors state that their purpose is “to outline a
N E T BOOKS
335
course of study which will amplify the too thinly disseminated knollledge of important generalizations already possessed by the student” xvho has completed his first year of college chemistry. The information on the fundamentals of physical chemistry, which is contained in the first 436 pages of the book, is comparable to t h a t usually included in a good introductory text of general chemistry. In addition to the description of an unusually large number of experiments illustrating the various chemical principles, a great deal of historical material is included in this part of the book. I t is interesting t o compare the discussion of atomic properties, chnpters 17 to 22, from which the earlier historic material has been largely omitted and in which the illustrative experiments are taken largely from present-day work. In the reviewer’s opinion the authors deserve especial praise for choosing, as illustrations, a number of inorganic reactions which are not commonly included in an elementary text, and thereby suggesting to the thoughtful student t h a t inorganic chemistry is a complex subject I\ hich may be worthy of his further attention. On the other hand, it is regrettable that the modern theory of acids and bases is not presented, if not to the exclusion of, a t least as a n alternate to, the more clumsy classical theory. The unqualified acceptance (p. 4) of the validity of the Allison magneto-optic method and of the evidence for the existence of alabamine and virginium is not justified by the present status of the subject, and is particularly unfortunate in an elementary text. The authors’ bias (p. 341) against representing the total chemical reaction which occurs in a galvanic cell when the circuit is closed is not only unjustifiable, b u t is also definitely inconsistent with the equations written for complete cell reactions on pp. 374, 375, 376, 377, 384, 390, 411, and 413. The reviewer believes t h a t the bookwould be improved if this chapter (Chapter 13)were omitted and the descriptive material which it contains incorporated in Chapters 14 and 15. The book is marred by a number of minor errors, of which the following are typical. Figure 15, p. 83, appears to be incorrectly labeled and is entirely misleading; it might well be omitted. On p. 92, the definition of the triple point is given instead of t h a t of the freezing point; this same confusion of the triple and freezing point is implied on p. 151. The two equations given on p. 165 do not represent the detailed mechanism of the reduction of iodic acid by sulfurous acid, and the statement that these “tTvo consecutive reactions take place” is misleading. JVhile the statement, on p. 168, t h a t “a rise of 10°C. in temperature approximately doubles the rate of a chemical reaction” is roughly true for many reactions occurring a t room temperature, it is obviously incorrect to conclude from this t h a t the rate a t 100°C. will be 256-fold greater than t h a t a t 20°C. (this factor being about threefold too large). On the upper half of p. 181, “Influence of Concentration” appears to be a misprint for “Influence of Pressure.” The statement, on p. 209, t h a t “dry liquid hydrogen chloride is not a conductor of electricity” might be an acceptable approximation for a highschool text, but it is an oversimplification for a book intended for college sophomores. On p. 347, i t is implied, incorrectly, t h a t sodium in a n amalgam will not react with water, in a sodium chloride solution, if a positive current is floiving from the solution to the amalgam, b u t will react if the current is discontinued. I t is doubtful if the increase of reactivity of water toward metals with increasing temperature is due chiefly to the increase in ionization of water, as is stated on p. 404. The peroxide ion is erroneously indicated with a single charge on p. 589. On the whole the book is well written and contains a great deal of interesting information. Some subjects, as in Chapter 9, are particularly well presented. Hoxever, xhether a book of this character will prove to be of real value to the student of chemistry remains an open question. ROBERT LIVIKGSTOS.
