AUGUST, 1950 these reasons we can apply our generalizations only to a few limited and highly specific situations. In spite of these difficulties, the development of a science of society remains one of the most important tasks of educated man and because of the difficulties it is R most challenging one. WALTER B. KEIGHTON Sw*nr~uosn Co~rnoc SW*~T"MOBE. PENNBIL"*NI*
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THE CHEMISTRY OF ORGANIC MEDICINAL PRODUCTS
Glenn L. Jenkins, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Dean of the School of Pharmacy, Purdue University, and Walter H.Hartung, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of North Camlina. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1949. Third edition. ix 745 pp. 75 tables. 15.2 X 23.5 om. 57.50.
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THE first edition of this book (1941) was planographed and contained 457 pages divided into 15 chapters. It has now grown to 745 pagesand 16 chapters. The preface states that thevolume "has been written ss a textbook for students who have had basic courses in ohemistry and are interested in the chemistry of medicI t is intended primarily for inal and related products." students in the more advanced courses in pharmaceutical, them;e d , biological, and medicinal science. It should prove of value and interest d m to practitioners in these fields." The following topics are doslt with: Hydrocarbons (40 pp.), Halogenated hydrocarbons (20 ~ p . )Hydroxyl , derivatives of hydrocarbons (60 pp.), Ethers and ether peroxides (13 pp.), Carbony1 group (70 pp.), Carboxyl group (70 pp.), Natural mixtures (31 pp.), Amines and amine derivatives (129 pp.), Cyanides and nitro compounds (11 pp.), Sulfur compounds (33 pp.), Compounds of phospho-, arsenic, and antimony (18 pp.), Metallic derivatives of organic compounds (15 pp.), Heterocycles containing one heteroatom (86 pp.), Heterocycles containing two or more hetematoms (38 pp.), Stereoisomerism (46 pp.), Some physicochemical properties of medicinal products (15 pp.). There is a. general bibliography (9 pp.), and an extensive index (41 pp.). On the whole, the authors have done a good job in assembling data which are scattered throughout the chcmioal, pharmsceutical, and medical literature. This is obviously of value to warkem in these fields. Numerous references and a general bibliography invite to further study of specific topics. I t is inevitable that opinions will vary as to the amount of space alloted to individual sections. This reviewer, for example, feels that the description of hydrocarbons is much too long, considering the minor role of these compounds in medicine. On the other hand, the chapter on enzymes is too short for comfort. Trypsin, for ex6mple, is taken care of by the following sentence (p. 302): "Tryp sin is a partly purified proteolytic enzyme from the pancreas which digests 100 parts of casein." The vagueness of this s t a t e meut is 1101 ituiquv. 'I%cwH W ( ~ t h r~, i r n i l ~ wu r 1 t ~ u 1 e ~ . On 1). 391: "Aoc,ut 0.2 K. ofglgcinr hvdnd~lori~lc~ is cquivnlwr r o more I 1 I oi i t h I l . iI . It is owril,lt~that s student of i;harmacy has definite quantitative ideasas to the eoncentretion af "diluted hydrochloric acid," and visualizes a definite quantity when told of "about 0.2 g." or "more than lOdrops," hut statements of that type will not stimulate a quantitative nttitude in the average student. The references, as stated before, are valuable for further study. A more careful proofreading, however, would be desirable. In order to make this hook even more valuable to student and prttctitiouer dike it would be highly desirable to have the next edzlzon thoroughly edited. One cannot escape the impression that this book is not quite out of the filing card collection stage. Some careful overhauling could go far toward making it an outstanding textbook.
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AN ADVANCED TREATISE ON PAISICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. I
I. R. Partington, Professor of Chemistry, University of London, England. Longmans, Green, and Co., New York, 1949. dii 943 pp. Illustrated with tables and figures. 16 X 26 cm. $16.
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THISvolumeis the f i s t of a three- or four-volume treatise which aims to present in a comprehensive manner the bulk of knowledge which has come to be known as physical chemistry. The first 419 pages introduce the reader to the fundamental theories and laws and is divided into the following sections: Mathematical Introduction, pages 1-114, .Thermodynsmics, ptqes 115-233, The Kinetic Theory of Gases, pages 234-292, Statistics1 Mechanics and Quantum Theory, pages 293-376, and Wave Mechanics, pages377-419. The remainder of this volume is devoted to Thermometry, High and Low Temperature Measurement, pages 420-545, and finally, a comprehensive presentation of the Properties of Gases, pages 546-934. The two most valuable characteristics of this work are its historical perspective and its close adherence to experimental results. Although the historical introductions to each section are brief they are accompanied by voluminous bibliographies which should be of considerable value in helping the careful scholar in obtaining an accurate knowledge of the evolution of the subject. More important in determining the character of the work is Dr. Partington's keen interest in methods of measurement and the results of experiments. This point of view is evidenced by the fact that only 419 pages are devoted to the threesciencesunderlying modern physical chemistry-thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and quantum theory--and 500 pages are devoted to the properties of gases. The mathematical theorist could indeed be critical of the treatment of these three fundamental subjects, but to criticize something as inadequate which the author himelf regards as asummery or sketch would be unfair. The strength of this first volume resides in the detail description of the methods of measurement, the tabulation of results, and the completeness of the bibliography (over 18,000references). Pressure-volume-temperature relationships, densities and molar weights, viscosities, specific heats, diffusion of gases are treated in great detail, and the most aeourate data compiled in tabular form. This alone is avaluahle contribution to the science. If in the future.volumes Dr. Partington maintains t'le same thoroughness as he has achieved in this one the whole work will prove of great value to advanced students and teachers of physical chemistry. We look forward to the completion of this monnmental task. I t will he very interesting to fmd out haw Dr. Partington will treat the more intricate parts of the field. HERBERT S. HARNED Y*LE UNIVERBITT N E W H*YEN, CONNECTICUT
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THERMODYNAMICS OF DILUTE AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
M. I. N. Pourbaix, Doctor in de Technische Wetenschap, Delft, University of Brussels, Belgium. Translated by J. N. Agar. Edward Arnold & Co., London, England, 1949. (U. S. distributors: Longmans, Green and Co., Inc.) xv 136 pp. 27 figs. 15.5 X 23 cm. $5.50.
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T m s hook is a translation of a doctoral thesis presented by the author at the Delft Institute of Technology, The Netherlands, in 1945. The thesis was published in French by Meinema at Delft and a second printing was published by B h n g e r at Paris. The English translation by Dr. J. N. Agar fallows the second French printing very olosely. There are marked improvements of presentation, the main one being the inclusion of the figures in the body of the text in place of the separate brochure of the French original (with the loss, however, of the graded shading of some of the figures indicating gradual solubility increases). Pourbaix's fundamental idea. of constructing potential-pH
