ΒΖΥΟΝΌ Recreational Readings in Chemistry Alfred W. Pond, 607 South Chestnut St., Westfield, N. J . ANY persons, chemists and others, are interested in purely recreational reading along the line of chemistry, and many others would undoubtedly be simi larly interested if they only knew what a wealth of material is available. To con stitute successful reading of this kind, the subject matter must be arranged rather for straightforward reading than for study; and must, further, be pleasingly presented. Since the majority of these readers are capable of discrimination, they will be stern judges. Accordingly, the material must at the same time be authentic and accurate; above all, it must not be of the "amazing" type. Fortunately, there is a group of unusually able writers on chemi cal and allied subjects, whose products are on the one hand reliably complete and faithful to the facts, and on the other so composed as to make satisfactory armchair
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As a professional person, you may be called upon to recommend some such books as these for a friend to read. If so, you will be dependent either upon your own personal knowledge of the available material, or upon the book review col umns of this and other journals. Now, to be able adequately to use one's own ex perience is a splendid thing, but not in all cases is personal acquaintance with these authors a suitable guide. Nor can the re view pages alone be conveniently used to supply the needed information, for while the new books are described individually, critically, and in considerable detail by the reviewers at the time of publication, the reviewers, properly, make no attempt to group the books according to kind or to furnish recommended lists of comparable works. A suggestive list of books of this general type, accompanied by thumbnail com ments, is therefore given herewith. This is the list of one person who delights in this particular kind of writing and admires the ability that makes it possible. No claim is made to impartiality of approach nor to thoroughness of coverage of the field. There are other titles equally im portant and interesting, omitted here through no shortcomings of their own. Stuff, the Story of Materials in the Service of Man, by Beery (Appleton), is designed entirely for fireside reading and assumes no previous knowledge of chemistry on the part of the reader. It makes easy and smooth reading, gives background as well as facts, and is inclusive enough to be highly informative at the same time. At Home among the Atoms, by Kendall (Century), on the contrary, is considerably more than elementary. It is elementary in style and diction, but advances rapidly and requires a good deal of concentration and some foreknowledge of the subject to enable a reader to follow it. It will, however, pay good dividends upon any concentration, repeated reading, and even study that may be put into it. You have the feeling that, correctly or otherwise, you can discern and reconstruct the writer's mood upon reading A. Cressy Morrison's Man in a Chemical World
THE FLYLEAF
(Scribner's). If impression be dependable he feels that the subject properly merits ranting and raving enthusiastically about but for fear of being likened to the so-called "popular·5 writers on scientific subjects, he has forced himself to be conservative. The author's experience in the industry, from both the technical and the economic angles, hasfittedhim to do a good job on this book. A widely known work is Chemistry in Industry, edited by Howe (Chemical Founda tion). The two volumes of this set are ar ranged by chapters according to industry, and may satisfactorily be read in here-orthere fashion at any chapter that happens to strike the reader's fancy. The Chemical History of a Candle, by Michael Faraday (published by Dut ton, by Harper, and in the Harvard Classics), and The Wonder Book of Chemistry, by Fabre of insect-observing fame (published in Eng lish by Boni and by Century), are both still to be recommended in spite of their vener able age. It should be remembered, how ever, that both were prepared for juvenile consumption, and the style, especially of the latter, may lessen the interest of an adult reader. Harrow's The Making of Chemistry (John Day) makes delightful armchair reading. The author evidently has profound love and respect for chemistry and chemists, and this attitude lives and breathes through out his book. If, as a chemist, you are ever given to wondering whether you are in the right profession, read this one. In addition to giving a complete and de tailed picture of the business and economic side of the chemical industry, an article in the December, 1037, issue of Fortune gives a literate and interesting bird's-eye view of the industry as a whole. Crucibles, by Jaffe (Simon & Schuster). and Crusaders of Chemistry, by Leonard (Doubleday, Doran), are excellent biographi cal descriptions of prominent (mostly pio neer) chemists and their work. Both authors present their subjects well, but Jaffe is more detached in his attitude, while Leonard appears to be a crusader of no mean dimensions himself—against the at tempts that were exerted by the civil and clerical authorities of the dark and early en lightened ages to smother the development of the sciences. Madame Curie, by Eve Curie, her daugh ter, translated by Sheean (Doubleday), is written entirely from the literary and human istic points of view. In it, chemistry per se plays a part only as it contributes to the main thread of the story. But as a biogra phy the book is highly to be recommended and should be enjoyed by all thoughtful readers. At the start, Furnas' Rest Hundred Years (Reynal) may serve to raise your dander, but you soon come to decide that the assertive style has been adopted by the author intentionally and for a purpose. In the book he enumerates the failures, short comings, have-not-donee, and yet-to-bedones of science, and possibly his style of provocative statements is used in an attempt to goad the scientific world into overcoming these deficiencies in something less than the allotted one hundred years. If you had an opportunity to sit down with K. K. Darrow in his drawing room and 571
ask him to explain some of the intricacies of subatomic structure and activity in precise but nonmathematical language, you would enjoy the treat very much, for he has a sift of careful but graphic and conversational exposition. Do not regret the lack of such opportunity. Instead, read his Renais sance of Physics (Macmillan) and enjoy it nearly as much as a personal talk. Of all the works of the type described here, the one that comes nearest to being a classic is probably Creative Chemistry, by Slosson (Century). This presents a story of chemistry in a sparkling style that is as inter esting as it is informative. This piece can serve equally well as appetiser or dessert, and because of its excellence, should prefer ably be recommended either at the begin ning or at the end of a program of recrea tional reading in chemistry.
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utlines of Biochemistry. The Or· ganic Chemistry and the Physicochemical Reactions of Biologically Im portant Compounds and Systems. Ross Aiken Gartner. 2nd ed. 1017 pages. John Wiley & Sons, New York, Ν. Υ., 1938. Price, $6.00. THE new and revised edition of this book should receive an even heartier welcome from those interested in biological chemis try than was accorded the first edition. The general plan and arrangement of the various topics in the new edition follow closely that used in the first edition, but the different sections in most cases have been expanded. All have been brought up to date, while three new chanters deal ing with oxidation-reduction, the flavins, and the hormones have been added. The advances during the past few years in the chemistry of biologically important compounds, such as vitamins, enzymes, and hormones, have been so extraordi narily rapid that the sections of the book "dealing with these compounds have had to be practically entirely rewritten. AU the new data have been judiciously considered and incorporated in the text. The book is well printed, and very few typographical errors are evident. Al though the present volume contains over 200 pages more than the first edition, it is still of usable size. The author and his colleagues are to be congratulated upon the completion of this valuable summary of old and new data relating t o vital processes in plants and animals. The new volume is a bigger and a better book than the first edition and it should be available in every laboratory. R. J. ANDERSON
Betriebsbuchhaltung der cheDVol.iemischen Industrie. Peter Schlôsser. I, 91 pages; Vol. II, 112 pages.
Julius Springer, Berlin, 1938. Price, 26.40 marks. THE author emphasizes the importance of exact bookkeeping for the determination of production costs in general, but especially for the chemical industry, and a rather complete system of bookkeeping for the latter is outlined. Large concerns, realizing the importance of exact bookkeeping, long ago undertook to bring the bookkeeping of all their subsidiaries on the same basis to control the efficiencies of their manufacturing plants and the methods used. On
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the other hand, in most syndicates, which had a common interest only in the sales of their products and also consisted of independent manufacturing units, the calculât ion of costs was a great secret of the individual concerns and therefore a comparison of costs is not possible. As compared with other industries, the literature of calculating manufacturing costs in the chemical industry is very meager. Based on forty years of experience and connected most of this time with the best organized chemical concern in the world (according to his own statement), Peter Schlôsser issued this book as a practical guide for an orderly system of calculating exact manufacturing costs. Volume I describes the bookkeeping for manufacturing plants (technical bookkeeping), Volume II shows a reproduction of all the forms (printed cards, sheets) used by the various offices concerned. The department performing the "technical bookkeeping" is organized into a number of divisions and subdivisions: (1) division calculating total manufacturing costs including subdivision directly connected with the operations, «indivisions for repair work, transportation, shipping, wages, etc.; (2) control of raw materials (control of bills and weights of incoming material, control of usage of material in the various plants, control of freight, etc.); (3) final calculation to obtain the real cost of products of a past period of manufacture (every product is separately calculated); (4) control of finished products (this section takes over all goods which are for sale, fixes selling prices, etc.); (5) control of the investment of the plant (value of land, buildings, equipment, inventory of offices, etc.); (6) depreciation; and (7) statistics. The author believes the book should be of special interest to the young plant chemist and also to the advanced student who intends to obtain a position in the chemical industry.
VOL. 16. NO. 20
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
OTTO RUNGE
Study of Patents on Petroleum Cracking with Special Reference to Their APresent Status. David Mc Knight, Jr.
627 pages. Universitv of Texas, Austin, Texas, 1938. Price, $3.00. THIS is a book of 627 pages, in which there is a report of the study by the author, who approaches the problem from the technical aspect rather than the legal. After presenting the cracking patent situation in the first chapter, the author presents the various patented processes, and in the tenth chapter begins a discussion of the development of the situation, including a critical review of its history and present status. This is followed by a criticism of the patent structure in the cracking art, with the last 500 pages of the book devoted to a catalog of United States patents on cracking or conversion of petroleum hydrocarbon oils. Th is includes indexes of patentees .and assignees and an index of litigation involving such patents.
Combating Industrial Disease wo new bulletins outlining "how" T measures for combating industrial disease and for guarding employee health
are being distributed by the Air Hygiene Foundation, 4400 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, P a , to its member companies. One deals with ''Determination of Lead," a metal which alone or in combination constitutes a triple threat to health of workmen exposed, as it and its compounds can be inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin. The bulletin explains that lead dusts, fumes, and mists may be
dispersed in air when using or processing lead, its alloys, or compounds, and describes methods for sampling air t o check the presence of lead. The other bulletin, 'Identification of Industrial Dusts," discusses the method of identifying minerals by their optical properties known as optical mineralogy, and states that the identification of industrial dust is accomplished best by using petrography as the basis of analytical work and supplementing it whenever necessary with chemical determinations. Characteristics of a few minerals commonly found in dust are listed. Dusts are classified in four general groups. The bulletins are part of a series prepared by the Preventive Engineering Committee of Air Hygiene Foundation, of which Philip Drinker, of Harvard University, is chairman. Others issued this year include, "Determination of Benzol Vapor/1 "Use and Care of Respirators," "Determination of Chlorinated Hydrocarbon 1 Vapor," "Design of Exhaust Hoods/ and "Design of Duct Work for Exhaust Systems." The next will cover sampling for the control of atmospheric impurities.
Natural Gasoline Code HE American Petroleum Institute T has announced the publication of Code 50-B, "Measuring, Sampling, and Testing
Natural Gasoline (Tentative)," as a companion code to Code 50-A, "Measuring, Sampling, and Testing Natural Gas (Tentative)," issued last year. Under the chairmanship of F. E. Rice, the Main Committee on Measuring. Sampling, and Testing Natural Gas and
Natural Gasoline of the institute's Division of Production sponsored this code embracing standards and practices which, from technical soundness, general usage, or simplicity, have been found most dependable and worthy of broad dissemination. Only methods judged to be in widespread use in commercial transactions were considered suitable for inclusion. Single copies are available from the New York and Dallas offices of the institute at 35 cents each, with discounts for quantity.
Tenite Specifications C 4ΠΡΕΝ1ΧΕ Specifications" is the title of a X new publication of The Tennessee Eastman Corp., Kingsport, Tenn. The book of 20 pages contains physical and chemical data of value to those who must select material for any particular use. Much of the information is presented in tabular form, which includes all the Tenite formulas. In addition a number of graphs make useful comparisons and present data in brief, useful form.
Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal ANTHRACITE
INDUSTRIES,
INC.,
has
x \ . issued an interesting booklet, en titled "Program and Progress," which deals with Pennsylvania Anthracite Coal and outlines an extensive program of technical and educational work that is in progress on modern methods of using an thracite. The publication presents inter esting statistics calling attention to some little-appreciated aspects of the industry, including its magnitude. Copies may be obtained from Anthracite Industries, Inc., Chrysler Bldg., New York, Ν. Υ.
1U WALL STREET of CHEMISTRY GRADUAL improvement in the chemical business was evident in August and A continued through September, and indi
cations are that earnings for the third quarter are considerably better than for the second quarter and that the fourth quarter will show further improvement. During the first ten days in October the industry had a more definite upturn in orders than has been experienced for some time. Earnings, however, continue be low those of 1937. ALLIED CHEMICAL & DYE C O . has filed
with the Securities and Exchange Com mission a report of its miscellaneous in vestments. These include (as of Decem ber 31, 1937) 178,682 shares of OwensIllinois Glass Co. and 30,713 shares of Libbey-Owens-Ford common stock. The company's income account shows that dividends received amounted to $20,523,432 out of $22,983,669 in 1937; $22,680,558 out of $25,638,014 in 1936; and $27,479,700 out of $30,818,484 in 1935. INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL CORP.
and subsidiaries for the year ended June 30,1938, show net profit of $701,328, after depreciation, depletion, interest, estimated federal income taxes, and surtax on un distributed profits. This is equal after dividend requirements on 7 per cent cumulative prior preference stock (par $100, with accumulated unpaid dividends of $6350,000) to less than one cent a share on no-par common, and compares with $770,154 or 16 cents a share on com mon in the preceding year. During the
year the company sold its half interest in the Kaliwerke Sollstedt Gewerkschaft, from which no benefit had been received in recent years, and invested the proceeds in the Kaliwerke Salzdetfurth Aktiengesellschaft, as it is impossible to take funds out of Germany. Durine the year $1,771,700 unissued bonds held in the treasury were canceled and $883,000 issued bonds were retired and canceled, leaving $4,750,000 bonds outstanding. LIBBEY-OWENS-FORD GLASS C O . for the
nine months ended September 30, 1938, shows net profit of $428,705 after depre ciation, federal income taxes, etc., equiva lent to 17 cents a share on common. This compares with $8,848,159 or $3.53 a share in the first nine months of 1937. For the three months ended September 30, 1938, net profit was $850,586 or 34 cents a share, compared with net profit of $3,216,690 in the September quarter of 1937 and net loss of $50,352 in the quarter ended June 30,1938. In his letter to stockholders the president expressed satisfaction a t the steady rise in sales during August and September. Operations were increased at each of the company's factories and more than 1700 employees were added to the payroll dur ing the quarter. A. O. SMITH CORP. and subsidiary for
the fiscal year ended July 31, 1938, show net loss of $982,155 after taxes, deprecia tion, etc. This compares with net income of $16,555 or 3 cents a share in the preced ing year.
