These eompiletions bring together data from many scattered sources and add information for new systems never before esleulated. Data included me the energies and coefficients of all the molecular orbitals, total *-energies, electron densities, bond orders, and atom-atom, bond-bond and bond-atom polariaahilities. These quantities may be used as the basic values for numerous correlations with experimental data. and far mediction of reactivities of many other systems.
J. V. D.
Covlometric Analysis
Karl Abreseh and Ingeborg Claassen. Translated by L. L. Leveson, Bristol College of Science and Technology, England. Chapman and Hall, Ltd., London, 1965. xi 275 pp. Figs. and tables. 14.5 X 22 em. 85.
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This is a translation of a monograph that appeared in German in 1961; it is regrettable that an original text containing no references after 1959 could not have been revised before republication in 1965. Nevertheless, this English version serves a useful purpose since the other monograph8 on coulometric analysis now available in English are either far more costly or much less complete, and none of them is very much more up-to-date. The first part of the hook, some 130 pages in length, deals with Principles, Apparatus, and Instrumentation in a concise but comprehensive way. The approach to principles is ementially practical rather than theoretical, with the emphasis placed on stating the conclusion rather than deriving it in 8. rigorous fashion. The treatment of experimental apparatus and techniques is a wellorganized and clearly presented survey of the material needed to undertake experiment,al work intelligently. Numerous references are included, so that any part,icular tapir can easily be pursued further in the original literature. A second section, of approximately 100 pages, on Analytical Applications, is devoted to summaries of coulometric work reported in the literature t h r o ~ g h1959. A list of 513 references and an adequate index complete the book. Few errors were noted in the text (the reviewer makes no claim to have checked the references!). The photographic reproduet,ion of the Varityped text and accompanying diagrams has been well done and the resulting economies are refleet,ed in s. law price, which puts the book well within t,he reach of any lihrary-or individual. This monograph can be recommended to those who want a comprehensive, highly readable introduction to coulometric analysis. I t s careful, thorough treatment of experimental details will be valusble to anyone working in the field, even though it obviously will have to be augmented by reference to the more recent literat,ure. I t does not compete wit,h, hut, rather supplements, the more theoretical approaches to the subject, such a q Lingme's "Elecbraanalytical Chemistry" and the Kolt,hoff and Elving
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"Treatise on Analytical Chemistry." Both approaches should be available in the analytical section of any good chemistry library.
W.
SEAsE
Middletown*
Polymers: Properties
Structure a n d Bulk
Patrick Afea~es, University of Aherdeen, Scotland. D. Van Nostrand Co., Princeton, New Jersey, 1965. xi f 381 pp. fig^. and tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $12.50. Although during the past decade, tremendous advances have been made in the control which may be exercised over even the finestdetaik of the structure of many synthetic polymers, except for a limited numher of specialized monographs, little has been written about the mechanical properties of synthetic polymers. Such properties genernlly receive only brief mention in the general textbooks on polymer chemistry. The present treatment provides a readable account of current knowledge about the physical properties of polymers in bulk in relation to their molecular structures. Although mathematical treatment of the various topics discussed has not been neglected, emphasis has been placed on presentation of a clear physical picture of the concept to the reader. The following topics, each with appropriate subheadings, have been discussed: the chemical basis of polymers, the microstructure of chain molecules, molecular weight and branching, the crystallinity of polymers, the fusion and crystalli~stionof polymers, elastomers and the thermodynamics of rubberlike elasticity, the statistical thermodynamic theory of high elasticity, practical aspects of elastic theory, the nature of viscoelasticity, the glass state and glass transition, retarded high elmticity, diffusion of gases and vapors in polymers, and irreversible deformations. The discussion of the chemical basis of polymers is clearly and precisely written; however, because of the limitation on space devoted to this topic, the reader should hear in mind that he should not rely upon this discussion for an adequate introdr~etionto the organic chemistry of polymerization reactions. The author is quite justified, however, in limiting the level of this topic to a. mere introduction for the specialist since a number of adequate tents are available to the beginner. Other topics are treated in cansiderahly greater detail and since it was the author's objective topresent an adequate discussion of mechanical properties, more emphasis has been placed on elasticity, the effects of amorphous and crystalline polymers an mechanical properties, stress and strain relationships, and thk effects of molecular weight and molecular weight distribution on On the other -~~ meehanied uorouerties. hand one interested in a thorough discussion of molecular weight and branching ~
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in polymers must seek a. more specialized treatment of the subject. Again, it must be stated that adequate sources of such material are available, and the author, in striving toward his objective, has taken this fact into account. The work is well illustrated, the style is pleasing, and adequatebibliographies and indexes are included. An added feat,ure of the hook is a glossary of symbols following each chapter. This glossary following each top& discussion, however, turns out to be an absolute requirement, since this reviewer observed that the symbol "A" has a t least six different meanings depending upon where it is found in the hook. The book should be found useful to students in universit,ies and technical schools who are specializing in polymer science, to research chemists and physicists in industrial laboratories whose objectives are to translate polymer properties into economically useful products, and to design engineers who desire to become better informed an bulk properties of polymers, and how these properties are related to the performance of these msterials. GEORGEB. BUTLER
Unziiersity of Florida Gainesville
Biochemical Energetics and Kinetics
A . R. Patton, Colorado State University, Fort Collins. W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1965. vi 116 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. Paperbound. $3.75.
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Clearly this little book is the result of many years of wise and devoted experience in the teaching of its material. The suhject matter is accurately indicated by the title and covers areas which are inadequately covered in all but the most rigorow biochemistry program and which are mast likely to present difficulty to an average student, particularly one insufficiently grounded in physical chemistry to extract and adapt far himself from standard texts. Kinetic theary i., clearly and concisely derived from first principles and is used to good effect in succeeding chapters. Among several admirable devices, the repeated use of the concept af work a3 the product of a potential and a capacity factor permits a. very clear conception of chemical potential and of entropy, and allows the author to poor rightful scorn on vague asfiociations of the latter with probabilities, bags of marbles, ebc. Unfortunately, glaring faults are numerous. Thus, in an otherwise excellently conceived practical calculation of A F " for hydration of fumaric acid from equilibriom concentrations, we find 2.303 X 1.987 X lag 4.03 = 825! While tracking down the absolute temperature as the missing multiplier is perhap3 good practice, it is liable to confuse just that sbndent for whom the book is most intended. Again, presumably because the alphabet is rather short, many
BOOK REVIEWS symbols receive multiple use, frequently, however, without clear definition. Changes in style, far example, from clearly headed sections to successive derivations in unbroken running text and back again, are most annoying. One is left with an impression of separate blocks of lecture notes stapled together and printed; a most critical editing and partial rewriting could make a second edition excellent. Despite its faults, this is a most valuable work. Inexpensive and well printed, it should he a. required assignment for every serious student of biochemistry and eodd well constitute a core hook for a separate cco~wse. TERENCE C. OWEN University of South Florida
Tampa
Rodd'r Chemistry of Carbon Compounds. Volume 1, Aliphatic Compoundr, Part D, Dihydric Alcohols, Their Oxidation Products and Derivatives
Edited by S. Cqffey. 2nd ed. American Elsevier Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1966. xv 418 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 23 em. $24.
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Part D of Volume 1 (Aliphatic Compounds) of the revision of itodd's wellknown "Chemistry of Carbon Compounds" consists of six chapters (12 through 17) dealing with the general subjects of dihydrie alcohols, their diverse oxidation products, and derivatives of each. Specific topics include: Chapter 12 (E. S. Waight, 43 pages), Dihydric Alcohols or Glycols and their Derivatives; Chapter 13 (E. S. Waight, 36 pages), Hydroxy-aldehydes and -ketones and Related Compounds; Dicarbonyl Campounds; Chapter 14 (D. S. C. Black, G. M. Blackburn, and G. A. R. Johnston, 62 pages), Aliphatic Monohydraxy-monoearboxylie Acids and Related Compounds; Chapter 15 (J. E. Davies, 72 pages), Aliphstic Nitro- and Amino-monocarboxylic Acids and Related Compounds; Chapter 16 (D. S. C. Black, G. M. Blackhorn, and G. A. R. Johnston, 61 pages), Aldehydic and Ketonic hlonocarhoxylic Acids and Related Compounds; and Chapter 17 (J. Oldham, 96 pages), Diearhoxylic Acids and Related Compounds. A 48-page subject index with almost 5000 entries (for Part D only) completes the volume. No aut,har index is provided. Organization, format and typography accord with earlier sub-volumes of the second edition. Three more sub-volumes (E, F, G ) are planned before the sevenpart Volume I is completed. This volume, like its recent predecessors, is quite expensive for it,s size, and it thus becomes pertinent to inquire hbw useful i t might prove to t,he practicing organic chemist for personal use. One criterion might he the timelines of the topics covered. Examination of reference dates shows that less than 10% of the more than
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2300 references postdate 1960, same 41% document findings between 1951-1960, and approximately half of the references predate 1951. In some chapters pose 1960 references run as little as 1-270, while pre-1951 references total above 65%. Thus much of the material in the hook is already available in Rodd's First Edition or, in much more complete f o r n , in reference amrks such as Beilsbein. Furthermore, many of the reactions discussed in the hook, even the more modern ones, m e not documented with reference a t all. I t would thus appear that the volume cannot be relied upon as a thoroughly adequate bridge to the original literature, even on those topics i t discus=. A continuing feature of the Rodd series is the inclusion of physical properties for selected individual examples of compounds (and their derivatives) of the classes under discussion. At least one physical property for each of almost 2900 specific compounds is listed in the present volume, and parent compounds (though not their included derivatives) are usually to he found listed in the volume's index. The selection of such compounds must be quite arbitrary, however, and the claas listings of compaunds and their derivatives are of necessity incomplete. Moreover, literature references to the compaunds whose physical properties are listed have not been ordinarily provided, and the quite meaningless datum of boiling point a t reduced preqsure is frequently the only physical property given. Derivatives of parent compaunds are unfortunately listed in running textual sequence, and are thus more difficult to locate than would be the case under tabular presentation. The volume thus falls short in its ad* quacy as a, source of general information on physical properties or as a guide to where these might be found. Like earlier volumes, the present one is a classicdly organized compendium of certain preparations, certain reactions, and certain specific examples of the classes of compounds in question. The increased bulk of the second edition seems probably attributable to the fact that the various sections have been expanded to include more recent work, without concomitant deletion of earlier material readily available in the first edit,ion. The section in Volume I B of the first edition dealing with preparative methods for 0keto esters (other than the Claisen condensation), for example, lists some 13 references. The present vnlume lists rome 24 referencw, but only 6 of these p?stdate 1952, the publicstion date of the ongird vohlme 1B. As before, the sub ject matter i.; presented quite non-critically, and no attempt is made to evaluate alternative preparative methods or to emphasize those which are superior. The "preparation-reaction" orientation of the hook leads to other shortcomings aa well. Relatively little emphsais is given, for example, to mechanism, stereochemical or confornational factors of reactions, stmetwe and phy~iealor chemical p r o p ertie.3, spectral data of various types, biological or biochemical considerations, or other topicz of interest to modern organic chemists. Thus decarbonylation is listed (undocumented) among the reactions of e k e t o acids, hut the pyrolysis of
radioactive ethyl pyruvate demonstrating ethoxycsrbonyl decarbonylation is not mentioned. Similitrlv, the mechanism of the pinacol rearrangement, illustrated by an incomplete equation, is documented by only one general reference (1953) to related rearrangements. The good typography, logical organization and meticulous editing associated with earlier volumez of the series continue in the present one. The continued practice of in-line reference citations, however, makes far rather minspired writing and for dull and tedious reading. The frequent use of lac. czl. would cause marked frustration to anyone actually attempting to pursue the original literature, and one wonders why simple references to Beilstein would not have sufficed for the preponderance of earlier literature cited. Many of the reactions discussed are illustrated by adequate equations, hut a disconcertingly large number are preseuted only verbally, a fact which certainly diminishes the utility of the volume for students. The second edition of Rodd should certainly find a continuing place on the shelf of the chemistry library, hut its price, hulk, duplication and somewhat marginal utility may discourage its acquisition by individual chemists. Stanford Univesity Stanford, California
Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology: Volume 7, Dialysis to Electron Spin Resonance
Anthmu Standen, executive editor. 2nd ed. Interscience Publishers (a division of John Wiley and Sons, Inc.), New York, 1965. xvi 903 pp. Figs. and tables. $35 (subscription); 545 (single
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COPY).
Thhlme Seven of the "Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology" includes several new topios, among the mare prominent of which are Diene Polymers, Drilling Fluids, and Elastomers. Chemical Economics
tronics. Most of the remaining sections remain the same, hut have been improved and u p dated. Diffusion ha? been split up into diffusion theory, followed hy a description of diffusion separation methods of interest to industry. The section on Distillation includes the pame descriplive material and graphical techniques as in the previous edition, hut has been amplified by including material on modern procedures of calcnlation and computer methods of calculation. The section an Drying is about twenty pages longer, and materially improved over the original diseussion of drying. Dust Engineering has been expanded, and the section on Dyes and Dye Intermediates has been expanded and brought up to date. The style, printing quality, and other characteristics of the "Encyclopedia" are equal to, or better than, the original edi(Continued on page A008)
