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B. CRUMPLEB AND JOHN H. YOE. Chemical Computations and Errors. By THOMAS 247 pp. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1940. Price: 93.00. At the present time many students of chemistry are graduated without adequate training in or appreciation of the thoroughly practical nature of the theory of measurements and errors. I t is t o be hoped that the present volume will stimulate interest in these subjects a8 well as serve as a useful text and elementary reference book. The first eighty pages of this book are devoted to a detailed discussion of certain selected computational and algebraical methods which are of particular interest t o students of physics and chemistry. The theories of measurements and errors, and their practical applications, are discussed in the next one hundred twenty pages. This section includes an elementary introduction t o the mathematics of probability, as well as a careful analysis of some of the sources of the persistent (i.e., corrigible) errors which occur in the more common physicochemical measurements. The last chapter, twenty-four pages long, contains an account of some of the simpler methods of “curve fitting.” The several chapters are followed by a number of interesting and practical problems, the numerical solutions of which are given in the appendix. This book appears t o be intended for the undergraduate student and is written so simply and in such detail that f e n students should experience any difficulty in using i t for independent study. Although the treatment is straightforward and simple throughout, the authors have employed a rather scholarly style, somewhat uncommon i n present-day texts. While i t is primarily designed for undergraduates, this book contains some sections which should prove of value to many graduates as well as to a few more mature students of chemistry. The book is attractively printed and appears to be unusually free from errors. Although i t is of no importance in the context, i t may be worth while t o point out that 6.06 X loas (as given on page 2) is not a t present “the accepted value” of Avogadro’s number. ROBERTLIVINGSTON.
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Chemistry and Medicine. MAURICEB. VISSCHER,Editor. v 296 pp.; 77 illustrations and graphs; 20 tables. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 1940. Price: $4.50. In this book are collected the revised and edited papers presented (October 12, 13, and 14,1939) as the scientific program of the celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the founding of the Medical School of the University of Minnesota. The scope of the topics discussed and the authority with which they are presented is demonstrated by the list of subjects and authors, v i z : “Some Aspects of the Colloid Chemistry of Membranes,” by Herbert Freundlich; “The Performance of Osmotic Work in Living Systems,” by Maurice B. Visscher; “Some Reactions by Which Solutes May Be Differentially Concentrated by the Kidney,” by John P. Peters; “Organir Chemistry in the Pursuit of Vitamin Research,” by Lee Irvin Smith; “On the Kecessity of Fats in the Diet,” by George 0. Burr; “Heparin and Thrombosis,” by Charles H. Best; “Recent Chemical Trends in the Study of Immunity,” by Michael Heidelherger; “The Biology of Animal Viruses,” by Robert G. Green; “The Mode of Action of SJfanilamide and its Derivatives,” by Perrin H. Long; “Chemistry in Urinary Antisepsis,” by Henry F. Helmholz; “The Physicochemical Approach t o the Mechanisms of Convulsive Reactivity,” by Irvine McQuarrie; “Methods of Analysis of Nervous Action,” by Herbert S. Gasser; “The Nervous Regulation of Visceral Process,” by Detlev W. Bronk; “The Argument for Chemical Mediation of Nerve Impulses,” by Walter B. Cannon. In all instances a sufficiently comprehensive review is presented t o develop adequately the background for the deacription of the investigations reported by each
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author. In some caaes, particularly with regard to the papers having reference t o bacteriology, chemotherapy, and nerve physiology the papers are actually concise, complete, and well-organized reviews whose scope and content are well described by their titles. Each paper is supplemented by a list of referenres. The emphasis aa to the work described naturally lies on that done in the laboratory of each author and upon the investigations contributory to that work. The result is t h a t i n no other book is i t possible t o find such a synthesis of the work and of the interpretations thereof of so many authorities. The book is easily readable, even though there has been no sacrifice of exactness of description i n an attempt a t a popular style. This book should be read by all who have any interest in the modern applications of chemistry t o biological processes. W. D. ARMSTRONG. Introduction to Bessel Functions. By F. BOWMAN.Z?. X 14 cm.; 134 pp. London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1938. Price: .log: 6d. net. Mr.Bowman’s small book has a value out of all proportion to its size, and will be welcomed by all students of physical science who desire to obtain rapidly an understanding of the more elementary propcrties of thesc functions. The author starts from the definition of a Beesel function of zero order in terms of a power series, and proceeds t o a consideration of modified Bessel functions, definite integrals, asymptotic expansions, and Bessel functions of any real order. There are a number of well-selected applications of physical interest, and each chapter is accompanied by a set of exercises of various grades of difficulty. ALLAHFERGUBON. The Nature of the Chemical Bond. Second edition, revised. By LINUSPAULING. 4.5 x 7 in.; xvi 450 pp. Ithaca, New York: Cornel1 University Press, 1940. Price: $4.50. In this second, revised, edition only relatively minor changes have been made from the text of the first edition, which was reviewed in this Journal recently (J. Phys. Chem. 44,827 (1940)). New material has been inserted in several places, increasing the total length by twenty pages. Particularly interesting are the increaaed discussion (pp. 217-21) of conjugated systems, and the new section on free and restricted rotation about single bonds (pp. 90-2). ROBERTS. MULLIKEN.
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AND KAI 0. PEDERSBN. In cooperation The Ultracentrifuge. By THESVEDBERG with J. H. Bauer and E. G. Pickels; G . Boestad; E. 0. Kraemer and J. B. Nichols; 0.Lamm; A. S. McFarlane; R. Signer. 478 pp. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1940. Price: $12.50. All who are interested in biochemistry or, quite generally, in biology will welcome this extensive monograph on the ultracentrifuge and will find i t most useful. The book is not confined to ultracentrifuges of the Svedberg type, but also contains :I chapter (by J. H. Bauer and E. G. Pickels) giving a detailed description of the construction and operation of air-driven ultracentrifuges as developed by J. W. Beams, J. H. Bauer, and others. The four major parts of the monograph are: I. Theory of Sedimentation. 11. Construction and Operation of Ultracentrifuges. 111. Methods of Measurement. IV. Results Obtained with Svedberg Ultracentrifuges. The last part contains two chapters,-one on proteins, the other on organic colloids (with the exception of proteins). A complete bibliography should be mentioned here too. The most remarkable results so f a r obtained by Svedberg with the ultracentrifuge
