A COURSEIN POWDERMETALLURGY. Walter J. Baiza, Instructorof P. Metallurgy, The College of the City of New York. Reinhold Publishing Corporation, New York, 1943. 212 pp. 27 figs. 23 X 14 cm. W.50. The first section of this b w k is excellent. The historical development of powder metallurgy is logically and clearly presented. The present developments and uses are also well stated. The various steps in the production of a finished article are so fully described that a reader wholly unfamiliar with the process will get a satisfactory knowledge of the methods used. An evaluation of the second Dart of the b w k (Laboratow Methods) must be based on theassumption that the author primarily concerned with powder metallurgy as an art rather than as a science. I t is clear that a student fallowing thevery explicit instructions far each operation can make simple alloys by the powder method. He will, however, have very little conception of the fundamental principles involved unless these are discussed a t length by the instructor or made available in the form of collateral reading. Little attention is paid, for example, to the mechanism of diffusion or the effects of temperature an the diffusion rate. Effects of powder size, shape, and surface condition have received almost no consideration. There is little discussion of the finished product from the metallurgist's viewpoint. What, for example, is the microstructure of the alloy and how does this affect the mechanical properties? What are the fundamental reasons for hot pressing rather than cold pressing? These and manv other ouestions will occur to a reader who is interested not nmrrly in learning how n leaded hearing is made bur in .tudying rbe scientific approach to the general problem. The war emergency has probably made it unwise to deviate too much from empiricism but it is hoped that in later editions the author will devote much more attention t o the basic principles underlying this relatively new and rapidly expanding technique. ROBERT S. WILLIAMS
CHEMICALELEMENTS. I. Nccham. Translated by Batrice Kinhead. Coward-McCann, Inc.. New York. 1942. 20 X 13.5em. 223 pp. 13 figs. $2.50. Every hih-schwl pupil and college student of elementary chemistry can understand this charming book, and will read i t with enjoyment and profit. I n simple and fascinating fashion it tells the stow of the discoverv of a number of the elements. Included are intrmate glimpses 61 Scheele, the inquisitive apothecary; I.avoi&r, the shrewd weigher; Ilavy, the dashing dancer and ingcniour experimenter; Fraunholer. Hunxn, aod Iiirchoff, spectroscopists extraordinary; Mendeleyev, prophet and guide; and Madame Curie, tireless worker surmounting stubborn obstacles. "Chemical Elements" has definite inspirational value. Boys and girls will enjoy its absorbing stories. Copies should be available wherever elementary chemistry is taught. ELBERTC. WBAVBR BUGXQLSY Hma SCHOOL H A R T P OCONNBCI.ICVT ~.
E x c u ~ s r o IN ~ s SCIENCE. Edited by Nei1.B. Reynolds, General Elactric Company, and Ellis L. Manning, Supervisor of Science, New York State Department of Education. McGrawHill Book Company. Inc.. New York, 1939. xiii 307 pp. 14 X 21 cm. $2.50. This book is based on a series of radio programs sponsored by the General Electric Company in which some thirty scientists present some of the most interesting stories of their respective fields. Thirty-five fascinating stories are told here, ranging from simple experiments in science by Dr. Irving Langmuir to electron optics and the limitations of science. The contributors are in most instances well known, trained in their particular field, and
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capable of producing not only a successful experiment but a capital story about it. Because the "excursions" are concrete, the book makes engrossing reading. When you have finished reading the book, you can continue the "excursions" by perfoming many of the experiments yourself from their concrete illustrations and specific directions. GRETAOPPE BILL HlOe ScnooL GALVBSTON, T&XAS
TREATMENT OF EXPERIMENTAL DATA. Archie 6. Worthing. Universitv of Pittsburnh. - . and Joseah Geffner.. Weirton Steel Company. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1943. ix 342 pp. Figures. Tables. 15 X 23 cm. $4.50. When he filed his List of courses for the year, a young chemistry student was once asked why he had included a course in higher mathematics, t o which he replied that he wanted t o learn how t o make simple r e u l t s look complicated by the use of mathematics. As a matter of fact, of course, within what perhaps seem t o be very simple results there may lie hidden some important but complicated relation. Every student, a t some stage in his training, should be made t o realize the dangers of making either too much or too little of his experimental data. This danger can be avoided only by a knowledge of the various methods of analysis available. While some of this volume will be beyond the mathematical ability of our average student reader the same advice holds good here as with regard t o his general mathematical education: he should absorb all he can of it. Certainly, the first few chapters can be read t o advantage by anyone who has t o handle t h e results of quantitative experiments, even if it be only in the preparation of laboratory reports.
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CHEMISTRY AND THE AEROPLANE.Vernon J. Clanccv. The Ronald Press Company, New York, 1943. vi 17Bpp. 1 3 X 19 cm. $2.25. Because of interest in both aviation and chemistry, I have been wondering when the book would appear which linked the two fields. Here it is. As the British author explains "Without chemistry there would have been no aeroplane . . . It would not be correct, however, t o say that chemical knowledge alone made flight possible. No amount of chemical knowledge alone could produce flight. At the same time no amount of knowledge of aerodynamics, of the structure and design of machines, would have made it possible either. The two things go hand in hand. They form aoartnershio." In what lollurr, the aliation-mindcd reader will find a brief hut sound c0ur.e of training in the various hranche\ of chemistry which have a bearing on the construction and opkration of airplanes. Although not extensive, the treatment is by no means superficial. There is included enough organic chemistry for an understanding of the composition of hydrocarbon and other fuels, plastics, and rubber; enough metallurgy to understand the methods f a the production of iron and steel and the important nonferrous metals, as well as the composition, properties, and behavior of alloys, ferrous and nonferrous. What surprise one most, perhaps, is the extent t o which physical chemistry is drawn upon. The following list of topics and their applications will look like the table of contents of a textbook of physical chemistry: gas laws and equations of state (engine operation); solutions (solid solutions and eutectics); fluid behavior and vapor pressure (carburetion and engine cooling); heats of reaction and thermodvnamics (eneine ooeration): manufac, . catalvsis (fuel . rum); rwcrion mtchanisnl (cornbustion and knock inhtbirion. ; colloids (lubrication, rubber, ' dopes" ; electrochemistry (sror. age batteries). The book is one of a group in which each of the fundamental sciences is treated in its relation t o aeronautics.
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