JANUARY, 1952 tinuaus media it will not provide an adequate preparation for students who desire to acquire competenoc in mechanics for use in such important modern fields as acoustics and elasticity. Even for those readers planning to go on to quantum mechanics some elementary considerations of quantum theory would have made the volume muoh more helpful. However, in the rather severely limited realm to which thev Lave restricted their attention, the authors have produced a su6stsntial and valuable work. R. B. LINDSAY
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RADIOCHEMICAL STUDIES: THE FISSION PRODUCTS. BOOKS 1.2, AND 3
Edited by Charles D. Coryell, Department of Chemistry, Maasachusetts Institute of Technolagy, and Nathan Sugarman, Institute for Nuclear Studies and Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago. Division N , Plutonium Project Record, Volume 9, National Nuclear Energy Series. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1951. 1m 2086 pp. 687 figs. 275 tables. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $18.50per set.
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TBESEthree books provide a scirntific and technical rccord of research carried out on the nation's wartime Plutonium Project from May, 1942 to June, 1946 by members of the fission-product groups s t Chicago, Oak Ridge, Ames, Berkeley, Bloomington, Hanford;and Los Alamas. The task of the fission-product radiochemistry groups included the isolation and chararterieation of mare than 100 new nuclear species formed in uranium and plutonium fission, extending over that section of the chemist's periodic table from zinc (2 = 30) through gadolinium (2 = 64). When one recogni~esthat the chemical behavior of many of these elements, such as ~irconium,niobium, molybdenum, ruthenium, and the rare-earth elements, had not been investigated evtensively prior to 1942 and that the separation of these elements in a state of purity was often difficult to achieve, one begins to realize the magnitude of the task. Moreover, these new nuclear specie8 had to be isolated in tracer amounts from highly radioactive and chemically complex mixtures and subjected to rxdiochemical purification involving separation factors as large as a billion, sometimes by remote-control processes and often within times of the order of seconds or a. few minutes in contrast with separation times of the order of an hour often encountered in conventional analvtical se~aration methods. ~ i 336 e research papers making up the three volumes cover not only bhe mdiochemktry of the fission products, as the title of the volumes indicates, but also details of instrumentation and specialilieed techniques, as well as information on the physies and technology of the fission products and nuclear chain reactions. The topics covered are perhaps best indicated by listing the subdivisions of the volumes: Part I, Countine, Techniques; Part 11, Chemical Studies at Tracer Levels; Part 111, Remote-Cont,rol Techniques; Part IV, Studies of the Fission Process; Part V, Radiaact,ivity of the Fission Products; Part VI, Radiochemistry of the Fission-Product Elements; Part VII, Special Studies of Gaseous Fission Products; and Part VIII, Radiochemicd Studies of Other Activities. The editors have written an introduction to each of these parts in order to correlate the papers and acquaint the reader with the terminology and methodology required for an understanding of the papers in each subdivision. Each paper is preceded by an abstract. The volumes are completed by four appendixes: A, FissionProduct Decay Chains; H, Fission Yieldsj C, Nuolides Farmcd in Thermal Fission; and D, Author Index. An adequate subject index is included. The numcrous figures have been well executed and most of the papers are u d l supported by tahlrs of data. The volumes have been lithoprinted and are attractive in format and sturdily bound. There is inevitable overlapping of subject matter among some of thr? papers, and some conflict of results reported in different papers. However, the editors have carefully t~ddedfootnotes as
well as references to the postwar liternture so as to assist the reader in ohtaining the best evsluntion of the work reported. Cross references have been liberally used. Thus, the over-all result is to give the reader not only the benefit of the more recent results and their interpret,ation, hut also a. historical survey of the progress of this research during the years of World War 11. These, volumes should definitely be of eonsider~hlevalue to nuclear chemists and nuclear physicists, analytical chemists, chemical engineers, and reactor technologists, and to all who are interested in one of the more fascinating aspects of the nation's ~.tomicenergy program. Especially valuable to radiochemists are the numerous detailed methods for the separation of tracer amounts of radionuclides. Although most of these methods relate to separations from reactorslug solutions and fission-product mixtures, the method8 should he helpful to the radiochemist in working out his own separation problems. The editors undertook a monumental task in compiling these volumes and deserve the gratitude of their fellow scientists for the excellence of their product. This reviewer e m well imagine their sighs of relief when their work was completed and the sincerity of their thankfulness which seemingly prompted the date of the volume editors' preface' Thanksgiving, 1950. C*IIPORNI* LOBA N ~ E L E CA~IFORNIA B,
CLIFFORD S. GARNER
U N ~ V E R ~ I TOP Y
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CHEMISTRY OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
Carl R. Noller, Professor of Chemistry, Stanford University. W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1951. ix 885 pp. 97 figs. 28 tables. 16 X 24em. $7.
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As R E ~ E R SOF THISJOURNAL will recogniee, C. R. Noller has heon foremost in advocating application of the molecular orbital theory to the teaching of organic ohemistry. Exposition of this theory and s. sane use of mechanisms are outstanding features of his text. The fundamental ideas on mechanisms are given in a sepsrak chapter after alcohols and dkyl halides %rediscussed. Thereafter, mechanisms are presented in fine print. The order of presentation in this t,ext is neither traditional nor does it follow the presently popular concurrent treatment of aliphatic and aromatic chemistry. After about 400 pages on aliphatic compounds, 250 pages on aromatics and heterocyclics follow and then 200 pages on polyfimctional aliphatic oompounds. However, amino acids and csrbohydratrs are discussed in the ' first section but the polyfunctional compounds suah ss acetoacetic ester are eiven a less oraminent ~osition(near the end) than has hem customary witi moat textbook authors. ~ut'oxidakion, antioxidants, and orqmio peroxides, and silicon and phmphom8 rompounda have been treated at nome length, indicating the wowing importance of these topirs in current thinking. Recent results on meohanisms in peroxide formation is not reviewed, however. The author must have dug deep to find so many interesting details on industrial processes and the economic aspects of chemi ~ t r since y those are not easy to find. There are excellent neetions on soaps, eellulo~eproducts, ruhbor, and other topice. It is goad to see statistics on production for years later than 1940 again. While the most important name reactions appear, the names thrmselws are given secondary consideration, a step in the right direction. Since the names are indexed, this causes no undue difficultyinlocating them. Short. paragraphs on prominent organic chemists appearing as footnotes present side lights which should provoke students to seek a wider historied background. The men's namee are indexed at theend of the hook. The hook as a whole is remsrkahly free of errors of fact and mi8print.s are few. In appendexea. the Greek alphithet and a guide to pronunciation taken from the News Edition, 12, 202 (19341, are given. Inside the bsek cover is an old short form of the periodic table. I can find little to criticise adversel" in this text; I do not like the onier of prepentation hut that is a matter of taste and the
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
54 chapters have cross references so that, after the first few, the order mav he chosen.
recently by Dr. Killisn a t a meeting of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. A statement on page 521 that carhoxylase contains five s t o m of magnesium fails to consider that only one atom of magnesium per mol of cooarbmylase was found by Kubowitz in Warburg's laboratory. To describe carbaxylase (which has the function to split pyruvio acidinto acetaldehyde and CO,) as an enzyme which "transfers phosphoric acid to and from other participants in the carhohydrate cycles, for eample adenosine triphosphate" is incorrect. The author apparently confuses this enzyme with other thiamine-pyrophosphate-containing enzyme systems, suoh as pyruvic acid dehydrogenase. On page 522 structures of a thial and a disulfide form of thiamine are shown with the statement that these compounds participate in redox systems during the biological utilization of glucose. There are no experimental facts to supportsuch claims. The reviewer encountered only relatively few misprints in this book; for example: asculatary (page 319) should read auscultatow. The shortcomines mentioned above are not too serious and Dr. Burger's treatise is quite useful to anybody who wishes to have a compact survey of the field of medicinal chemistry.
in favor of wods or phrases already adequate. Rut the second quarrel cannot he dismissed lightly. Repestedly the author uses the followine sentence oonstruction as illustrated hv an examnle t a k e n fronl iBige 89: '.Th? ~ w x tmohiliry of hydro& thnt is 1 r 8 Rnse of t r t i n ~ ffntm ~ r clnr rlrctmn-:~ttnvtinyrlrmrnt to another \Vhilt. I am not a strict constructionist on punctuatiou. the sense of this sentence cannot he garnered in one reading unless "that is" is set off by commas. If the Latin signpost "id est" were used then one comma might be considered sufficient since the reader would have warning of what was coming. LEALLYN B. CLAPP ~~
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Bnowm U N ~ V E R ~ ~ T Y
PROTIDBNCE. RAODZ ISLAND
Alfred Burger, Associate Professor of Chemisby, University of Virginia. Interscience Publishers. Inc., New York. 1951. xviii 577 pp. 15 figs. 5 7 tables. 16 X 24 em. $10.
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THE QUANTlTATlON OF MIXTURES OF HEMOVOLUME1 of this comprehensive treatise contains 28 chaptern, 0 GLOBIN DERIVATIVES BY PHOTOELECTRIC SPEC to be followed by an additional 15 chapters in Volume 2. The TROPHOTOMETRY first 6 chapters (72 pages) deal with subjeots of a general nature, such as Relation of Chemical Structure and Bialaeical Activit,~. Fmncis T. Hunter, Associate in Medicine, Hamard Medical School; Associate Physician and Clinical Pathdogist, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Ill., 1951. xx 226 pp. 6 figs. 44 charts. 16 X 23.5 cm. drugs, analgetics, analeptics, cardiavrtseular drugs, and diuretics $8.50. are followed by a discussion of drugs acting an the gastrointestinal THIS small book is directed to biochemists, especially those in tract, expectorants, adrenergic drugs and blocking agents, parasympathetic stimulants, curare and curmifarm drugs, and anti- medical schools. The specific objective i~ the popularization of spasmodics. Chapten on antihistaminic drugs, diagnostic spectrophotometric methods. The illustrative examples are agents, antithyroid drugs, drugs for the treatment of cancer, and polycomponent systems containing hemoglobin derivatives. There are essentially two parts to the book, the description and vitamins conclude Volume 1. I t is an ambitious enterprise for one person to attempt to cover charts. The first half of the descriptive material (Part I, 34 such a. vast field singlehanded. The advantage of having only pages) deals with the general principles,, including the theory of one author for such a treatise is that a much more uniform, com- wectrmhotometric measurement of nolvcom~anentsvstems. and pact, and even treatment of the various subjects is possihle than could be hoped for if 28 specialists had collaborated in writing this volume. A disadvantage is-nd the suthor seems to be aware of this-that one individual cannot handle equally well oxyhemoglobin, hemochromogen, carbon monoxide saturation, all the aspects of medicinal chemistry. Dr. Burger's reseakh oxygen saturation, neutral methemoglobin, hemoglobin pigments work has dealt mainly with synthetio organic chemistry and his in serum, and erythrocyte volume. Appendices I and I1 comprise most of the second half of the description of the organic chemistry of various drugs is, therefore, authoritative and exact. However, when the author leaves his book, some 100 pages being devoted to transmission curves, field of specialization and discusses developments in neighboring simple calibration curves based upon suoh data, infomstion on the experimental conditions (but without cell thickness), and sciences his statements are not always equally reliable. A table on page 19 states that Warburg's respiratory enzyme nomographic aids. All data. are for the Cenoo-Shnard Speotrowas found to contain riboflavin. Biochemists call the rihoflavin- photelometer. Isosbestio is not spelled correctly. Two ususual usages are the plural form, millimiera, and quanticontaining enzymes "yellow ensymes" as differentiated from Warburg's respiratory enagme or cytochrome oxidase, which contnins tation for the analyst's word, determination. The reviewer s. hemin-type prosthetic group. On pages 2 5 6 7 plasma-acoeler- would have preferred closer adherence to the symbols recomator globulin is persistently referred to as globin, which is the mended by the Society for Applied Spectroscopy (and other protein moiety of hemoglobin. On page 220 it is reported as a groups). The few references would be more convenient as footfact that chlorophyll absorbs odors and may he taken orally t o notes on the pages cited. The work of E. S. Miller, F. P. Zscbeile, preclude. various body odors. However, the National Bureau of and E. I. Stearns on polycomponent systems might have been Standards and the National Institute of Health stated in 1944 mentioned, especially Stearrw' use of log log ordinate plotting. that ohloronhvll was an inert ineredient in a certain household ~-. M. G. MELLON deodorant, and the ineffectiveness of chlorophyll preparations PORoXJE, UNWEB-Tr LAIATBTT& INDIANA (taken orally) far control of perspiration odora was painbed out
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