NEW BOOKS
NEW BOOKS The Chemistry of Large Molecules. Vol. I of Frontiers $11. Chemistry. Edited by R . E. BURK AND OLIVERCRUMMITT.Published under the auspices of Western Reserve University. 6 x 99 in.; 313 pp.; 60 fig.; 31 tables. New York: Interscience Publishers, Inc., 1943. Price: $3.50. This collection of eight contributions by six well-known collaborators constitutes Volume I of a series entitled Frontiers i n Chemistry and sponsored by the Western Reserve University, a t which the material was originally presented in the form of a series of lectures. Professor H . Mark contributes two sections,-“The Mechanism of Reactions of Polymerization,” and “The Investigation of High Polymers by X-rays. Dr. Elmer 0. Kraemer treats two subjects,-“The Colloidal Behavior of Organic Macromolecular Materials,” and “The Ultracentrifuge and its Application to the Study of Organic Macromolecules.” “The Elastic Viscous Properties of Matter” are discussed by three joint authors, Arthur Tobolsky, Richard E . Powell, and Henry Eyring. “The Electrical Properties of High Polymers” is presented by Raymond M . Fuoss, “The Organic Chemistry of Vinyl Polymers” by C. s. Marvel, and “The Chemistry of Cellulose and Cellulose Derivatives” by Emil O t t . This entire work, covering a field of intense present interest, is presented by eminent authorities in their respective subjects. Western Reserve University is t o be congratulated upon the successful initiation of a splendid program. S. C. LIND. The Chemical Background f o r Engine Research. Val. I1 of Frontiers i n Chemistry. Edited by It. E . BURKAND OLIVERCRUMMITT.Published under the auspices of Western Reserve University. 6 x 9 t in.; 297 pp. New York: Interscience Publishers, Inc., 1943. Price: $3.50. The most intimate point of contact between chemical and engine research is to be found, of course, in the internal-combustion engine. Here chemical energy and mechanical power come to grips in a way generally familiar to the layman who was quite conversant with the terms “knock”, “anti-knock”, “octane number,” and “high octane gasoline” even long bcfore the present war. Although greatly aided by chemistry, the development of the combustion engine t o its present status has been largely empirical. Synthetic organic chemistry has produced the pure hydrocarbons for research which has shown the way so successfully followed by the application of catalytic methods for industrial production of high octane gasoline in vast quantities. I n the theory of combustion and the most effective utilization of chemical energy there has been a concentrated attack bringing all the modern principles of thermodynamics and of chemical kinetics to bear on the subject of flame propagation. The reader will recognize in the several collaborators authorities most competent to treat their respective subjects. E. F. Fiock, “Survey of Combustion Research”; F. D. Rossini, “Chemical Thermodynamics of Hydrocarbons”; F. C. Whitmore, “Synthetic Methods for Hydrocarbons”; G. von Elbe, “ICinetics of Flame and Combustion”; Bernard Lewis, “Experimental Side of Combustion Research in Engines”; 0.Beeck, “Some Physicochemical Aspects of Lubrication”. On account of the necessity of war secrecy the field is brought down only through 1940, though new and interesting revelations are promised later. S. C. LIND. Coke Formation Process and Physico-Chemical Properties of Coals. By W. SWIETOSLAWSKI. 6t x 9f in.; viii 145 pp.; 47 fig.; 15 tables. New York: Herald Square Press, Inc., 1942. Price: $3.50.
+
711
712
NEW BOOKS
This book, listed as the first of a Polish Institute series, is essentially a monograph describing researches conducted by the Coal Division of the Chemical Rcsearch Institute, Warsaw, Poland. The author has had to prepare the material for publication in this country without the aid of detailed notes or bibliography, as is readily apparent. The many inaccuracies, extremely poor editing, misspelling, unusual sentence structure, and limited bibliography detract materially from what is bpically a sound attempt to correlate the various physicochemical phenomena occurring during the carbonization of coal. Despite these deficiencies the book should be of interest to fuel technologists and to others interested in coke manufacture, and especially so to those whose interest lies in the utilization of the lower rank coals of the mid- and far-west. The first four chapters cover primarily the classification, the sorption phenomena, the activation, and the ignition temperature of coals. The B.S.T.M. classification of coals is incorrectly attributed to the Bureau of Mines and incorrectly reproduced and interpreted. This leads to numerous inconsistencies in later sections of the book. Several statements regarding the properties of the petrographic constituents of coals will be questionod by most fuel technologists. Almost no mention is made of the extensive literature on both the sorption properties and ignition temperaturc of coal, and most of the discussion and conclusions appear to be based upon rather limited experimental data. Chapters 5 to 7 deal with the plasticity, binding polver, and agglutinating properties of coals. Although some of the data are misinterpreted, owing l o misunderstanding of the -4.S.T.K classification, and some of the important researches along these linea are neglected, the subject is well presented. A new method is described for determining the binding power and for expressing the agglutinating properties of coals from measurements of the relative abrasion strength of binderless briquettes and of coke buttons, respectively. Chapters 8 to 10 cover swelling phenomena and the permeability of the plastic zone. The treatment of this important subject is somewhat sketchy, but several interesting ideas and research problems are suggested. Chapter 11 covers briefly the rather meager data on heat of carbonization, and chapter 12, a means for determining the volume and average molecular weight of the gas developed during the early stages of carbonization. Chapters 13 to 15 deal with an analysis of thc coke formation process in the light of thc physicochemical phenomena occurring in t h e five different zones-cold zone or raw coal zonc, preplastic zone, plastic zone, critical or solidification zone, and semicoke or contraction zono. From this analysis the author concludes that the properties of coke are largely fixed by the transformations occurring in the plastic and contraction zones. To secnre optimum results the rate of heating through the plastic zone should be as rapid as possible, TThile the rate of heating in the contraction zone should be relatively slow. I t is impossible to maintain these two opposing conditions in present-day coke ovens, but in chapter 16 a two-stage coking process is described which accomplishes the desired result. The author points out both the technical advantages and the economic limitations of such a process. I n general, illustrations throughout the book are poorly reproduced. Figure 20 is apparently an error, since the graph does not agree with either the title or the text. The tables are not numbered, and generally the basis of the analyses and, in some cases, even the units in which the data arc presented are omitted. C. C. WRIGHT.
The Electron Microscope. By E. F. BURTOXA N D W. €1. KAHL. 233 p p , ; 110 fig. New I’ork: Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1942. Price: $3.85. Although the title might lead one to believe this T O be merely a descript,ion of the electron microscope and its applications, it is much more. Quite properly an optical background is first presented, extending over six chapters. The physics of the electron and the dual theory of light and of the rlectron are then introduced. Midway in the text magnetic lenses arc described. Later this electrostatic electron microscope is treated and finally the ccmpound elcctron microscope of the magnetic type.
