JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
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COLLISION PROCESSES IN GASES
F. L. Arnot, late Lecturer in Physics, University of Sidney. Fourth edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1950. viii 104pp. 37 hgs. 11 X 17om. $1.25.
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THE KINETIC THEORY OF GASES Martin Knudsen, Professor of Physics, University of Copenhagen. Third edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1950. vii 64 pp. 20 figs. 11 X 17 cm. $1.25.
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of a single investigator fits in with the discoveries of others in the same field. For the exuerienced research worker these books
them very convenient for reading in odd moments, anoh as on the train or while waiting for one's wife to dress or for the fish to bite. Their modest price, and facile and authoritative style make them very attractive. WALTER B, KEIGHTON SW*.T"MO.ECOL'BDB
X-RAYS
B. L. Worsnop and F. C. Cholklin. Third edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1950. viii 17cm. $1.25.
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47 figs. 11 X
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THESEfour little books are fram the series known as "Methuen's Monographs on Physical Subjects," published in England by Methuen and Co. Ltd., of London. Each one is an exposition of a restricted field of scientific inquiry, written for readers of "average scientific attainment." Mr. k n o t ' s monograph is restricted to collision processes in gases a t low pressures where the mean free paths of the colliding particles are large compared to their diameter. Under these conditions single collisions may be studied. Such collision processes as glow and are discharges, or diffusion,which occur at higher pressures and must be studied by statistical methods, are excluded from the hook. Professor Knudseu writes principally of his own investigations on the effusion of gases through holes or tubes, heat conduction, coefficient of acccmmodation, etc., and deals only with that part of the kinetic theory that he has found useful in his own researches. Such topics as Maxwell's law for the distribution of velocities of gas molecules, or equations of state for nonidesl gases are therefore omitted. The monograph on X-rays has sections on the production of X-rays, X-ray spectrometry, Bohr's theory of emission
trs, using "the picturesque language of the older thearv. . talkine . ~ ..freelv" about such things as electronic nosition and orhitnl motion." for LC maintain? that "the eapcriuwnt~lph)+ vist a n d chemist inevitably cling to this n r r c k a ~ elest thrv bc drowned in 1 1 rnnthcrnatical ~ arn." Ilc nwt~rtlwlrrsirdirates thase points a t which the new quantum theory or wave mechanics are particularly illuminating. Each author includes a bihliography or suggestions for detailed reading so that those whose interest is stimulated mayconsult other sources for a more comprehensive treatment of the subject. The advertising statement an the jacket that the series is intended to supply "a compact statement of the modern position in each subject" should mislead no one. "Modern" means "not ancient," and is not to bo confused with contemporary. The first two of these books were written in 1933 and have been ~~~
1946. However, neither the failure t o revise some of these monographs nor their necessarily circumscribed nature detract much fram their value. They are not treatises, but more akin to an exolanatian hv . the author of his own research interests. .intimate I he studmt s h u t to undrrtrrkr r*mnli can learn from tlrrse hook- lmw one rcspnrvh proldcrn Iwdr ro mother, how the work
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PHOTONS AND ELECTRONS
K. H. Spring. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1950. vii 108 pp. 38 figs. 11 X 17 cm. $1.75.
ATOMIC SPECTAA
R. C. Johnson, Master of Queen's College. University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Second edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1950. viii 120 pp. 38 figs. 11 X l7cm. $1.25.
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THIS book, one of "Methuen's Monographs on Physical Suhbjects," is a worthy newcomer to that excellent series. The object of the book is to present a fairly brief account of present-day knowledge concerning the more important ways in which electrons interact with radiation. The phenonlena dealt with me not primarily those involving low energies (of the order of one or a few electron volts), in which the chemist is mainly interested, but rather those involving high energies (kev. and mev.), of interest more to the radiation physicist. The book is written for readers of average scientific attainments, and the treatments given presuppose a. general familiarity with quantum theory and elementary radiation theory; there is, however, a chapter on "Fundamentals" in which the salient points of the presupposed theoretical background are reviewed very briefly. For derivations of the many equations given the reader is for the most part referred elsewhere. Processes in which photons lose energy to electrons, namely the photoelectric effect and the Compton effect,are firat treated, and then the reciprocal processes, in which electrons lose energy with the production of photons, as in Bremsstrahlung and Cerenkcv radiation, are discussed. After a brief introduction to the nature of the positive electron, the phenomenon of pair-production and the reciprocal process of electron-positron annihilation are treated. In the final chapter cosmic ray phenomena are described and treated in the light of the processes mentioned earlier, and the theory of shower development is summarized. Throughout the book considerable emphasis is placed on the directional aspects involved in the processes treated. In many places in the book experimental reresults are presented and correspondence with theory is discussed. DAVID P. SHOEMAKER Cmrsonar* 1 w e m ~ u l . sOF Tscnsomor
P * a * o m ~ .CALIFORNIA
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A TEXTBOOK OF GENERAL ORGANIC CHEM. ISTRY: STEREOCHEMISTRY
E. d e Barry Barnett, formerly Head of the Chemistry Department, Sir b h n Cass Technical Institute. Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, 169 pp. 14 X 22.5 cm. $4. Ltd., London, 1950. ix
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ITSEEMS unfortunate to this reviewer that the author has published this material as s. separate book instead of following his original plan of using it as a chapter in an advanced textbook of organic chemistry. He says in the preface that "no textbook on stereochemistry has appeared in English since the publication of the second and final edition of Stewart's 'Stereothemistry' in 1919." Although this statement technically is correct, an objection t,o it can be raised, since the chapter entitled "Stereoisomerism" by Shriner, Adams, and Marvel in Gilman's "Organic Chemistry," published first in 1938 and revised in 1943, is a more extensive treatment than that of the hook under review. Moreover, in the reviewer's opinion, this book is less clearly written
