FEBRUARY, 1948
119
strongly bound. The continued paper shortage is reflected in t,he narrowness of the page margins. Typographical errors have been reduced to a very small number and these are usually of no importance; the only one found which sppears likely to confuse s. student is the fonnnla for persulfurio acid, written H&O2 on page 363, and this formula is given correctly on the next page. The few minor imperfections mentioned do not detract from the general excellence of the book. The author has assumod m intelligent interest an the part of the st,udent, and has mitten as though in respqnse to that interest. He has expected the student, to have s reasonably adult general vocabulary, hut his definit,ions of technical words a t the end'of end, chspter are carefully and clearly stated, and constitute onc of the notable features of the work. The exercises are well graded, and questions are frrquently worded so as to require a thoughtful answer. Numerioal problem have their answers given as significant figures without units or. a dceimel mint: the reasoning-Dower of the student is . expected to supply both.' The final chapter, called "Chemistry and the Spirit of Science," is important, snd is s satisfactory conclusion to a text which prosents ehcmistry not as a collection of facts but as a manner of thinking. The literary quality of the book is high throughout. Many an instructor as well as student will he stimulat,ed by thc piquancy and imaginat,ian of tho writing. PERRY Y. JACKSON
ST. PETER'SC O ~ . E B E J~na.;u CITY,NEW JERSET 0
BACTERIAL CHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY
John R. Porter, Department of Biochemistry, State University of Iowa. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1946. 1073 pp. 2 in. dezes. $12. BACTERIOMQY has always been a mixed science drawn from widelv seoarated and intensivelv develooed snecialities. Medi-
means that there is no consistent system in bacteriology w a scientific discipline. This is particularly true of the development of our insight into the chemical and ~hvsialoeicd processes associated with bacterial . growth. The hone& man who attempts an integrated account of our current status should have, along with technical quslifications, tho spiritual toughness of a surplus property depot superintendent. Few universities offer special courses i n the biochemistry of baderia, and the fraction of general physiology a t eit,her undergraduate or graduate lovele that treats bacterial phenomena is usually insignificant. The State University of Iowa has for many years oflored outstanding advanced training, and Professor Porter's book grows from this advantage; it. is designed to accompany classroom and seminar discussions, though its uses itre much wider.
phenomena recognized in bacterial processes is a. simplified statemont; hut the second chapter, fifty pages, on growth and death rat,es, is essential thinking outside thc usual formal training of chemists and is a first step in preparing them for work with living bacteria. Approximately two hundred pages are given to describing the physical, chemical, and biological conditions for bacteriostasis and disinfection; these two chapters form a compressed, modern treatment of the work and theories of disinfection. The coverage of recent literatwe is excellent,. The last four chapters on the general and special metabolic requirements of bacteria and fungi and the practice and control of commercial fermentation processes is spadework for the research biochemist. I t is difficult to estimate the miles of librarv stack search that Professor Porter's
since lluchanan and Fuhner's extensive t,reatment of tho earlier field. I find myself feeling very grateful. In most places the hook reads smoothly and the discussions hold together despite the inevitable interruptions that come with frequent citations. There are many tables; these have been solected and assemhled with evident. carc, and form one of the most useful refemnce features of thc book.
0
COLLOID SCIENCE, A SYMPOSIUM
6 K. Rideol o n d ten collohorotors. Chemical Publishing Co.. Inc., Brwklyn, N. Y., 1947. x 208 pp. 32 figs. 14 X 22 cm.
+
THETEXT of this symposium was taken from a series of lectures given as a course in colloid science a t Cambridge University. England, under the auspices of the Royal Institute of Chemistry. Insoluble monolayem a t various interfaces, adsorbed films a t thc salid-liquid interface, the stability of emulsions and foams, the structure of micelles, X-ray analysis af calloidal system, vinyl polymerization in the liquid phase, the viscosity of macromalecules in solution, the study of macromolecules by ultracentrifuge, electrophoresis and diffusion measurements, and tho thermodynamics of colloid systems are the main subjects treated. The presentation is supported by unusually well-chosen references and discussion of conflicting mints of view is fair and open-minded, not condescending. ~&knce is quoted as having shown that the famous Piekering emulsion, 99 per cent by volume of oil, is only s. continuous oil phase thickened by a mass of hydrated soap crystdites. This crror "appears in d l text-books," including the reviewer's. Discussing the kinetic theory of high elasticity R. F. Tuckett states that in natural raw rubber the douhle honds are quite rigid-the necessary rotation comes from the single bonds. In GR-S synthetic rubber i t is probably the butttdiene to hutadiene links which eive the ~ o l v m eits r elasticitv. .I. H. Sohulman gives a very interesting exila6ation of the mechanism of the passage of fat through the intestinal wall. This little hook is highly stimulating, of great value to biochemists, physicists, industrial chemists and, of course, t,o oolloid chemists. I t is well written and woll printed. HARRY N. HOLMES O a s n ~ l rC O L L E ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ LOHIO I N .
0
ELEMENTARY NUCLEAR THEORY: A Short Course in Selected Topics
H.A. Bethe, Professor of Physics, Cornell University. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1947. vi X 22.5 cm. $2.50.
+ 137pp.
17 figs.
14
As CLEARLY stated by the author in the p?eface, h his book is not meant t o be a textbook of the theory of atomic nuclei." This short volume (121 pages exclusive of the appendix) follows s series of lectures given by Professor Bethe a t the Research Laboratory of the General Electric Company in which the basic thesis was the nature of nuclear forces. The explanation is carried out t o a large extent in terms of the interactions of free protons and neutrons and of the slmplest nuclear system, the deuteron. Pages 23 to 97 contain a quantitative treatment of these nuclear properties in which such subjects are dealt with as the quantum mechanical expression for deuteron binding, neutron-proton and protan-proton scattering, types of nuclear forces and the saturation character of the basic nuclear force. After the treatment of nuclear forces, two other topics me taken up in chapters of some twelve pages each. These are the theory of bets. disintecration and the theorv of the excited oomoound'
