FEBRUARY, 1950
0
FAEEDOM PROM WANT
Edited by E. K. DeTurk. Chronica Botanica Co., Waltharn, Maasachuwtis, 1948. 78 pp. 6 figs. I plate. 17 X 26 om. $2. Tars reprint from Chronica Botrulica, Vol. 11, No. 4,1948, eontains rimers which "mew out of a svmmium" held under t,hr
entire human race or will population increase continue to outstrip food supplies? As pointed out in the foreword by Norris E. Dodd of the Food and Agricultural Oreaniaation (FAO). the modern statement of the old Malthunian aoctrine, "that h&an procreation will oontinue a t such a rate that t,he great masses of humanity must always be uncomfortably near the edge of starvation," does "not necessarily represent the truth." Rather, as all the contributors to this volume srem to feel, application of agriculturd science already known plus new discoveries which will probably he made and a reasonable development in popular knowledge of nutrition in food economics and in food distribution such as the FA0 is trvine . - to hdna about could afford adetrurtte f w d for the human race. But, a d this isemphasizedin t i e hook, continuedresearch and, above all, more effective application of available agricultural knowledge can brook no delay. A paper on "Population and Food Supply" is contributed by Howard R. Talley, formerly Chief of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, now Director of the section on economics and statistics of FAO. He emphasiaes the need of concerted world-wide effort to achieve freedom from want. "World Soil and Fertilizer Resources in Relation to F w d Needs"is thesubject of apaper by Robert M. Salter, Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. He shows how one may argue that the world's food production could he doubled by 1960. "Crop Production Potentials in Relation to Freedom from Want" is discussed by Karl S. Quisenherry, Head of the Division of Cereal Crops and Diseases in the Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. He gives a history of progress in production of the world's chief food crops and points out the possibilities of further progress. "Animal Production in an Efficient Food Economyp' is examined by Frank B. Morrison, Head of the Animal Husbandry Department of Cornell University. While recognizing the obvious loss of fwd value when crops, especially cereals, are used
to produce meat, he points out the advantages of some foods of animal origin in food econamics. His discussion of the conditions favoring optimal yields of nutritive value from foods of animal origin, including milk and eggs, is of especial interest. "The Economies of Freedom from Want" is the subject of a fnscinating essay by John D. Black, Henry Lee Professor of Economics, Harvard University. He seems to feel that as nations succeed in modernizing their economies, the rate of population increase can be brought down to samething within reason. "Obligations of Science toward Freedom from Want" is the title of a paper by Max A. McCall, Assistant Chief, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Emphasib is given to the need for better dissemination of knowledge regarding agri-
PHILIP H. MITCHELL
ELASTOMERS AND PLASTOMERS, VOLUME I1 Edited by R. Houwink, External Lecturer in the Technical Unl. veraitg at DeM, Netherlands. Elwvier Publishing Co., Inc., New York. 1949. mi T 515 pp. 225 ligs. 122 tables. 26 X 17 cm. $7. THIIbook i, the second swtimnl v8~lu1neulmajorrulu1neNo. 3 irr xwrirs of right and is thc second onr to hr puldislred, the firvt hvinp the third ertional volume whieh wa rc.virs.ed recentlv ir~ these columns. Like the previous volume, it is an intern&nal undertaking and writtenentirely in English. Of the nineteen contributors, all experienced in their fields, three are from the Netherlands, two from Switaerbnd, eight from Englctnd, and six from the United States. I t follows the same general method of presentation as the other volume, that is,' each of the thirteen chapters is an entity in itself with references atthe end of each chapter; the ample index covers the material in all the chapters. An interesting innovation is the printing a t the bottom of each page, "References p.-," with the insertion of the first reference peen a t the end of the chapter. This saves the reader much time. The book contains more information than indicated by its title. Under properties, most of the authors not only discuss the chemioal and physical properties but also give considerable thwretical bsckground. In general, the material is up-to-date with t references through 1947, and sometime^ through 1948; y ~ on
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
110
munition and pyrotechnics, oils and fats and waxes, miscellaneous industries of chemical interest (compressed gases, matches, tanning, textiles, precious metals), chemistry and public services (an account of the growth and nature of the National Research Council Laboratories, Experimental Farms, Forest Products Laboratories, other Federal laboratories, Provincial Research Councils), Canadian chemical organizations and journals, and lastly, four chapters outlining the dcveloprnent of the teaching of chemistry in the schools, colleges, and universities of Canada. intrigued in seeing the word "earthnut." The reader is made acutely awareof the very extensive developThe proofreading could have been done better because there are a good many misspellings and some errors in formulas. The ment of chemical industry in Canada that has occurred during the printing is open to criticism; letter? are missing sometimes or last thirty-five years. The extent of this growth is not generally known, even to Canadians. In appropriate perspeztive, the book incompletely printed. draws attention to the significant number of Canadian cantributions to the development of the processes of industrial ehemist,ry. Numerous illustrations are included; these have been prepared from maps showing the distribution and grouping of chemical and allied industries, from sketches of men prominent in the development of Canadian chemistry, from sketches of early plants of chemical interest., and from photographs of modern A HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY IN CANADA 0 plants and institutions. A few errors occur, particularly in the Compiled for the Chemical Institute of Canada hy C. J. S. War- spelling of some proper names; it is hoped that these will be corrington, Development Department of Canadian Industries Limited, rected in a subsequent edition, if such there be. An index is inand R. V. V. NicholIs, McGill University. Sir Isaac Pitman and cluded, although it is by no means a complete one. A valuable 502 pp. Illustrated. bibliography of important source material is appended. Sons, Ltd., Toronto, Canada, 1949. r 15 X 23 cm. $4.50. The scope of this book is somewhat broader than the title might Tnt: publienrim of Illis h m k rnnkcs av3ilaLle a couprch~r~nivr imply to some, for there are included, for example, accounts-of (rcatmrnt 111the 1.i;irurj of ('nnndinn clmnical industry and uit1.t. the corporate history of many companies and accounts of the tcscltine. of chcmixrv i n Cnnndr. Ilirhrrro, the mntetml nvail- origins of Canadian universities. Altogether, this volume brings able onthese subjects has, for the most part, been widely seat- together much material of value and interest, and it is certainly tered in papers in Canadian chemical journals. This book col- a valuable contribution to the literature of chemistry. Both the lects this widely dispersed material, and it includes much that has arrangement of the material and the style of writing allow the not previously appeared in print. The authors have drawn book to be read easily. Although the volume will be of especial heavily on invited contributions from qualified individuals in the interest to Canadian chemists, whether of the academic or inindustries, the universities, and the public service of Canada; dustrial persuasion, it deserv~sthe-attention of all who are inthey have organized and integrated their source material so as to terested in the history of chemical industry and of chemical orodnce a book that is not only very informative but also very education. Interesting. Nonchemical hist& h i s been introduced when it R. P. GRAHAM contributes to fulfilling the task of preparing "an account of the MCMABTBB UNIVERSITY impact of chemistry on Canadian affairs, in a form which would a a l a ~ m o n ONTAEK, . CANADA be acceptable to interested laymen and chemists.'' The volume opens with a brief account of the discovery in Canada of ecanomiexlly important minerals and a reference to the ABSORPTION SPECTROPHOTOMETRY first metnllurgiesl indust,ry on the North American continentthe smelting of bog iron ore near Trois RiviAres, Quebec, starting G. F. Lothian, Physics Lecturer, University College of the South in 1736. The reader is given a good account of the development West, Exeter. Hilger and Watts, Ltd., London, 1949. ix 196 of metallurgy in Canada from this early beginning through to an pp. 71 figs. 14 X 22 cm. 26s. account of the very extensive lead and zinc smelting operations T ~ r compact s book, advertised as a. maiual on the measurea t Trail, British Columbia, and of the operations in the Sndbury Basin in Ontario that today supply over 90 per cent of the world's ment of absorption spectra in the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared nickel. Appropriate treatment of thf steel, copper, gold, ti- regions by photographic, visual, photoelectric, and thermal methtanium, uranium, etr., industries is given. A useful feature, not ods, deds with work in the wave-length range of 0.2 to 25 mionly of this first chapter but of many subsequent ones, is thst the crons. The presentation includes the laws governing absorption chemistry of modern processes is separated from the historical of electromagnetic waves by material media, with examples of matter by the use of condensed type. The authors did not set out the ways these laws are being used in research and snalytical labto write a text book of industrial chemistry, but the book never- oratories. The general principles of Part 1 (62 pp.) include chapters on theless contains in compact form much material regarding current industrial processes that is useful to students and teachers of the nature and the laws of absorption, and on the conditions for accuracy and the methods of calculation in spectrophotometry. chemistry Whether Canadian or not. The arrangement of the subject matter is topical rather than The British nomenclature and symbolism differ somewhat from narrative. Subsequent chapters are devoted to the chemical by- thst recommended by our National Bureau of Standards Letter products of smelting (sulfuric acid, sulfur dioxide, and sulfur), Circular 857. The applications discussed in Part 2 (34 pp.) include (1) the fortili~ers,nonmetallic mineral products (salt, magnesite, lime, cement, etc.), chemicals from coal, petroleum and reliltionof absorptionspectra to chemicalstructure and thenature natural gas and their chemical derivatives (including synthetic of certain chemical phenomena, and (2) the qualitative and quanrubber), electric furnace products (phosphorus, calcium carbide, titative analytical possibilities of such data for both organic and chemicals from acetylene, abrasives), products made by elec- inorganic substances. These chapters are merely illustrative of trolysis (aluminum, magnesium, hydrogen peroxide, chemicals the numberless possibilities in the field. An important omission from salt), chemistry and wood produrts (pulp and paper, cellu- is the use of reflectanceor transmittance curves for the caloulation lose derivatives, alcohol, vanillin, eta.), products of agriculture of the I.C.I. values which specify color numerically. Techniques, comprising Part 3 (77 pp.), include separate c h a p and the sea (cereals, corn starch glucose, sucrose, fermentation industries, fish oils), medicinal and fine chemicals (vitamins, ters on speotrophotometers having visual, photographic, photohormones, antibiotics, insulin, sulfa drugs), explosives and am- electric, or thermal detectors. A fifth chapter treats various page 4, in the r6sum6 of methods of manufacturing aniline, there is no mention of its manufacture from chlorobenaene. The book is filled with tables, figures, organic structural formulas, and photographs. It contains so much theoretical and technical information that it o m be used as a small referencevolume.
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