The section on diffusion has been substantially enlarged to include the most recent dab for dilute and concentrated solutions besides a discussion of self and exchange diffusion. Both the eloetromotive force and the equilibrium centrifuge are covered in some detail. I would eriticize the author's mention of the electromotive force centrifuge in a section enbitled The Equilibrium Centrifuge since the former is anything but an equilibrium measurement in the same sense as the latter which involves measurements s t sedimentation equilibrium. I t might also be noted that the density of the solvent has been used in the equation for the emf instead of the density of the solution. A comment can also be made concerning conductance equation 611-43 which is linear in X. The intercept J , can only be evaluated by a n extrapolstion The extrapolation to zero to zero concentration is somewhat confusing since the identical result is obtained by picking any point on the best straight line and solving the linear equation. I n its present form the hook represents as comprehensive and up-to-date a coverage of the field as one can expect in a single volume.
x.
ROBERT L. KAY B n o w ~U ~ r v e n s r ~ r Pn0vroeh.c~.R H D DIBLAND ~
EWERIMENTS IN BIOCHEMICAL RESEARCH TECHNIQUES Robert W. Cowgill, Asst. Prof. of Biochemistry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, and Arthur B. Pardee, Asst. Prof. of Biochemistry, University of California. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 189 pp. 21 figs. New York, 1957. vi 16 tables. 15.5 X 23.5 em. $3.50.
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THISis a good text for a difficult subject. A graduate comse in laboratory techniques is necessarily personal in both method and content. Few laboratories and perhaps fewer biochemists are equipped to instruot advanced students in all the many experimental techniquesavailable for biochemical research. Cowgill and Pardee have collected and described a number of excellent experiments and while many laboratory courses will include additional or alternative experimental procedures, most instructors will find this book an important addition to their teaching library. The book is divided into three sections: I . Physical Chemical Methods for Separation and Identification of Biologically Important Compounds; 11. Biochemistry of Enzymes; and 111. Radioactive Isotope Tracer Techniques. The lipid chemist will be pleased by the first section since many of the experiments which illustrate distillation, eountercurrent distribution, and column chromatography, involve the separation of lipids. I t is unfortunate that the teohnique of Sober and Peterson for protein chromaJOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
tography on ion exchange cellulose is too recent for inclusion in this section. Several good experiments with filter paper chromatography and zone electrophoresis are described. The experiment on peptide structure offers a challenge to the student; however, the classical FDNB procedure is over-emphasieed and the phenylisothiocyanste procedure ment,ioned only in a footnote. The 17 experiments in the second eoetion illustrate many aspects of enryme biochemistry. The experiments with a purified enzyme, ehymotrypsin, and the experiments describing the pH meter and spectrophotometer, belong in a general biochemistry course. The remaining experiments are often ingenious and always informative. The section on radioactive isotope tracer techniques is disappointing. The application of C" to intermediary metabolism is illustrated by two excellent experiments; however, this section is limited to C1* and the Geiger-Muller oount,er. Scintillation counters are not described and many important traoer techniques, for example, the labeling of proteins with IIS1, are neglected. I t is unfortunate that the authws h m limited this section to radioactive isotopes. Stable isotopes, although more difficult to assay, are regaining their importance in hiachemical research. This is s well-written hook. The experimental procedures are carefully outlined, clear, and concise. The literature references are recent and eomprehensive. I t is highly recommended as an advanced laborata~ytext. DAVID G . CORNWELL O~ro STATE UNZVEBBTTY
Ca~oneos,Oxro
ADVANCES IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING. VOLUME 2 Edited by Thomos B. Drew, Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, and John W.H o o p s , Jr., Atlas Powder Co., Wilmington, Delaware. Aoademic Press Inc., New York, 1958. x 338 pp. Many figs. 1 6 X 23.5 om. $9.50.
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VOLUME1 of "Advances" appeared two years ago [reviewed J. CHEM.EDUC.33, 598 (1956)], although chemical engineering certainly is advancing rapidly enough for an annual volume. Unfortunately the men making the advances may he too busy t o write review articles concerninn them. The style of "Advances" continues t o be that of authoritative review articles, rather than a collection of literature citations. This volume contains six such reviews. The first, Boiling of Liquids, by J. W. Westwater, is a continuation of the l e d article in Volume I. Others are: Automatic Process Control by E. F. Johnson; Treatment and Disposal of Wastes in Nuclear Chemical Technology by B. (Continued on page A688)
VOLUME 35, NO. 11, NOVEMBER, 1958
