RECENT BOOKS GENERAL CEEMISTRY.H. I. Schlesinper. University of Chicago. Third edition. Longmans, Green and Co., New York City. 1937. ix 857 pp. 86 figs. 14 X 21 cm. $3.50.
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The third edition of this excellent text is more than ever committed t o its original principle: .that college chemistry, to be stimulating and of greatest value to the student, should, in contrast t o high-school chemistry, be analytical rather than descriptive, and should be an intellectual exercise rather than a feat of memory." I t is still one of the very few college textbooks specifically designed for students with high-school preparation in the subject. Although descriptive matter is not entirely omitted, as from some other recent texts, i t is not dressed up for public show. Readers are assumed to be already sufficiently impressed by the "marvels of modem chemistry." The author prefaces the book with the suggestion that "the rapid development of important fundamental ideas of chemistry during the past few years makes necessary the inclusion of new concepts and principles even in elementary presentations of the subject." The book is particularly distinguished by its efforts to follow this policy. The chapter on atomic structure bas been completely rewritten and brought thoroughly up to date. Much more attention has been given to the bearing of this topic on valence, types of chemical union, and the comparative properties of the elements and their compounds. I t contains an unusually clear and satisfactory treatment of electron arrangements within atoms and their significance. I n only one instance does the author fail in his objective, and this is in the effort t o picture the behavior of the electron in modern terms of probability. But when it is realized that this has seldom, if ever, been seriously attempted in an elementary textbook, the effort itself is commendable. The groundwork far later study of thermodynamics is laid by a good treatment of heats of reaction and their significance. A good description is t o be found of the various factors concerned in reaction velocity, including the activation of molecules, as well as an excellent discussion of catalysis. All of this, along with a brief introduction to chain reactions, the function of inhibitors and a little photochemistry, will lead the inquiring student into a deeper study of reaction mechani3ms. Abundant use is made of illustrations from the kinetic theory, and the properties of gases, liquids, solids, and solutions are unusually well treated from this standpoint. I t is inevitable that an author who is trying to develop new avenues of approach to his subject will he criticised for being too radical in some respects and too conventional in others. Some readers will he disappointed in not finding this hook committed to the view which defines acids and bases in terms of simple proton exchange. Nevertheless, such a view is not incompatible with the rest of the book. Hydration of ions is by no means overlooked, but, although the reader is cautioned to remember that the proton is hydrated when it becomes a hydrogen ion, he is allowed to forget it by insufficient emphasis. The positive-ray method of determining atomic weights deserves more attention than the brief mention under the heading of isotopes. The technic of X-ray analysis of crystals might well have a prominent place in the study of solids, rather than a minor one in connection with radioactivity. The treatment of the important topic of ionization is neither radical nor altogether conventional. Eventually the student is brought to the generally accepted modern view of "degrees of ionization." although perhaps with more than the necessary time and struggle. I t would no longer seem profitable to put much emphasis upon the data from freezing and boiling points, or even from conductivities, when the numerical results turn out to be fictitious in the great majority of cases. However, ample
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groundwork is laid in these chapters for the ambitious teacher to follow any advanced side-line he may desire. In revising the book for this edition some fundamental changes have been made in the order of topics. The chapter on solutions has been moved up and included in the early discussion of the general kinetic theory, following the properties of gases, liquids, and solids. Metallurgy and the extraction of metals from their ores is dealt with immediately after the discussion of combustion and the energy changes in chemical reactions. The chapters on radioactivity and atomic structure are also moved forward, so as to make them more useful, without, however, allowing them to precede the necessary factual background. An entirely new chapter deals with reactions of oxidation and reduction. The entire last half of the book has been changed only in so far as necessary to bring the descriptive material abreast of thelatest advances. Nonnrs W. RAKESTRAW
LABORATORY MANUAL OR GENERAL CHEMISTRY.H. I. S C ~ ~ S inter and Adeline De SaleLink, University of Chicago. Third edition. Longmans, Green and Co.,New York City, 1937. vii f 96 pp. 8 figs. 13.5 X 21 cm. $1.50. This manual is a companion to Schlesinger's GENERAL CHEMand is designed primarily for students with some previous experience with the subject. I n it the authors "have considered training in scientific method, practice in coardinating information, and the development of a critical attitude toward experimental results, the main objectives." With this preface, and in view of the sentiments often expressed by the senior author on the objectives of student laboratory work, one expects something more unusual than he finds. Thought-provoking questions a m fairly numerous, and because of the amount of time presumably spent on these, the number of experiments has been advisedly kept small. Still, there is ample material for a course of average length, even though no work in qualitative analysis is included. Alternate pages are blank, for the recording of notes. No set forms are provided for these-which will c,ommend i t to many teachers. I t is hard to avoid the feeling that the manual is not up to the high standard of the textbook. NORXISW. RAKESTRAW ISTRY
ELASTICITY, PLASTICITY, AND STRUCTURE OP MATTER. R. HAwink. The Universitv Press. Cambridee. The Macmillan Ca.. N ~ W ' Y O ACity, 1937. x d i i 37App. 214 figs. 13.5 x 21.5 em. $6.00.
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Other reviewers have already pointed out that this hook begins with a nau-mathematical statement of the elementary theory of rheology and that i t then proceeds to give a more or less detailed statement of the rheologi&l properties of a variety of industrial materials. These other reviewers have also listed the few errors which they have discovered. I t is the purpose of the present reviewer to deal with an entirely different side of this hook. For over two years it has fallen t o the lot of this reviewer to teach an elementary two-semester course in colloids. Anyone who has ever tried it will realize how difficult it is to find a suitable textbook. Almost all authors of books on colloids seem t o feel that they must give a tiresome and impartial rbsum6 of all the conflicting articles in colloid literature, so that their books
