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SEIV BOOKS
S E W BOOKS .l/o,tuyruplis o i ~iiic I’royi,ess OJ Research in H o l l a n d during f h e Il.ar. I’,oyress in t h c l ’ h m r y of the Phusiccrl Propertics of Glass. By J. M .STEVELS. S e w York: Elsevicr Puhlisliiiig Company, I n c . , 19%. (;. S . Lewis applied his famous theory of valcncc and interatomic bonding almost P X clusively t o molecular structure, although realizing t h a t the same principles must also I ) c applicable to the structures of crystals and glasses. The reviewer, iii 1020, showcd that this was in fact the case, as regards crystals a t least-a conclusioii which has sincc bceii confirmed by many s - r a y diffraction studies of crystal structures. 1111032 Zachariasen applied the same ideas t o glasses, discussing their structure in eonsidcrably more detail thrrn had bcen done previously. The fundamental corrections of the type of structure so arrivctl a t have also 1)een verified by s-ray diffraction studies, principally by Warrcn and con-orkrra. JYith t,his knowledge of glass structure as a background, Stevels in the Setherlands ancl t h c rcviewcr in the United States have independently studied the dependence of various properties of glasses 011 their composition. The reviewer has shown t h a t the density arid refractive intles, for esamplc, can be accurately computed additively with the aid of ccrtain constants characteristic of the components. Stevels has sliowi t h a t , within ccrtain composition limitations, approximate values of these properties can be computed by means of simple formulas, involving (in the density case) only two constants. Both sets of results are obviously useful. In thc monograph under review, Stevels gives a clear discussion of the structure of glasscs and then considers the composition dependence of the density, electrical conductivity, dielectricloss, and molccular refl-action. The derivation of equations t o represent this coinposition dependence is outlined and these equations arc tested with appropriate esperininit a l d a t a . Therc are sonic references to corresponding work by others, but no real coniparison of the theories or o f thc relative accuracy of corresponding equations. As specified i i i t h e preface, this is because thc work n-as carried out for the most part during the war, whcii the ;imerican and British literature was unavailable. This book can be rcconiniendcd as a real contribution t o our knon.lcdge of the propertiw of glass and their dependence on coniposition. I t is well n-ritten, x i t h very few indications of thc fact t h a t both author a n d publishcr n-ere using a language other than t h a t of their own 3 I A l J R I C E L. HVGGISS. COU11 t r y . E n c y c l o p e d i a of C h e m i c a l Y‘echnology. p-01. 11. By R A Y h f o s D E . KIRK A N D DOSALD F. O T H m R (Editow). 915 pp. Sen. York: The Interscience Encyclopedia, Inc., 194s. Price: $20.00. This is the second volume of the E n c y c l o p e d i a of C h e m i c a l l’cchnwlogy. The subject :naterial is very inclusive, and under each item is given the general chemistry, the cheniicnl and physical properties, the methods of production, and uses. Equipment used in the manufacture is likewise presented, but there are only line drawings indicating the flow sheet, of the process. There :ire m:my informative tables Tvhere much of the comparative data has been collected. J l a n y literature and patent references are includetl. The prinling is clear and sharp on hard paper and the volume is well bound in paper. This n.hole encyclopedia, of which the volumes appear a t irregular times, will make a11 excellent reference set, comparable t o and probably more complete than the German Encyclopedia, E n z y k l o p a d i n der technischewt C h e w i e , by Ullmaiin. The encyclopedia should be available in university and college 1il)rnries as well as industrial plants, because the information contained in i t will be of estensive use in any chemical field. ch.4RLES
.I. >r.%Ss.
H i g h P o l y i n o s . J’ol. 1-11, P h e n o p l a s t s , their StructuTe, P r o p o l i c s , und C h e m i c a l Teclinolog?/. By T . S. CARSTYELL.267 pp. Sen- York: Interscience Publishers I n c . , 1017. Price : $4.50.
The seventh volume of the H i g h P o l y m e r s series is devoted to the plastic polymers formed t j y t’he inter:tct,ioii of plieiiols a n d aldehydes. 111 t\cent>--seven chapters the subject is tliol,ouyhly preseiitcd. iiiclutliiig the polymers of various :ilcleli>.,les aiid phenols, their physic,al structure aut1 niccli:uiicd, chemic:il. electrical, and therninl properties. .\lsri discussed are the oil-soluhlr : r n d t h e ion-esriiuiige ~)Iieiiopl:ist~, : i i i [ l their techiiic:rl m:iiiu f w t u r e arid molding technique. The miscell:ineous tec1inic:d :igplic:itioiis :ire niimei~oiis arid importaut. The tCxt, \vel1 provided ivith t:Ltilcs, cIi:rgr:ims, : ~ n drhemicul formul:ir, brings 3 modern trwtmeiit fitted t o t h e present p o n . i n g i i i t p w s t : i i i d importnricr of the S U I ) ,iect.
s, ( < ,I , I s l l . I.cr isotopes. 1 1 ‘ u p p o t ~ t c. ~l rliucii u n r . Scwiitli (‘onierence 011 Chemistry of the Instirutm Internationale (le C:liimic Solvay. 411 pp. 13russels : 11. Stoops. 1948. This confcreiicc. held :it I3russels September 32-27, 194i, was attended I)y eight participants giving pnpei’s, niric nicmhers presrntiny prepared discussions, nine invited members, sis members froin the I.’:iculty of Science, :tiid sis auditors, professors of the Cniversiti. Libre of Brussels. The pxpcrs :itid discussions arc>iii English or French :tccording to the n:ttionality of the spe:ikcr The countries represented were Erigland, Relgium, Switzerland, France, the Uriit,ctl States, Swedeii. and Denmark. It is impossible t o reviem:iIl of the interesting ur in1port:tiiL points presented or discussed. Prof. Joliot introduced t,he (’onference 1)y revieiving the methods of formation, the constit,utiou, and the filiations of the rulio:tctive isotopeij, especially t,he artificial ones. I n the ensuing discussion Prof. l’niietli questioned thc validity of regarding the new r:ire e:trtli series :is heginning witli :ict iniuni, ;tiid corit~~iidetl t h a t urnniuni, particularly in the h e m v:ileiit s t a t e , t:iixs its ~)l:tcequitt: iiuturally lielow tungsten. .\dmittedly elements 93-96 do have the propei.tics rlt:ir:trteristic of r:irc r:irtha. While endorsing the names given t o t,hem by Seaborg, I%neth f::cetiously refors 1 0 the emb:irrassment hoth in English and French of designatiiig the salts of thr loivri, vnlcncc state of curium the “curious s i l t s ” or, i n French, “les sels curieus.” Hainbridge presentrd :in escellerit :tc:couiit of “Sonic Results of .\lass Sprctrum -111alysis,” which was tiir subject, of a n intei,estiiig discussion including the ratio of He3 t o He‘ in th(1 atmosphere :tnd in ii:itur:d gases. The vari:itions i n the latter :we now known to br inuc,h greater t1i:iii represented by eightfold :is given :Lt t,he conference, but all arc i n t h e wrong directtion t o he rsplained by greater diffusion of He3 from the top of thc atmosphere as wits pointed out b y Paneth. T h e report of Ingolcl presented his very eskiaustive studies of the spectroscopy of henzene a n d of t,he deutel.o-siil)stituted benzenes, \chich \wre proclaimed a, classic of spectroscopy. I n his report on the “Properties of Ilatlioactive Tracers” 1’:Lneth reviewed the production and availability of the most-used t,racer elrments. I n the discussion Hevesy emphasized the need in some casea of carrier-free tracers and gave sonic methods for their preparation. Langseth presented methods of preparation of organic deuterium compounds. IIevesy gave a n exhaustive review of the applications of labeled phosphorus. Calvin discussed the application of radiocarbon in chemistry :tnd biology, in which, after special attention t o the methods of measuring C’:, the results of some studies of reaction mechanism were given as examples. I n the biological applications some problems of animal nietabolisni were discussed, a s well as some initial results in photosynthesis. Rittenberg reported o n t,he use of N15and deuterium in the st,udy of chemicd processes in t h e living cell. S. C. LIXD.
Reagentsfor Qttalztatzve Iilorqanzc ilnalysis. Second Report of the International Committee on New Analytical Reactions and Reagents of the Internntiorial Union of Chemistry P. E. WLNGER .4ND 1: D ~ C K C R (Editors), T and c. I. ~ I E I ~ \ J ~ E Y R C iRSOD ,I GILI.I-
