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JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
certain commercially mails,bl.ble equipment. The second half of the chapter is devoted to a very well illustrated description of how the data of infrared absorption spectrophotometry are used in the identification of functional groups in organio molecules and in the quantitative analysis of multicomponent systems of organic compounds. In the longest chapter in the volume (54 pages), James Hillier covers three fields of application of what sbould become a new and general means of analysis: the focused medium velocity electron beam. In particular, Hillier considers the application to the study of heterogeneous solid systems where the individual item to be examined may be submicroscopic in dimensions, approaching that of a few atomic diameters. The beam of electrons when used as a minute probe affords a potentially valuable means of ultramicroandysis. The section an the electron microscope covers the history of its development, a relatively simple introduction to the fundamental theory of electron lenses, the magnetic lens, factors involved in the design and operation of the instrument and in image formation, and an excellent extended discussion of specimen techniques, application, and interpretation. The section on electron diffraction considers the technique as a means of studying analytically single crystals containing as little as 10-18 g. of material. The third section is devoted to electron microanalysis as a qualitative tool in identifying extremely minute and accurately selected areas of a. specimen. The chapter by F. D. Rassini on the fractionation, analysis and purification of hydrocarbons (26 pages) serves to emphasize the need for pure compounds in determining physical properties and in calibrating so many of our contemporary analytical techniques such as spectrophotometry and mass spectrometry. The methods and apparatus described are those used a t the National Bureau of Standards on the projeet directed by the author. The topics covered me determination of purity by measurement of freeing points, determination of individual component8 in mixtures by freening point measurements, and the use of adsorption and distilllation in fraetionatiou and analysis. The use of refractive index as an identifying aid in fractionation is streeaed. The find chapter (21 pages) by J. A. Hipple is concerned with the use of the mass spectrometer. After a discussion of the fundamental processes which serve as the basis of the analytical method and of the orablems oeeulittr to s. mass sDectrometer in analyzing mixturm, the following applicalionr are discuwl: hydrocnrbm annlynis, molewlar dissociation proce.ws due to elcetrun impart, study oi thc mcchnnhm of chemical rcacrions, isotopes, snd the analysis of solids. ~
0
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OUTLINES OF BIOCHEMISTRY
Edited by R. A. Gortner, Professor of Biochemistry, Wealeyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, and W.A. Gortner, Head of the Department of Chemistry, Pineapple Research Institute, Honolulu, T. H. Third edition. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1078 pp. 125 figs. 75 tables. 16 X New York, 1949. xiii
23cm. $7.50.
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THEnew edition of this book is a revision of the text by the late Ross Aiken Gortner, and appears eleven years after the last revision. The pr~sentedition was prepared under the supervision of Professor Gortner's two sons who me well qualified for the task they have undertaken. Moreover, they have received the able assistance of many collesgues and associates who undertook responsibility for revising particular chapters in the fields of their own special interests. Because of the extensive new developments and information in practically all phases of biochemistry, the authors have found it necessary to rewrite and expand many of the chapters of the previous edition. New chapters dealing with protein denaturation, carbohydrate metabolism, and the metabolism of lipids have been added. The detailed consideration of colloidd systems, which was
a uniquely characteristic feature of the first two editions, is re-
tained. in this newer volume. Particular attention is again directed to structural organic chemistry and to organic and physcochemical reactions. In chapters dealing with subjects that are rather thoroughly covered in medical biochemistry textbooks, no attempt has been made to cover the field extensively. One might question the allocation of twenty-five per cent of thr total pages to the subject of colloids. I t is recognized that this is in harmony with the late Professor Gortner's belief that all "the reactions and interactions which we call life take place in a colloid svstem," and that "much of the 'vital energy' can in the last analyiis be traced back to energies characteristic of surface f l m v and iuterfaces." Nevertheless, it would appear that a more balanced book might have been achieved hy a better distribution of space among the various major topic headings, which would have permitted the inclusion of other material. For example, little mention is found of thesubject of nutrit,ion except in a chapter devoted specifioally to the vitamins. The retention of material which is solely of historical interest might he questioned in the revision of a modern textbook. For example, detailed description is given of the Hausmann and the VanSlyke methods of group analysisasapplied to protein hydroly: sates, whereas only a few short pamgraphs are used to describp microbiological methods of amino acid analysis. Again, the Abderhalden diketopiperasine and the Troensegaard pyrrole hypotheses of protein structure are described in detail. Description, and therefore apparently acceptance, of the endocrine roles of the thymus and pineal glands in found in the section dealing with the hormones.
as a glycoprotein. On
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.
456,- t& originally claimed widesoread sienificanoe for transamination is described wit,hont con-
a parathyrotropic and two diabetogenic principles are
described
among the hormones of the anterior pituitary gland. This volume remains one of the few broad textbooks in the field of biochemistry, presenting extensive information in plant, a3 well as animal, biochemistry. Its utilization of the data yielded by analytical, organic, and physical chemistry, from which the tools of biochemistry have stemmed, makes this hook very useful as both a text and a s a reference volume for either graduatestudents in biochemistry, or for graduate students in other fields in which the application of biochemistry is desirable and useful. ABRAHAM WIiITE
U ~ ~ v = aor s ~C n ~zrromz~ Los ANOELER.CALIIOBNIA
0
HUMOR AND HUMANISM IN CHEMISTRY
John Remd, Professor of Chemisb. Universitv of St. Andrews. Scotland. G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., &don, 1947: xldii 388 pp: 90illustrations. 14 X 22.5 em. 21s.
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INTHE first 200 pages Professor Read ha3 unearthed a wealth of interesting details on chemistry from Bacon to Baeyer. I t is, like his "Prelude to Chemistry," a worthy monograph. A delightful section relates the meteoritic (1602-04) career of the peringranate Scottish alchemist, Alexander Seton of Edinburgh, now sowing the seeds of his profession in Holland, Basel, or Cologne: now transmuting metals before the class of a bewildered professor of philosophy in Hamburg; and at last languishing in a torture-chamber in Dresden and in Cracow. His mantle, and still more important his ounce of elixir,, pass an to the Polish nobleman Sendivogius, whose transmutation extravagances come to the ears of Rudolph I1 at Prague. The appearance of van
FEBRUARY, 1950
113
HeImont and Helvetius with their tales of the Alchemic Messiah ordinarily possmed by chemistry students a t that level." Accomplete this cycle of marvelous ~ t u r i of r goldnuking. cording to their definitions, "the broad field of radiochemistry" Pngea 79-191 examine a great numl,er of early chemistry pub- includes nuclear chemistry (as the "reactions of nuclei and the lications in a detailed and critiml faahion which reflectr much properties of resulting nuclear species") and tracer chemistry credit on the author, and will win the gratitude of chemists who (excluding stable isotopes), hut does not include radiation ehemhave no access to these rare volumes. Writings include Seton's istry which "is really closely related to photochemistry." "A New Light in Alchemic" (1604); Beguin's "Chymical BeThe chapter headings indicate the relative emphasis on physics ginner" (1608); Davidson's "Philosphia Pyrateehnica" (1633- and chemistry. They sre: ( I ) Naturally Occurring Radioactive 35); Glauber's works; Le Febure's "A Compleat Body of Substances; (11) Atomic Nuclei; (111) Kuclear Reactions; (IV) Chymistry" (English translation, 1664); Glaser's "Compleat Sources of Bombarding Particles; (V) Quantitative Treatment of Chymist" (English Translation, 1677); and Lemery's "Course of Radioactive Processes; (VI) Types of Radioactive Decay; (VII) Chymistry" (first English edition, 1677). Eighteenth century Interactions of Rediations with Matter: (VIIII Inrtruments for chemistry is reflected in Boerhaave's "Elements Chemiae" Radiation Detection and ~easurement;'(Ix) Statistical Cou(1732) and in the lectures, letters. and works of Josevh Black: siderations in Radioactivity Measurements; (X) Techniques for and the nineteenth eentnri, by extensive quotations kom ~ r c : Measurement and Study of Radiations; (XI) Identification, ConMamet's popular "Conversetions in Chemistry'' between Mrs. centration, andIsolation of RadioactiveSpecies: (XII) Chemistry B., Caroline, and Emily, whioh, with its 160,000 copies of its of Low Concentrations and tho Study of new Elements; (XIII) sixteen American editions, had, by 1853,. qualified for Boak-of- Tracers in Chemical Applications. The Appendix, which occupies the-Century Club. Finally there is a section on the early history about 100 pages, includes an extensive table of all well-established of gases. nuclear species and some of their oharacterist,ics. Tho remainder of the book is below the author's par. The In conformity with their aim of preparing a textbook, rather picture of chemistry in the nineteenth 'century is too sketchy. than a work of reference, the authors have not attempted to inThe section relating the author's personal experiences in the clude numerous references. There is a list of references a t the laboratories of Werner at Zurich and of Sir William Pone at end of each chapter to many standard works and to selected Cambridge anrr of l'rp?;inn irlterest only. Some iertioni hould topics in the recent literature whioh should offer a considerable hnw b c w onlirtrtl estlrely: a Iq,1.xrhnpter u~ .\uxtr:lli.,n phnt. choice of supplementary reading material to even the most "hna nothing to du stth t1.e r a d v ; " n reprint d ; t radio l,t.u.ttlt.xat ambitious student. "The exercises given a t the end of each on explosives is of necessity for popular consumption; and if the chapter are intended as an integral part of the course, and only thirty-page drama at the end of the book illustrates current with them dces the text contain the variety uf specific examples English humor, God bless America. which (the authors) consider necessary for an effective presentaThe book is not suitable as collateral reading for undergrad- +:-" ? ? uat,es, but is a must for students of chemical history. The typical chemistry btudent will not find himsplf unduly burdened by mathematical complexities or theoretical involveHUBERT N. ALYEA ments, since much of this material is presented in a descriptive manner. "."L..
WILLIAM H. HAMILL
0
Unruesezm os N O T ~DAME E No~nn;DAME. INDIANA
A NEW DICTIONARY OF CHEMISTRY
Edited by Stephen Miall and L. Mackenzie Miall. Longmana, Green and Co., New York, 1949. Second edition. ix 589 pp. 15 X 23 cm. $12.
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Tnrs second edition has been Compkt~lyrevised by the editors so that it can be a compact reference work for all those interested in the historical and technical development of chemistry and allied sciences. In addition to definitions ot chemical terms thc dictionary contains accounts of chemical substances, chemical operations, drugs, vitamins, and other items of biochemical importance, as well as hiographies. The general character of the dictionary has been retained but new material of the last 10 years has been added to include work on atomic energy, a revised d i e cumion of drugs, and many new biographies. 0
INTRODUCTION TO RADIOCHEMISTRY
Gerhart Friedlander, Chemist, Broakhaven National Laboratory, and Joseph W. Kennedy, Professor of Chemistry, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1949. xiii 412 pp. 22 tables. 48 figs. 15 X 21 om. $5.
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THE developments of the last few years have completely changed the importance of the phenomena of radioactivity and their applications for chemists. Anyone who has taught, or considered teaching, a course in radiochemistry or nuclear chemistry has probably encountered the prohlem of selecting a textbook and will recognize "Introduction to Radiochemistry" as the first postwar textbook on elementary nuclear science for chemists. The authors have been quite successful with their intention t.o "prepare a textbook for an introductory course in the broad field of radiochemistry, at the graduate or senior undergraduate level, taking into account the degree of previous preparation in physics
AN INTRODUCTION TO PRACTICAL ORGANIC CHEMISTRY R. V. V. Nicholls, Associate Professor of Chemistry, MeGiU University, Montreal, Canada. Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Toronto, Canada, 1948. Second edition. x 226 pp. 21 figs. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $2.50.
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THISis a very practicsl organic chemistry manual, well written and clear. I t o m be highly recommended for some of the very good features it possesses. I t is one of the very few manuals that gives not only pr~perations,hut has the student investigate the properties of the compounds made. Like all books, however; it hasits shortcomings, but these are not serious. As in the last edition (for review see THIS JOURNAL, 24, 362 (1947), there are two main divisions: Part I, Introduction to Laboratory Technique, and Part 11, Synthetic and Analytical Procedures. Thew are followed by a new addit,ion, Questions for Review, and then an appendix which lists the more commonly used elements and gives the Preparation of Special Reagents and Indicators. Part I contains an excellent discussion of what the student does and why. Topics covered include extraotion, which is quite well done: washine: ,.. drvine: . . distillation: andfractionation. These Inttw t w u t n p m nm pr sonted in x ntnnrw s hiell piws the arud+nt n rlrnr pirrurc < s f thrsr procc~~es.'1'11- author inokv-i a rlir tinrtion b:tw~vn rnulrl& ~lisrill~tion and irnctiurral di~tillatim, but unfortunately u s ~ the s former technique in the experiments almost to the exclusion of the latter. Also taken up are decolorizing, adsorption, orystallisation, precipitation, and sublimation. Even dismantling the apparetus is discussed. I t would help here it studonts were cautioned to wait until the glassware cools s o m e what before taking the apparatus down. Students seem prone
