JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION of chemistry to the student in the terms of everyday language which permits immediate understanding without the necessity of introducing scientific terms. The use of the word substance and Edited by Robert M. Fink, Professor of PhysioIogical Chemistry, the careful dehition of it in the beginning is a good example of University of California, Los Angeles, California. National Nu- this technique. clear Energy Series. VI-3. McGmw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New The general use of tables, listing tosether compounds similar 411 pp. 96 figs. 129 tables. 16 X 24 cm. in properties and giving their corresponding formulas, makes the York, 1950. xvi $3.75. book useful as a reference book at a technicians level. If these THE data collected by members of the Biological Chemistry tables had been numbered and listed in the index under a table Section of the Division of Radioactivity in the Manhattan De- heading, its usefulness as a reference book would have been iupartment of the University of Rochester are presented, discussed, creased. The inorganic section contains s, limited discussion of atomic and summarized in this volume of the National Nuclear Energy Series. The problem under investigation was the comparison of structures with some emphasis on the relationship of mol&ular the biological effects of three alpha-emitting radioactive elements structure to properties. Thc use of the Periodic Table has been eliminated. The larger portion of this section is devoted to water, -polonium, plutonium, and radium. The plan and conduct of the directed research under the Man- colloidal and true solutions, ionization, and a romplete discussion hattan District were often determined by the availability of of acids, bases, and salts. The organic portion is very complete and begins in the conventechnical assistance, materials, and animals, but more frequently by the pressure of time. A relatively small number of animals of tional manner with a discussion of the aliphatic hydrocarbons and one species studied at a few dose levels and for a short internal of their derivatives. This study led naturally into the discussion of time had to su5ce for the initial pilot experiments. Although the carbohydrates and fats. A very short discussion of cyclic compounds, both carhocyclic major portion of the work was done an rats, a few mice, onc raband heterocyclic, consists mainly of introducing basic ring strucbit, and several tracer studies in humans were included. The careful outlining of procedures and methods is preceded by tures which are used in building up the more complex protein and a valuable review of the literature dealing with polonium and rsr alkaloid structures that amear later in the book. The remainine dium toxicity. The excretion, retention, and tissue distribution t h n r chapter*, appruximtcly 100 psgr.s, nlu devoted to C~tcrnisof these two elements were studied following intravenous and oral try of dipstion; Fuuetiou a d fate of glurose, fsts, and proadministration. The subcutaneous administration, inhalation, t e i n ~in the body; and Imponam physiologiml funrrionings uf and skin absorption of polonium were also investigated. The ex- electrolytes, all very thorough for a begininning text. Teachers of introductory courses for students interested in beperimental work designed to determine the intravenous lethal doses and relative toxicities of the three elements is clearly de- coming technical aids will 6nd this volume sttrmtive from both scribed and presented in detail. The mortality studies are com- a teacher's and student's view~oint. The introduction of bined with hematolazied as well as eross and mioro~atholonical enough organic chemistry along w&h the excellent presentation of the physiological applications make it a very good background book for nurses, nutritionists, and teachers of general science. BIOLOGICAL STUDIES WITH POLONIUM, RADIUM,AND PLUTONIUM
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J l M E S F. CORWIN
topay. This pioneering work is unusual in several respects, not the least of which is the vast amount of material collected by the combiied efforts of many investigators over a relatively short period of time. One is immediately impressed with the great care the authors have taken to present their problems and sources of error and with the voluminous data that are included. MIRIAM P. FINKEL A n e o a r ~Narlo~al.Laaoaa~om carcmo,1r.unors
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INTRODUCTION TO THERMODYNAMICS
CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING
1. M. Smith, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1949. x 386 pp. 64 figs. 25 tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $4.
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TKIS book is a new addition to the MoGraw-Hill Chemical Engineering Series. k4 a text it is designed for the third or fourth year of undergraduate work and for use in a twoemester Chcrrloffe A. Francis, formerly Instructor of Chemistry, and course of average intensity. The author states that the hook is to present, froma chemical Edna C. Morse, Assistant Professor of Home Economics (Chemidry), Teachers College, Columbia University. The Macmillan engineering viewpoint, an introductory treatment of thermody54s pp. 99 figs. 15 X 22 namics which is sufficiently simple and free from complicated Company, New York. 1950. n mathematical treatment that it may be understood by the average m. $4.50. undergraduate student, yet rigorous and sound enough to proTms book is designed for students interested in an introductory vide a 6rm foundation for more advanced work. The subject is course in chemistry leading to more specialized courses in nursing covered under the fallowing twelve chapter headings: (1) Intropmtice, nutrition and home economics, medical technology, and duction to chemical engineering thermodynamics, (2) The firat teaching of general science. In carrying out this design, nineteen Isw of thermodynamics (3) Preseure-volume-temperature chapters, 264 pages, are devoted to general principles and in- relations of fluids, (4) Heat effects, (5) The second law of orgsnic chemistry at au elementary level. The remamder of the thermodynamics, (6) Thermodynamic properties of fluids, book, twelve chapters, 261 pages, contains a much more extensive (7) Flow of fluids, (8) Production of work from heat, (9) treatment of organic chemistry than is found in the usual intro- Compression and expansion process, (10) Refrigeration, (11) Phase equilibria, and (12) Chemical-reaction equilibria. In ductory college chemistry textbook. The arrangement of the subject matter and general plan fal- each chapter numerical examples are solved that illustrate very lows that of the first two editions hut all chapters have been re well the various topics under discussion, and a t the end of each vised by the addition of new material and elimination of some of chapter there are lists of unsolved problems which are aimed the older concepts. Some chapters dealing with radioactivity principally at obemicrtl engineering applications. The material covered in the twelve chapters generally follows and the structure of matter have been rewritten in the light of the usual appmmh. However, the author introduced two work recent changes and additions to knowledge in these fields. The authors are especially adept at introducing the subj~ct terms, one to represent work done by the system, and the other 0
FLTNDAMENTALS OF CHEMISTRY AND APPLICATIONS
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OCTOBER, 1930
585
to represent work appearing in the surroundings. In the case of These have stimuiated some valuable research, but the surface irreversible processes, it is not clear just where the irreversibility is of the subject has hzrdly been scratched. The monograph by to occur. By the conventional definitions of system and s u c Professor Rleinberg is therefore especially welcome and it is hoped roundings (also those used in this text), this irreversibility occurs that it mill do much to stimulate further interest in this important in either one or the other. It would amear . . that,. hv. usins these field. The opening chapter of the hook clearly outlines the factors two work ttmrs, the irrtrerril,ility 1s owurrinp: rrt tile boundary k t s c m tile system HI.^ the surromdings. TLis is apt GO pmve which are important in different kinds of valence stabilization ronfuliirrg to the student and, st tht. %n>ctinre, no nppxrcnt rd- and delineates the underlying principles. Succeeding chapters discuss the low oxidation states of the elements of the aluminum vantage can he seen for this approach. group, the superoxides, unusual oxidation states of the halngens, The author waits until the last chapter to d e h o "standard states" while the concepts have actually been used in one form and of copper, silver, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, or another from Chapter 3. The student generally is careless in and the rare earths. To many chemists, compounds of monovzusing standmd states unless they are introduced early and are lent manganese or of trivalent copper and nickel will he new and carefully emphasized each time they are encountered. Also, it is exciting. Only a few examples are discussed, hut they are well important to point out why a standard state is necessary in each selected and will suggest many interesting research problems. Dr. Kleinberg has done a splendid job, both in the selection of of the cases encountered. In Chapter 11, equation (11-2) is not the definition of the material and in his rnxnner of presentation. The monograph is chemical potential as given by Gibbs Reference ismade to "The a distinct addition to I he literature of inorganic ohemistry, and should receive wide stud". Collected Works of .I. Willard Gihhs," Vol. I, page 89, Longmans Green and Co., Inc., New York, 1931. As long as the author JOHN C. RALI.&R. .IR. uses partial free energies in the text, the introduction of the Gibbs E ~ r v s n s l r rO P ILLINDIB p-potential adds little, and may prove very confusing. The cnam*, I L L ~ X ~ I ~ author would have done better to have stated and discussed the equilibrium conditions in terms of partial free energies instead of introducing Gihbs' treatment. This would have circumvented SOLVENTS the discussion centering around equation (11-11) and the con- 0 fusion that is certain t o arise in the beginner's mind as to just Thomas H. Dunona. 'ixth edition. D. Van Nostrand Co., what is the difference between the partial free energy and the New York, 1950. xv 242 pp. 14.5 X 22 om. $6. ' p-potential, if any. Chapters 11 and 12 would have k e n greatly improved if the THE title for this book should be "Solvents for Cellulose Niauthor had smanded them. The author states in the Preface trate," although the acetate is occasionally mentioned. No that the book-is desimed for use in a two-semester course of general discussion of solvent properties outside this specific field average intensity but may he usedfor a one-semester cowse by is given, so the book will he useful only to one engaged in lacquer omitting most of Chapters 11 and 12. On the basis of this formulation. division it appears that ~ ~ p p ~ ~ mmaterial o n t ~ lwould be neresThe book is divided into two parts, the fist 74 pages being a snry in a two-semester course. general discussion of solvent properties of importance in lacquers and the second part a specific description of individual comIIARTLEY C. ECKSTROM pounds in nine classes of solvents. An appendix gives trade ~ A N O L I N DOILA N D Gas COIPAXT names, solubility tables for cellulose compounds and resins, and T a t . 8 ~ .O ~ b n ~ o n a olssticieer orooortions. The fifth'edition was ouhlished in 1914. hut onlv two references in the sixth edihon bear dates later than this. Frequent reference UNFAMILIAR OXIDATION STATES AND THEIR is made to undated manufacturers' circulars, and some OF this STABILIZATION material may be more recent.
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Jacob Kleinberg, Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrenee, Kansas. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, Kansas, 1950. 131 pp. 8 figs. 17 tables. 14 X 22 Em. $3. TEE stabilization of valence states of the elements has important implications, both in theory and in practice. I t enters into considerations of structure and reaction mechanism and is of utmost importance in electroplating, in catalysis, in many amlytioal separations, and in oxidation-reduction reactions of all sorts. Examples are abundant, and applications have been used for many years. Thus, silver and gold, which me usually inert to all hut the strongest oxidieing agents, are readily oxidized by the air in the presence of potassium cyanide, because of the formation of the [Ag(CN)z]- and [Au(CN)*j- complex ions, and copper is dissolved by hydriodic acid because it forms the stable [Cu12]- ion. In the presence of excess fluoride ion permanganate titrations yield manganese in the tripositive state rather than in the more usual dipositive state. Erbium is separated from the other rare earths through the formation of the stable, insoluble, ewopous sulfate, while cerium is separated by oxidation to the tetrapositive condition. Cobalt cannot be determined polarographically in the presence of nickel if the inert electrolyte is a chloride bath, but the polamgraphic waves are quite distinct when the bath contains an excess of thiocyanate. In spite of the importance of the subject of valence stahiliaation, little was written on it until about a deoade ago. During the last few year8 it has attracted a considerable amount of attention and several brief reviews on the suhjeot have appeared.
KENNETH A. KOBE DKIYERSITY O P TEXAS IUBTIN. T B X * ~
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THE CHEMISTRY OF INDUSTRIAL TOXICOLOGY
Henrey B. Elkins, Chief of Laboratory. Division of Occupational Hygiene, Massachusetts Department of Labor and Industries. John W h y & Sons, Inc.. New York, 1950. ix 406 pp. 24 figs. 43 tables. 14 X 22 cm. $5 SO.
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Tnrs hook was written to "provide a convenient source of information an the basic properties of the common industrial poisons; to stimulate the interest of the industrial chemist in problems of occupational illnesses of toxic origin; and to encourage employers to utili~ethe knowledge and training of their chemists and chemical engineers in protecting their workers from the harmful substances to which they are exposed." Sincc control of occupational disability resulting from undue exposure to toxic substances may best he made initially by chemical methods, this book treats industrial poisons primarily from the point of view of the chemist and engineer rather than from the medical point of view. The first two chapters cover general principles h o w n to the toxicologist and with which the industrial chemist should be familiar. Chapters 111, IV, and V discuss in general terms the hazards associated with the elements and their chief industrial compounds. Chapter VI deals with additional inorganic com-
