BOOK REVIEWS One of the resonance structures of hntadiene (p. 45) is missing a minos change.
RICAAED HIATP Broek University St. Cathalines, Ontario
The Investigation of Organic Reactions
Ross Stewart, University of British Columbia. Prentice-Hdl, Ine., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1966. xii 125 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 X 23.5 em. Clothbound, $5.50; paperbound, $2.50.
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This book takes up equilibria, reaction intermediates, transition states, study of reaction paths, and catalysis in that order. As an introduction to organic reactions it is n splendid job and could well be reeommended to every beginning stndent of nrgrtuie chemist,ry, regardless of what other text hooks he might have. One wishes it could have been a bit longer, that Professor Stewart had devoted more space, in hi nsrticularlv lucid stvle. to thermodvnamic book and the preceding one, appears to have fallen between two stools.) There are t,wo odd slips. On p. 29, in a disr~rssionof acid sbrengths, the ionization of carbolt acids such as triphenylmethane is described a q "slow." Slow or fast has no relevsnee, as Professor Stewart well know*. On p. 60,Oxygen-18 is descrihed as having "a half-life of infinity." "Half-life" surely has no meaning if the isotope is stable. I t is difficult enough to wean students away from t,he idea that all isotopes me radioactive. Statements of lhis sort are no help. Bnswers t.o the ~ r o b l e m sare included at the hnck of the book. RICHARD HITT Block Universitzi
St. Cathaenes, Onlaria
Ionic Aliphatic Reactions
William H . Saunders, Jr., University of Rochester, Rochester, New York. Prentice-Hall, h e . , Englewood Clifis, New Jersey, 1956. x 113 pp. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. Clothbound, $4.50; paperbound, $1.95.
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This is the first book of the series to deal with a rather specific topic instead of a broad general ares, and thus the first chance for anexposition "in depth" (at the undergraduate level). Professor Saunders does very well within his 100 page limitation but, as previously mentioned, it is not so much what could be pot in 100 pages, as what can he said in 6 to 8 leotnres. Rather frequently the student i3 told that to go
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BOOK REVIEWS any deeper is beyond the scope of the book, where an ordinary text might include further information in small print or in a. footnote. However, there is no aversimplification; discussions are clear and to the point: on bslance, it is an admirahle work. The hook is restricted to additions to carbon-carbon multiple bonds, (additions \
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,C=O is discussed in another volume , of the series), nucleophilie substitution, to
eliinlttions, and a ( r a t h a short) descrip tion of electrophilic substitution. Partienlarly good are the sections on steriochemistry, on effectsof structure and solvent, on the Saytyteef and Hofmann Rules, and on Substitution vs. Elimination. The discussions build well on Stewart's book. (One missed opportunity: internal return and solvent separated ion pairs, etc., are dismissed as too complicated, although Stewart provides an excellent introduction.) Though the tone is largely mechanistic there are sections devoted to synthetic applications of the several kinds of reaetions. These slip hack into the familiar textbook style of eittdoging and perhaps could have been done better. Nonionic reactions slip in, as well as some ionic ones whose meohanisms (not discussed) are more complex than simple addition or suhstitution. Some obvious examples of demonstrable usefulness, such as formation of epoxy resins, are missed. It is refreshing to find some hiogrs;phical sketches of chemists still alive and working, hut they are surely the sketchiest sketches that ever saw print. Answers to the problems are not included. RICHARD HI~TT Brock Uniueraily St. Calharines, Ontario
Physical Chemistry
Gordon M. Barrow, Case Institute of Technology, Cleveland, Ohio. 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1966. xiii 843 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.5 X 24 cm. $12.50.
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At first glance, this appears to he a much changed hook. The publisher's art is much more obvious in this second edition, and the result is an attractive, easily readable layout which is a eonsidersble improvement. On closer examination, the changes in the text turn out to be minor, but logical and helpful. For those who liked the approach of the first edition, hut had reservations about specific sections, the new edition may have greater appeal. Those w.ho dislike the mixture &the molecular approach with the more "classical" topics will find that this is still the maior distinctive feature of the hook. Topics which have been ex(Cm2inued on page A1008) L I ~ E no. IM 01
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