BOOK REVIEWS,
and a summary of some of the more important applications of nitric acid. Several photographs of manufacturing plants and a number of line dmvings illustratine various manufacturing procwaes are given. On the inside flap of the dust cover ol this volume are the iollowing sords: "Thr tent has been p r e p s r d hy Impprinl Chemical Industries, Ltd. with the assistance ol t,he Scionce Mashers' Associ~tionand the Association of Wl'om~nScience Teachers. I t s scope and manner of presentation are such, therefore, as to insure thnt i t will be of value to senior pupils in schools and junior students in technical colleges or univarsities." The reviewer can onlv state t h a t there is some douht thnt this objective was nchicved. Many teachers will not wish to place this hook in the hands of their students. On the other hand, the technical information eoncvrning the engineering details of nitric acid mnnufnctlirr may he of use to some tcnehers as reference makrinl. HARRYH. SISLER, I h i w r s i l ? ~o j Florida
Gninesuille
Laboratory Studies in General Chemistry
Fmnk Rreseia, Herher1 Afcislich, Amos T w k , .hbn Amnls, and Adolph Anderson, all of the City Collegc of Nea. York. Academic Press, Inc., N e w York, IRG1. vii 210 pp. Figs. and tables. 21 X 2G.5 cm. Paperhound. 83.25
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"The object of laborat,or,v edwstion" say the authors in their Preface "is to learn about how hcst. to dezign, set up, carry out, and interpret experiments wit,h a view to ohtnining the most infar~nhtion ,for the @or1 erpeno'pd" (itniirs mine). The last four wonls are significant, for u p o ~them is I m s d the entire justification for a laborstorv msnual of this description. What these authors have done is t,o bind drt,arhahle data sheets directlg following the dirrct,ions for each experiment. These data sheets contain leading questions t h s t require but one word or one phrase for nn anrwer. Tal~ler for the rorrclntion of expcrinwntal data ar? designed and presented enrefully l a l d e d for e,wy fill in. Finally, the instructor is given n tmndy Teacher's Guidc, telling him answers t o the queetions, and suggesting to him the srceptshle limits of error for any erperiment,al data submitted. Is i t fair to crit,icize thc authors far trying to make R 1rtborator.v session a8 swiit and smooth-mnning s e possible? Are we justified in blaming them for trying t o make the process of correcting a n d evaluating as automatic as possible? After all, i t is not their fault that there are situations t h s t seem to demand an
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39, Number 9, September 1962
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A695
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appronrh like this. Therc are colleges with large rlas~cs of seemingly disinterested students; there are faculty assistants who consider freshman lah.or:ttory sessions n bore; and there are far too many student helpers wlio are products of this same sysiern and can think of nothing else. One might argue t h a t i t is far better far a student to get into the laboratory this way than never t o get there a t all. We can forgive the aut,hors their point of view on this, but must y e Ire tantalized with this glorious "design, set up, carry out, and interpret" ,eoncrpt, only t o have it d w t r o y ~ d by t,hr bnlancr shcet? Yet if we consider this manunl within t h e limitations imposed on the authors bv their concept, we find t,hat they have .done n reasonable piece of work. They hsve not, conrt,ived of the hook as "going with" any particular text, so thpir eclec.. tions cover the entire field. With onc or two exwptions, experiment,^ are stnnda d ones which hsve been worked aver .earrfully. They are presented in groups according to topics. Except for the nine experiments listed undcr l'rcpar~tions and Syntheses and t h e right experiments in t,Lr special section on Qualitative Analysis (both .cations and anions are given), thc emphasis is quantitative in concept. Vnknowns are given whenever possible, i~lthaughthere seem t o be rases whpre everyone is issued the same on?. .4 large numbcr of the questions on the data sheets are conrcrned with possil~lrerrors: thcir enuses, the direction they msy take, nnd thrtir possible magnitudr. The authors are safety-conscioue, rslling attention t o the sources of danger hefore any other topic in their g e n ~ r a directions, l and wh~neverpertinmt in t,heir specific directions. The Imok is well made with hcnvy paper and heavier paper eovcr. I t is perforated for easy removal of thc pages and punehcd with three holm for renssomlding in a ring hinder. Seven full page plates are excellent photographs of collections of indjvidusl Ishoratory items. The five figures are equall\- good photographs of assemhlies used in the handling of vapors and gases. The hook includes n final six pages of unlabeled graph paper, a tahle of aqueous vapor pressure, and a (1955) table of atomic weights. On the back cover is :I copy of t,ha long form periodic table.
excellent outline for this more ambitious project, which might easily require several volumes. The volume also serves as a goad introductory source for graduate students who are beginning research on spectra, and are beginning litcraturc searches. It will, of necessity, appoar superficial to specialists. The book does not emphasize application to identification hut t,hebasic methods of application are indicated el earl.^. The references are selected with care but are inadequate, except as a. rough guide t o further references. The hook may Ire of value to the organic chemist who is interested in the possibilities of spectroscopy. He should find i t a reliahle guide t o further reading.
The question of balance between theory and application is extremely difficult t o h a t in a. volume of such limited aim. The author has attempted no discussion of theory on a sophisticated level. As a result, the examples given of types of electronic transitions appear to he a series of unrelated empirical facts. For this reason, the contribution to the real understnnding of spectra is limited. Unfortunately what is presented may be misleading, unless the reader realizes t h a t this volume provokes questions about spectra rather than answers questions. A. B. F. DCINCAX Untvemly of Rochester Rochester, .Yew Y o 4
ROBERT I). EDDY l'uftla U n i , e r s i l p Merlfard, Mnrsoclruset!~
Ultra-violet and Visible Spectroscopy
C. N. R. Rao, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. Bntterworths, Ltd., London, 1961. xiii 164 pp. Figs. and tables. IG X 25.5 em. $5.25.
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There is a genuine need for n, comprehensive survey of electronic spectra, and this little volume might serve as an
Volume 39, Number 9, September 1962
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