JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
168 the hook. Units and t e r m are well defined. The description of reaearch reactors in some detail, together with illustrations, gives the discussion a reality which has not been achieved in much of the writing on reactors themselves to date. Some rarher minor points for which some prrsons might p r c f ~ r a dllfercnr l ~ ~ n d l mam g 8s follows: The author avo~drthe ua. of rhe ssmbol olnho. frmlliar to wactar ohs&irts. for rhr r y l m of the cross seetion for capture to that for-fission'by defining a quantity a as the ratio of fission cross section to ahsorption crass section. The book, dated 1954, states on page 83 that the materials-testing reactor a t Arco, Idaho, is just starting, and on page 85 that it is now in operation. The reactor was placed in operation in the late spring of 1952. Some repetitious d o scription of temperature effects on control of water boiler reactors occurs on pages 89 and 90. With regard t o the discussion of breeding on page 91,this reviewer is more familiar with the notion that breeding gain is considered to be 7 - 2 or this quantity lowered by other losses of neutrons, rather than the gain in total atoms of fuel in a reactor as presented by the author. The author's discussion of the structure of &uranium could have been amplified by reference to the work of C. W. Tucker who published this structure in A& C~ystallographiea,4, 425 (1951). On page 229 i t would have been preferable not to mix the effects of Frenckel defects with the general theory of work hardening of solids. The utility of the hook is not affected by the trostmcnt of these mints. Advanced college students and others with comparable preparation will find this hook a valuable help in making a start in the field of nuclear engineering. J. P. AOWC N o n r ~A r e m o m AVIATION, ISC. DOWNEI, CILIIORNIA
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON RESERRCH ADMINISTRATION
0
George P. Bush, Professor, The American University. The University Press of Washington, D. C., Washington, D. C., 1954. iv 146 pp. 15.5 X 24 cm. $4.
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PARTXCWLARLY for the research director and his staff, the research worker a t all levels, and the development engineer. Eleven hundred references are grouped under beadings such as: rcsearch process, bud& and finance, organization and management, personnel administration, external rrl~tions, researcb in action. 0
MANUAL FOR PLASTIC WELDING. VOLUME 11: POLYETHYLENE
G. Haim, Rediweld Ltd., Crawley, Sussex, Englmd, and I. A. Neumonn. American Aaile Cormration. Bed'ord. Ohio. InI28 pp. 36 dustrial ~kblishingCo., h e v e ~ a n i ,1954.' xiv plates. 29 figs. 14.5 X 22.5 cm. $6.
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FULLof useful practical information, as the name will imply, which can be put to usein the chemistry laboratory. 0
EWERIMENTAL INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. A GUIDE TO LABORATORY PRACTICE
R. E. Dodd, Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry, and P. L. Robinson, University Reader in Inorganic Chemistry, King's College, Newcastle Upon Tyne, University of Durham, England. Elsevier 424 pp. Publishing Company, Houston, Texas, 1953. xii 15.5 X 23 em. 162 figs. 35 tables. $6.50.
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THIS~ u u s u abook l should be valuable to all laboratory workere. I t is designed "for the beginner in research, gi.-ing in a single, MASTER'S THESES IN SCIENCE, 1952 relatively small volume, a survey of those general experimental 0 methods which have proved particularly useful in the field of Edited by Barton Bledsoe, Bibliographic Branch, Department inorganic ohemistry." The authors, from King's Calleg~, of the Army Library. Biblio Press, Washington, D. C., 1954. University of Durham, have succeeded amazingly well in this v 252 pp. 16 X 23.5 cm. $7. objective. I t is more than a. mere hsndhook of methods; it. LISTS, among those in many other fields, 970 theses in chem- seems to offer friendly and helpful counsel for the worker who istry and chemical engineering, with subject, author, and in- enters a hitherto unfamiliar field with some reticence. One statement in the preface continues throughout: "Normally, stitution. ss is right, research is begun under direction; hut sooner or later the flow of ideas must be mutual and it is honed that this book 0 THORPE'S DICTIONARY OF APPLIED CHEMISTRY. may help to make it so." Chapter 1, General Basic Techniques, deals with both macro VOLUME XI: SOIL, ORGANIC CONSTITUENTS OF, and micro methods, with many descriptions and illustrations TO ZYMURGY of apparatus. Chapter 2, Handling of Gases; Vacuum TechSir Ian Heilbron, Chairman, Editorial Board. Edited by M. A. nique, continues in the same manner and includes some general Whiteley, A. 3. E. Welch, and L. N. Owen. Fourth edition. instruction in glass working and many useful points about glass 1145 pp. joints, waxes and cements, pumps, manometers, gages, etc. Longmans, Green and Co., New Yark, 1954. r Illustrated. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $25. The reader is well repaid by these two chapters alone, although there are more lengthy sources of information about these topics. THORPE'S''Dictionary'' is well known to be one of the oldest Chapters 3 and 4 deal with preparatory methods of a wide vaend most complete works of its kind. Much more than a dic- riety of elements and compounds. Many of these are of up-totionary in the ordinary sense of the ward, of course, it goes far date interest, such as deuterium and some of its compounds. toward being an advanced textbook in numerous fields. This There are useful suggestions for the purification of hydrogen, volume, with its substantial sections on such topics as stereo- oxygen, etc. chemistry, steroids, synthetic drugs, tautomerism, terpenes, Chapter 5,Colloids and Disperse Systems, a t first seems strange valence theory, etc., is s veritable textbook of organic cbemistry. in such a book, but i t seems to fit in nicely with the general plan. Ita numerous contributors, including many well known names, Methods of studying colloidsl systems and of preparing colloids have brought this edition up to date, as a glance a t such sections are emnhasized. as "Teohnecium" will show. ~ h a i t e r6 deals with physicel methods, which cover a wide range from density and vapor pressure t o .X-ray, electron, and neutron diffraction. INTRODUCTION TO THE THEORY OF ERROR 0 Chapter 7 deals with the literature of chemistry and its use; oft data. in~ the form of reports, etc.; some practical yardley B ~~ ~ ~~professor ~ ~,of physics, ~ N~~ ~york uni. i presentation ~ considerations versity, ~ d d ~ publishing ~ ~ co,, ~ I,,~,, ~cambridge, ~ ~ l ~ ~ of laboratory safety. I t i s frankly intended for the Massachusetts, 1953. vi 65 pp. 14 X 20 cm. Paper bound. ine"periencedteohnician. Dealing with as wide a range of subjects m it does, the coverage $1.25. is necessarily thin in places. A compensating factor is the very SIMPLEtreatment of general principles without using more copious list of references, which on the whale are adequate and than moderately complicated mathematics. up to date. Inevitably, specialists in particular fields will find
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