furnish the student n i t h n typical m ~ d important work on alchemy from t h e middle ages. Credit is due especially to the University of Califomis Press not only for publishing Sister Heines' work hut also far taking pains to present the book in a n attractive and readable form. SIDNEY M. EDELSTEIN DElTEn CHE\'IC*L CORPOR*T,DB N m Yonr, N. Y.
METHODEN DER ORGANISCHEN CHEMIE. BAND 1. ALLGEMRNE LABORATORIUM.SPRAX1S TEIL I Edited by Eugene Miiller. Fourth edition. Geora Thieme Verlao. Stuttoart. 1958. xlivT+ 1048 pp. sf'figs. i8.S X 26 cm. $46.90. P I ~ O S O P H E in R Sdealing ~ ~ - ithe t h basic kind5 of individuality suggest tlmt there are six fundamental attitudes tovards i f : esthetic, social, th~ot.etir,rdigious, political, and ~eonornir. Thr5- reckon not with the vibrant and nssel.tive organic ehcmists r h o have l w t tlwil. minds owr gadgets of the ~ttmcstcanrplexitics which e n a i k them t o do t!!~ simplest experiments. Thesc mcn live outside the ordinary realms of esthetirs: they are unsocial, untheorctic, and irreligious, if the Golden Rule: "Thou shalt not steal thy neighbor'8 Bariar" is valid; they obsirve n ~ i t h e rthe political nor pconomic factors in a n orgsnizstion, bat gladly yicld up their future in s ponw struggle with thp dirertor over an unneeded gadget. This mania is videspread. Hcnce, it is that any book on laboratory trehniques will be subjert not only to more, but t o R. greater variety of criticism than books on other aspects of chemistyy. This volume is no exception. Perhaps the only grounds for examination t,hen are t,he number and variety of teehniqnes eonsidcred snd whether the deseript,ions are drveloped beyond the elementary level. The first 130 pages of this volumc embrace eight sections dealing with information al~outmaterials uscd in laboratory aplmratus. The ehemieal and physical properties of s, variety of glasses, ceramic materidc, metals, plastics, cements, and adhesives are dnscrihed in detail. The remaining portion of this volume surveys the general methods of separating organic compounds. Ahout 20 different techniques are described. Decantation, filtration, and ultrafiltration; elutrintian, clarifiration, and deroloration; filter nresaes: breakine of emulsions: extraction: crystallisation; use of inclusion rompounds; separation through formation of complex double compounds; employment of adsorption techniques in liquid and gas phases; isolation with ion exchange resins; redor resins; centrifugation; dialysis and eleetrodislysis; elertrophoresis: drying; distillation; rvnporation; and sublimation are the principal topics considered.
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(Cmlinued on page .4418)
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
Recent
sd4
Inasmuch as it would he possible to m i t e a monograph on most. of t h e ~ etopics, the authors displayed good taste in omitting the clcmentmy descriptive details, and the innumerable instrumental variations, but rather focused their a& tention on t,he basic principles involved in each of these operations. For the most part the literature is surveyed up to 1956 although for the sections on inclufiion compoonds, redox resins, and evaporation thc coverage is up to 1957. Some idea of the extent of the development of these topics may he gathered from the fact that over 5000 entries m e listed in the subject index, and there are over 3600 entries in the author index. This volume of "Methoden der arganischen Chemie" should receive generous recognition ns a comprehensive rderenre work; it will be of value to research workers in both university and industrial
laboratories. GEORGE HOLMES RICHTER T ~ RICE E INBT~TOTE H o u s ~ o rT, r x * s
CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING Edited by K. Rietemq Secretary, E u r a pean Federation of Chemical Engineers. Pergamon Press, New York, 1957. viii 200 pp. 107 figures. 19 X 25.5 cm. $12.50.
+
No,
chemicd
reaction
engineering
i s not a new kind of chemical engineering. This title was given t o the twelfth meet-
ing of the European Federation oi Chemical Engineering held a t Amsterdam in 1957 which sponsored the first Emapean symposium on chemical engineering. This symposium is reported in this hook. Papers are printed in English, French (1 paper), and German (4 papers). "Chemical reaction engineering is a. part of chemical engineering in general. I t is a. n e n branch of ~ciencewhich is still in the development stage. I t aims s t controlling. the chemical conversions on a technical scale and will ultimrttely lead to appropriate and suecessiul reactor design. An important part is played by various factors, such as flow phenomena, mass and heat transfer, and reaction kinetics. I t will be clear that it is necessary to know these factors separately. Yet this knowledge in it, self is insufficient. The development of chemical conversionn on s. technical scale can onlg be understood from the relation and interaction between the above-mentioned factors. This relation and interaction will be the main theme of the symposium on chemical reaction engineering." Our European colleagues in the chemical, or process, engineering field are very fundamental in their attack on problems. This symposium gives their views on industrial kinetics or process rates. Everyone interested in this field will want t o study this collection of papers by European authorities in the field. KENNETH A. KOBE U ~ l v s n s l rOP~ T E X * ~ A a s ~ r * .T E X * ~
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
