JOURNAL OF CHEIdICAL EDUCATION
2530
disregarded this advice we welmme this meeting the need in another way. While it deals with fundamentals, its aim is not the exemplification of chemical principles. It presents the practice of chemistry in terms of human need. The history of the use of materials is very prominent. We can find good authority for this prominence of the time factor, for America's most practical saint, Franklin, says, "Time is the st& which life is made of." A good share of the illustrations present earlier practices which serve to make plain the progrw in the chemical arts. Twelve prominent earlier workers in chemistry are portrayed for our appreciative value. It is possible to suggest improvements in emphasis and organization, hut a work of this kind is not subject to the canons of textbook writing; it is morelike" beauty is its own excuse for being." The chemistry teacher has been too much obsessed with the idea that the pupils' "ambition should be made of sterner stuB" of chemical principles. If the perusal of this "Stuff catches the interest of the reader, then will he be willing t o continue with the "sterner stuff" and the teacher will accomplish his objectives.
Ocro~en.1930
Laplace in 1782 in the discovery that the potential function of every bite body satisfies a certain partis1 differential equation of the second order which is now known as Laplace's equation." As the author says in the preface from which the above is quoted, this branch of mechanics. which deals with fields of force emanating from bodies, is very beautiful from the point of view of the mathematician snd very useful from the point of view of the astronomer, physicist, and, we may add, madern chemist. "The book is not intended as a treatise, but it is hoped that the bird's-eye view which is here mesented will serve as an introduction t o this very attractive field and stimulate somewhat its cultivation.'' The author has succeeded very well in fulfilling these aims. Followkg a brief but clear introductory chapter, the Newtonian potential function is presented a t length together with a concise discusion of the more important properties of vector fields. The application to particular types of fields is then taken up, for example, those produced by surface charges of electricity. The book closes with two chapters of special mathematical interest on spherical and ellipsoidal harmonics. This book meets a long-felt need in this branch of physics and will be particularly appreciated by the chemists who are working in the field of atomic and molecuThe Theory of the Potential. W n ~ m a a lar structure and in certain special fields, DUNCANMACMRWLN,A.M., PH.D., suchasdiffusion phenomena. which involve Sc.D., Professor of Astronomy, The potential theory. While i t will prove University of Chicago. First edition. most interesting and valuable to this as Second VoIumc in the author's series on yet rather specialized group, it may be Thcmetiazl Mechanics. McGraw-Hill conf,dently recommended as interesting Book Co., Inc., New York City. 1930. and stimulating reading t o any one with xiii 469 pages. 112 figures. 15 X a good grounding in calculus who wishes t o acquire some familiarity with the 23 cm. $5.00. methods of using~. higher mathematics for This book covers a field which might dealing with physical phenomena. I n possibly be termed the most "classical" this connection the sets of problems a t the in all science. It is rooted in the work end of each chapter are a good feature. of Sir Isaac Newton on the influence one The explanation of chemical behavior in body may have an another through the terms of physical relation appears as such action of gravitational force and may he an important factor in the chemistry of said to have been properly founded "by the near future that one feels no hesitation
+
VOL.7. No. 10
RECENT BOOKS
in urging the student to make acquaintance with this field as early as possible. DONALD H. ANDRBWS
The Measurement of Hydrogen-Ion ConJu~rus GRANT,PH.D., centration. MSc. (London), A. I. C. Longmans, Green & Co.. New York City, 1930. viii 159 PP. 40 figures. 14 X 22 cm. $3.75.
+
This book is intended primarily for the worker in the industrial laboratow who has little or no knowledge of eiectrochemistry. but feels that a howledge of hydrogen-ion determination is essential for his purpose. It aims to give a short treatment t o the theoretical side of the subject and a simple description of the methods used, and an indication of the pitfalls and erron. For those interested in a more extensive study of the subject, a large number of selected references are given at the end of each part. The book is divided into five parts. The first part covering 28 pages takes up the theory of ionization, bu6ers, and pH. Part 11, covering 46 pages, is devoted to the eleetrametric method. The theory is taken up in an elementary manner together with the preparation and use of the calomel, hydrogen, quinhydrone, and glass electrodes. A chapter on the measurement of electromotive force, and one on the common errors and sources of trouble, and a method of calculating results with a description of a nomogram designed by the author for the rapid conversion of millivolts into pH values completes this section. Part 111, the colorimetric method, covering 26 pages, discusses the theory and selection of indicators, colorimetry, and their practical use with a discussion of errors and applications. Part IV, methods and technic applicable t o p k c u l a r cases, takes up practical problems met with in agriculture. biochemi&, dyestds, fermentation, leather, eledra-deposition, paper, pharmacy, and water. While the space devoted
2531
to each is of necessity brief, it gives the student some idea of its practical value. Part V contains eight tables giving data on ionization constants, buffers, indicators. etc. The hook is well written and should be welcomed by those desiring a working knowledge of the subject, but not desirous of studying the more extensive works on the subject. D. C. LICH~NWA-NBR DSB-
INsxmrs
P-DBLPHU.
PA.
Introduction to Physiological Chemistry. MzYzn BODANSKY. PH.D., Director of Laboratories. John Sealy Hospital, Galwston, and Professor of Pathological Chemistry, University of Texas. Second edition. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.. New York City, 1930. ix f 542 pp. 46 figures. 51 tables. 15 X 23
an. $4.00. In this book the general field of physiological chemistry as applied to animals is well covered. A chapter on the Composition of Foods with useful tables and &other on the Composition of Milk and Certain Tissues have been added in the second edition. The material on each subject has been brought up t o date so skilfully that, while the danger of aceepting unseasoned contributions t o such a rapidly progressing science as physiological chemistry is present, one does not feel that the author is drawing unwarranted conclusions nor that the reader will be misled. Among other changes, the discnssion of Carbohydrates and Photosynthesis has been expanded, the presentation of the material on Fats reamanxed and made more clear and the theories of protein structure enlarged. The chapter on Dkestion and the Chemistry of Enzyme is especially good and the same can be said of the sections on Water Balance, Internal Secretions, and Nutrition. On the other hand, one feels that the mathematical treatment of the Derimtion of the Gas Laws and of Osmosis is
on
