THE PROSPECTS OF NUCLEAR POWER AND TECHNOLOGY Gerald W e n d t D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc.. New York, 1957. d i 348 pp. 15.5 X 21.5 cm. $6.
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DR. WENDT presents an interesting, authentic, and vital report of the present (1957) status of nuclear fission and its potential applications industrially throughout the world. The technical aspects are held to a, minimum and the book presents primarily a broad and comprehensive survey understood easily by nontechnicsl personnel. Part 1 deals with the need for vastly more power in the evor+xpsnding world economy. While America, with her abundant petroleum and coal, has no critical need for nuclear power, the economy of Europe and Asia compels prompt development of power from the atom. Part 2, Technology, describes in surprising detail the obtainment and processing of uranium ores from a multitude of sources. The reactor materials-moderators, coolants, structural materials, and similar items are described. The relative advantages of the various procreesses are explained-boiling-wster actor, sodium-cooled reactor, breeder concepts, and similar considerations. Suggestions are made relative to the production, use, and disposal of fission products. Finally the author projectsinto the future with a glimpse of propulsion reactors, the atomic plane, and finally the possibility of power from fusion. The story related is authentic, informative, and provocative. The pleasant period of reading and studying this book was well compensated by the wealth of information provided. This is a most intereating and worthwhile book.
INTRODUCTION A LA CHIME
GENERALE
P. Colmant, Professor of Science, NotreDame DE La Paix. Maison D'Editions Ad. Wesmael-Charlier (S.A.) Namur, 1957. 504 pp. 86 figs. 1 7 X 24 cm. xiv
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men, but will have little general appeal in this country. I t would not be fair to generalize on French books in terms of this one, but its tone does fit the impression received elsewhere that French education on the collegiate level tends to be rigorous in the sense of requiring facility in calculation, but not in giving deep insight into the fundamental problems and assumptions involved. I have, for example, never seen a. book which catalogues more "I~wB"than does this one. In general the statement of the law is bereft of any theoretical interpretation of the basis of the law. J. A. CAMPBELL H * n v ~ rMuon C o ~ b e a ~ C b ~ n ~ h r o CAIIPORNIA n~.
ALCHEMY
E. I. Holmyard. Penguin Books, Inc., Baltimore, 1957. 281 pp. 10 figs. 36 plates. 11 X 18 cm. Paperbound.
VOLUME 35, NO. 7, JULY, 1958
FRANCIS JOSEPH WEIRS A n ~ m o ~ oV a .r n c r ~ r ~
$0.85.
IN THIS paperbound hook "the origins and growth of alchemy are described, with an account of the underlying philosophical conceptions; and the romance attaching to the a r t is illustrated by stories of some of the most celebrated or notorious of its practitioners." Few would have been better qualified to discuss Alchemy than Dr. Holmyard, and probably even fewer could have done it so well. Dr. Holmyard's fluent writing is abetted hy excellent figures and plates, an Index of Persons, a Generd Index, a. short but helpful Glossary (which could well be expanded), and excellent cross-referencing which aids the novice in keeping unfamiliar names in mind. The book includes numerous quotations from original sources, translated where necessary. The discussion of the basic concepts is enlivened by fascinating stories and the suthor'a dry humor: " . . . o n another occasion (John Dee's) presence was urgently commanded in order to prevent any ill befalling the Queen from a waxen image of her Majesty found.. . with s. pin thrust through its breast. His efforts must have been successful, for the Queen survived the event by a quarter of a century!' WILLIAM E. MORRELL
AMERICAN teachers tend to Look only a t American textbooks, thus miss many excellent innovations and hecome quite out of touch with teaching ideas and course contents in other countries. Yet foreign texts prohahly have no higher percentage of uniqueness than their American contemporaries, and perusal of a large number is not very rewarding. A review should, therefore, discriminate between a book which is uniquely rewarding and one which is only sound. This book is a sound one s t the general level of our physical chemistry courses. I t does not achieve the rigor of our best ones, but surpasses the rundf-the-mine. It might well serve as an exercise in reading scientific French for upper class-
most active fields of research in plant physiology and need t o grasp more advanced concepts of botany without having the necessary background knowledge or time to acquire it. For all these numerous scientists and technicians the fourth edition of Dr. Thomas' hook will be most welcome for study and reference. While it covers quite comprehensively the customary chapters of plant physiology, it emphasizes those thst are presently most actively investigated, such ss enzymatic activity in relation t o respiration, photosynthesis, growth hormones, and photoperiodism. The chemist will appreciate especially the appendixes containing notes on metabolio products, physical chemistry in relation to plant physiology, and such special technics as chromatography, ion exohange, and isotopes as tracer atoms. An excellent bibilography, author and subject index facilitate locating the original literature.
UNIYEBBIT). OF ILLINOI~ U n ~ m * .I ~ ~ r a o r s
PLANT PHYSIOLOGY Meirion Thomas, Professor of Botany, S. L. Ranson, andl. A. Richardson, Lecturers in Botany, King's College, University of Durham. Fourth edition. The Philosophical Library, New York, 1956. xii 692 pp. 80 figs. 22 tables. 15 X 22 cm. $12.
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IT O ~ E Nhappens that chemists, engineers, and agronomists become scientifically or professionally interested in the
BIOCHEMICAL INDIVIDUALITY Roger I. Williams, Director of Biochemical Institute, Uniaersity of Texas. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1956. xii 214 pp. 15 X 23.5 cm. $5.75.
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FOR many years research vorkers in the biological and biochemistry sciences, while aware of individual differences in morphology s n d mrr:,l~olirm, l . : t v t ~n r w r rltolw: s t r ~ ~ w11,"4 aver:ig~or mvan hen presenting experimental results. I n many eases this hila gone so far as discarding data for individuals if these data were very far removed from the mean. Dr. Williams, pursuing further a. path which he explored in his earlier book "Free and Unerlual," stresses the importance of a recognition and understanding of biochemical differences in experimental animals and i n man. He points out, for example, that "sound experimental investigations have been abandoned in some cases when the measurements were too diverse or divergent from those expected to 'make sense'." Stressing the point thst extremely "abnormal" individuals in mast cases simply represent the extremes of normal variations or gradients within a population, Dr. Williams explores these gradients in such wried subjects as variations in the branching of the arteries of the aortic arch and the rate a t which ethanol is metabolized by different individuals. Of particular interest to the student of biochemistry are the chapters on individuality and composition, enzymic patterns, endocrine activities, excretion patterns, and nutrition. In the last three chapters of the hook, Dr. Williams sugge~ts implications of this concept of the importance of individual differences on research in the biological sicenees, in medicine and dentistry and in psychiatry. It seems probable to the revien.er that a reading of this book will suggest to many teachers in the biological sciences new ex-
