BOOK REVIEWS vide a standard of excdle~wrfor t,hos* who prrpsre surh material. They will fasrinate anyone ~ h pirks o up t h e book. There are a f e n shortrominp which should be pointed out. Mort revere x-odd seem t o be the ahsenrr oi nn index. T o serve as an enryrlopcdia. a book must. be rradily arressible t o thosp who know little or nothing of microsropy. Without. an index it is difficult t o are how i t d l serve this iunrtion. A givm t,opie may be touched on from several different angles i n n variety of lorationfi. The hssir undrrstanding of t,he prinripler; of the various mirro~ropirt,eehniqoer snd equipment is srattcrod and repented, partiwlarly with respect t o light mirroscopy. .4 definitive rlassifirstion and orgnniaation system-perhaps impossilk t,o nrhieve-would have made- it passil)le t o diminat? a redly ronsidrrahl? ~ m o l l n of t ovcrlap and rcprtition. At th? name timp it mieht h a w .eroourd the m a t w i d in a m o w useful manner for the neophytr u ing the book. I n summary, i t is run rxrrllmtly writtrn and i:lustrated volmne rontnining a wealth af information all t h r r a y from t h e history, through the- rlpm~nt:tryprinriplrn and x multitude of amlir.stions, t o nv-to.. thwninute frontiers of rrspitwh. .4s a result, a variety of people in almost every discipline in the physical and hiologirnl srirnrcs will find interesting. informnt i w , authorit~tiv?material in it.
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\\knnes I?'. Bn.+snT Konaas .Slnlu l l n i t ' e l a i t ~ Monholtan.
Polymeric Mderids
('hnrles P. Winding, Cornrll Vnirrrsity, Ithxea, K r w 1-ark, and Gordon I). Hiott, Eastman Iiodak Compnny. Md;ram-Hill Rook Co., Inr., S e n Tork, 1%1. x 406 pp. Fixs. and trtl~lrz. 16 X 23.5rnr. S12.
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.As polymrr tcxhnoloxy c s p i ~ ~ I(st h e estimated yearly pradrwtiou of pl:~stirs and resins is nine billion ponnds 1)y 1!165), ml incrrnsing n u m h ~ r of propl? n-hose harkground in the r h ~ m i s t r y nnd engiwering of polymers may I ~ Pw r y l i m i t d will need t o acquaint themxdvw xith thc fnndamn~b:~ls of this f i d d This lxmk is w4I s n i t d for that purpose. Chemical ;wd rnwh:micnl pnginwring sturlunta would also he a d n d v i s d tn :rdd it t o their wndinx list. T h e tirsl thrcc rhsptcrs. comprising ;!bout 20',',; of the book, providr a rpnlitativt introduction to t h ~ morr importmt. ; ~ s p w t sof pnlyrncr rhemistr\- a d pbysirs. It~rlurlrdarr disrussione of t h r morphology of polyrnrrs, polynwrir:ition ~ n e t i o n s , solution propertics including m o l ~ r u l a r w i a h t drtorminntions n n r l pl:tatirizntia~l, Imlk properties (surh ;IS mn,hsnirnl :md rlrsrtrir:d rharartrriatice), and chrmi d wsistanr?. Introductory roumrs in r.hrmistry and physics should l,r aotliri~~nt, Imkgraund for most of thi.; material. (Continued on poye ,458)
A56 / Journal of Chemical Education
BOOK REVIEWS Chapters four and five provide a survey of the general applications of polymeric materials. Coatings and films, molding and casting, standard shapes, foams, adhesives, and fibers and filaments are discussed briefly with the emphasis on general formulations, methods of fabrication, and end urre. Within this framework, the folloaing four chapters survey the role of natural products and their derivatives, eondensxtion polymers, ethenic polymers, and siliaanes. Chapter ten discusses rubbers. There is some overlap with previous chapters but the emphasis here warrants it. A compsrison of spccific polymers follows a gerleral introduction t o rubher processing and rubber properties. The book is compendious in coverage, up t o date, and well written. Useful tabulations of polymer proper tic,^, farmulations, and applications, flow sheets, and line drawings of fabricating equipment supplement the text but the photographs arc of questionable value. A bibliography of standard American works is provided a t the end of each chapter. Finally, a comprehensive index adds greatly t o the utility of the book. The purpose and seep? of tho hook are fairly summarized h p t h authors' ~ prefacing statnment: "It should be remembered that this book is j u ~ an t introduction t o the field of polym~ricmaterials. It suppli~8a background for additional study. Anyone starting work in this field. . . should enlarge on t,hr hnckground providpd here b?- studying other books a n d . . . by keeping up with the current literature."
\T.~I.TER DANNHAUSER [kiuerslty or Buffalo New l b r k
Clinical Pharmacology
D. R . Laurence and R. Moulton, both of University College Hospital Medical School, London, England. Little, Brown and Co., Boston, Massachusetts, 1960. viii 490 pp. Figs. and tables. 14.5 X 20.5 cm. $10.
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"(-I' mmcal . Pharmacology" is an np-todate reference text containing concise clinical information on currently used drugs together with a hrief account of their pharmacology. It solves the prablem of book size and prartical urn through the application made of pham~cologieal data. to drugs used in clinical practice. I t contains 29 chapters in which the commonly used drugs are placed in therapeutic ent,ego;ories. Each rstegory is intraduced by a brief discussion of that rategory which includes the general problem of occurrence, indications, and treatment. This is follaned by t h e drugs used as therapeutic agents for th? affliction or disease together with the dose, dosage forms, manner oi administration, and possible undesirable side effects. The text does not contain rhcmieal (Continuedon pnye A601 A58
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Journal of Chemical Education
