REGENT BOOKS PLASTICSSCIENTIFICAND TE~HNOLOG~CAL. H. Ronald Fleck. Chemical Publishing Co., Inc., Brooklyn, New York, 1945. x 325 pp. 76 figs. 5 appendixes. 14 X 22 cm. $6.50. Thin book might be taken as a starting point for a person trained academically in plastic chemistry for getting acquainted with the technological aspects of the subject. Conversely, it might also be used by a person practicing the a r t for becoming familiar with the chemistry of plastics. I t is a critical and comprehensive survey of the two aspects of the subject. The latest information ox the chemistrv and structures of plasri,,< t i g v r ~ tivithtwt d~lai19of LIIC proofs, but r(.fer~..~cw to the urigi1.11 lit~vrltuware give:, rlircctly i:, rhc tern throughour rhe book l ' h r nurerial o:! the tcchnolc,gical sidr of the field i.; on a more scholarly level than the reviewer bas seen in any other book ox the subject. There is a discussion of molecular weight determinations by the cryoscopic and osmotic pressure methods and a rather detailed description of Staudinger's viscosity method. The writer has not seen this in any other secondary source of comparable scope. Among the physical properties discussed (with measurements in most cases) are elasticity, effect of wlcanization, vibration properties, degree of swelling, flow properties, transition zone, effect of temperature of polymerization on hardness and tensile strength, creep- and fatigue-resistance in thermoplastics, water absorption, use of plasticizers, effect of fillers, electrical properties, and grain structure. For those interested purely in technology there are chapters on: adhesides, plywood, and impregnated wood; manufacture of dies and moulds; maxufacture of plastic articles; a scheme of qualitative analysis of plastics and estimation of plastic raw materials. The book is suited for a college course in the science of plastics after a year of organic chemistry. There are several detailed procedures given for conducting laboratory experiments. The text was intended t o be a companion to the monthly British publication "Plastics." LEALLYN B. CLAPP ~~
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GENERAL CHEMISTRY.S t ~ a r tR . Brinkley, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Yale University. 3rd Edition. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1945. x f 645 pp. 135 figs. 47 tables. 15 X 23 em. $4.00. I t is apparently the author's modesty that bas impelled him to use the word "IntroduCtory" in the title of his book, for this edition contains as much material as almost any of the texts on the market which are Labeled "College Chemistry" and "General Chemistry." The order of material is that usually followed with a few exceptions. The discussion of the atmosphere is placed in Chapter 111 with oxygen. In the following chapter the author has placed a brief introduction t o the Periodic System and shows the correlation of common valences with the system. Many of us have found this very desirable in teaching but this is one of the few books to follow the practice. The gas laws are placed ahead of hydrogen and water. Under the metallic elements free use is made of flow sheets. For example, in the chapter on the alkaline earths there are flow sheets for the production of magnesium from brine, sea water, and magnesite. The last two chapters of the book are devoted to organic compounds. Synthetic rubber, nylon, sulfa drugs, and newer resins are given some mention. A chapter on "Colloids" is placed just after the section of the book that is devoted to nonmetals. There aremany desirable features in this text. I t is grmd to see real preparations of hydrogen bromide and hydrogen iodide in addition to the usual phosphorus trihalide method. Amphoteric INTRODUCTORY
hydroxides are explained and written as hydroiyl complexes. Authors have been notoriously slow in adopting this. The ionic form of writing equations is used where it is i m p r t a n t to show the ions but where it is desired to emphasize the compound the molecular form is employed. The discussion of atomic numbers is far superior to that in many texts. Uilder ionizatim tke relationship of valence types to apparent degree of ionization is shown nicely in tabular form. There is also a table of dielectric constants of water and other solvents. The mathematical forms for the ionization constant, solubility product, and instability constant of complex ions are freely u x d . For simpliEcztion in developing the solubility product principle the idea that the surface of the solid is constant is used. This of course is no! true. and solubility does vary with the surface expsed. On page 256 the equilibrium relation of hydrogen sulfide and carbonic acid are shown as 2Hf S-HzS. From this the student is likely to get the impression that the hydrogen ion concentration is twice that of the sulfide. I t would be better to show both the primary and secondary ionizations and the corresponding constants. E. WHITE CHARLES
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THE CHEM~CAL PROCESSINDUSTRIES. R. Nowis Shrew, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University. First Edition. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1945. xiii 957 pp. 153 tables. 258 figs. 14.5 X 22.5 cm. 96.00. Although a number of books has been published in r e c n t years on the subject usually called "Industrial Chemistry," there was need, according to the author, f a one which would moreclosely correlateindustrial processes with theunit operations and the unit processes-in other words, industrial chemistry from the chemical engineering point of view. This was the avowed main objective of the book. It is a rather difficult assignment t o encompass within t h e covers of one volume but, in the opinion of this reviewer, the author has succeeded remarkably well. The book gives an up-to-date, condensed treatment of most of the important industries in which the common chemical processes combined with the unit physical operations of chemical engineering
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In each chapter the author follows a general plan which may be brieRy outlined as follows: After a short introduction t o orientate the reader and present a little historical background, statistics of a n economic character are given t o emphasize the importance of eachparticularindustry and to illustrate its trends in recent years. Then follows the treatment of manufacturing methods in which the unit operations and processes are emphasized by flow sheets and important physicochemical principles are brought to the attention of the reader wherever this is feasible. One of the aims of the book was to stress the quantitative engineering aspects of each subject, but obviously in electing to cover such a widevariety of products and inaustries, the author has necesssrily been obliged to limit this phase of the treatment severely. A truly amazing amount of highly condensed information has been packed into the 39 chapters, which would be very valuable t o anyone who wishes t o obtain a good rbsumb of any particular process industry. Since the treatment had to be brief in every case, theauthorhasprovided attheend of eachchapteranexcellent list of references for those who wish to delve more deeply into each field. Another useful feature is a collection of short, relatively simple problems a t the end of a number of the chapters. The place for such a book as a textbook for beginning students of chemical engineering is a debatable one and depends on one's philosophy of chemical engineering education. Some teachers, including the present reviewer, do not see the value in presenting the student with such a large amount of descriptive'information,
but prefer t o devotemost of the very limited amount of timeavailable for chemical engineering in the undergraduate curriculum, t o applications which more directly and quantitatively illustrate and develop fundamental principles. However, many schools believe strongly in a largely descriptive course in the industrial processes, and for use in such a course Dr. Shreve's hook is one of the best the reviewer has seen. In covering so broad a field, the author has perforce been obliged to treat a good many subjects in which his own experience is quitelimited, and small errors are bound t o creep in which would be noticed only by the expert in a given field. On the whole the book seems to he quite accurateand free from major errors which could very easily be made in a book covering such a subject. The reviewer believes that the author has made a valuable contribution t o the literature of chemical engineering, and most students and practicing engineers will find this book a very useful addition t o their libraries. B a m s r r F. DODGE OAI
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OF PENICILLIN. Boris Sokoloff. Ziff-Davis PublishTHE STORY ix 4- 167 PP. 13.5 X 20 ing company, New ~ o r k 1945. , cm. $2.00. Dr. Sokoloff has written what might be called an intelligent layman's history of antibiotics, including penicillin. He has used a method that might be applied profitably in the fields of chemistry and physics. The book has been prepared as a short, fast-paced review of the literature on antibiotics, hyperthyroid in spots, but always open and Free running. The unbroken narrative is followed by an appendix in which the keyed footnotes are developed in considerable technical detail. I n this way the formidable features of reviews that distract the general reader are eliminated and the good retained. The author performs a specially valuable service to biology in emphasizing the role that antihiasis plays in the balance of P ~ Y S ~ O logical processes in the microbial world. dder phenomena and concepts are described and the characteristics and possible uses of many recent produets from bacteria, and algae are given. ~ h less ~striking, ~ the~ book his more appropriately, A bibliography "Penicillin and Other Antibiotic 389 sources from the English language literature is given. cHARLEs E, R~~~
seventeen papers included deal with p i t u i t w hormones, two with adrenal, two with pancreatic, one with thyroid, and one with gastrointestinal. Steroid hormones are further treated iii three other articles. Much material is condensed in the wellexecuted figures and tables. Unified spellings and terminologies are used throughout. Far example, all of the hormone factors often written with the suffix "-tropicM are here consistently called "-traphic" hormones because they nourish as they cbange the tissues which they stimulate. I n a work such as this which requires many months for its preparation the reader should not expect t o find the very latest advances recorded right up t o the month of printing. However, the wisdom and experience of the authors have in large measure compensated for this by the intellectual tone of their contributions, in making clear what yet remains t o be learned about these problems, and what the immediate prospects are for acquiring such knowledge. No snap judgments have been given, t o be later reversed. The viewpoints are firmly based en reliable data in a conservative manner which a t the same time does not obstruct the forward vision true ~ - of -~ - the ~-~~~ scientist. Reports of laboratory findings are varied by illustrative case histories, and most of the chapters contain brief introductions, summaries, and conclusions t o help the reader whose time is severely limited. The quality, appearance, and readability are all the more remarkable because. as stated in the foreword, :This volume has been printed during a period in which many difficulties and delays have been encountered. . . ." D a m LYMAN DAVIMON Gosmvus J. ESSBLBN. IAC. BoSrox.
OF ORGANIC E' Professor of eganic Chemistwin the University Of Second tion. The Blakistou Company, Philadelphia, 1945. xiv
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pp. figs. + "lored plates' 50 l5 23 '4. The 'general Purpose and plan of this text is the same as the first edition reviewed in J. CHEM.EDUC.,17, 99 (1940). It has been brought UP to date and the order of the chapters changed slightly. New tables. pictures, two color plates of mo~ecular models, additional review questions, and literature references including 1943have heen added. The hook is obviously written for the instructor who desires the student to he supplied with a wealth of material and detail. I n such a text going well beyond what could be covered in a twoMASLIACWSBTTS D B P A R ~ E N01 ~ PUBLIC H B U ~ CAYBRIDYB, M A S S * C B U S B ~ S semester course, the choice of what supplemeutaty detail t o include is largely arbitrary and any criticisms would he primarily hased upon the reviewer's preferences. In text of this detail this reviewer would have included, for example, the Reformatsky THE CHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF HORMONES.Edited by Forzs8 Ray Moulkm. American Association for the Advance- reaction and Clemmensen reduction, the ozonization of benzene ment of Science, Washington, D. C., 1944. 243 pp. 40 figs. and O-xyleneas throwing light upon the structure of benzene, and 89 tables. 19.5 X 26.5 cm. Members, 8 . 5 0 ; nonmembers, the 1.4 addition to alpha-beta unsaturated ketones. A special $4.00. chapter is devoted t o the Grignard and Friedel and Crafts reactions. I n such a chapter itwould seem justifiable toincludea fuller All who are interested in hooks biochemical, problems physio. treatment of side reactions in the former case and mention of the logical, and matters medical will find much of "due clearly and branching of the chain during alkylation in the latter case. While in their respective attractively presented by leading specialties in this excellently balanced and integrated symposium theory is by no means neglected, the author tends t o lean t o a facvolume which has been developed from a five.day Gibson ~ ~ tual l presentation ~ ~ of d the subject. The nature of the above comsummer conference held in 1943. The 18 authors whose careful ments is indicative of the fact that essentially all standard introincluded. discourses are here presented are doctors of medicine and chem- ductory The style of the author is straightforward and clear. his istry in the employ of prominent North American medical schools, g o v e r n m e n t d e p a r t m e n t s . a n d p h ~ a ~ e u t i ~ ~ 1T~~ ~ ~ r p edition. ~ ~ ~ ~ . as the first, has a number of excellent features not found in introductory texts. These include a large numof these, Hans Jensen and Abraham white, F, C. ~ ~wereh U~Ually , of ~organic chemists with thumbnail ~ ber of~ half-page l portraits t ~ the publication committeewho worked with ~ o ~R~~ e ~ t biographical sketches, review questions and bibliography a t the as editor in setting up an admirable source book of the facts of re. search progress in this field. The bibliography lists the approxi- a d of each chapter, a chapter upon identification, and an appenmately 1200 references from all the chapters together, and re- dix of 39 Pages. The appendix indudes a number of industrial quires 32 of the large two-column pages in which the whole hook flow sheets, a book list, a glossary, a chronological table, a list of organic radicals, and a table of physical constants of approxiis printed for easy and efficient reading. Impressiveindeed are thelengthy and toilsme procedures here mately 700 compounds. I t is a most useful addition t o the text. The book is well printed and bound and, while similar in make-up outlined for the extraction, concentration, and naturally occurring hormone ti^^^ of some to the first edition, it has a somewhat more finished appearance. R. Q U A ~ E OSBORNE syntheses of steroid hormones further build up awe and respect for Exon7 U - B R S ~ ~ the work of such specialists in organic chemistry. Five of the ~ a uNlveaslru. r ~ G~~~~~~ ~ ~
