I t i5 a finc book and is warmly rcconiniended for graduate students and for professionals who feel they may have lost touch with modern developments in theoretical chemistry. DEPARTMEST OF CHEMISTRT P O L Y T E C H K I C ISSTITUTE O F BROOKLPX GERALDOSrER SETV YORK BROOKLYS,
Surface Phenomena in Chemistry and Biology. Edited by J . F. DASIELLI,P h . D . , D.Sc., F.R.S., Professor of Zoology, King’s College, London, K. G. A. PANKHURST, Ph.D., D.Sc., F.R.I.C., Packaging Research and Development Division, Reed Paper Group, Formerly Senior Principal Scientific Officer, British Leather Manufacturers’ Research Association, and A . C . RIDDIFORD, Ph.D., Lecturer in Chemistry, T h e University of Southampton. PerRamon Press, Inc., 122 East 5.5th Street, S e w York 22, N. 1’. 1938. 330 pp. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. Price, $10.00. This collcction of twenty-three essays is published in honor of Kcil Keiisingtori Adam, whose portrait appears as frontispiece, at the occasion of his retirement from the chair of chemistry in t h e University of Southampton. A glance a t its contents shows many famous names in the field of surface chemistr!-. .lbout one-third of the contributions deals with the chemistry of unimolecular laycrs, a field which has been greatly advanced through Adam’s efforts. Not only fundamental problems are treated as, e.g., by Alexander and by Defvichian, b u t t h e application of monolayer techniques, e.g., t o the theory of tanning is discussed b y Paiikhurst. Amongst t h e other articles, which cannot be cornpletely enumerated, one deals with the peculiar surface phenomena of liquid crystals, a little known subject. Schulman describes experiments with high speed photography, elucidating the behavior of air bubbles impinging on crystal surfaces, a contribution t o the theory of flotation. T h e last group includes among others articles by Danielli, one of the volume’s editors, Frazer and Rideal; they treat of gcnera1 and specific aspects of surface chemistry in biological systems. An introductory article b y A.S.C. Lawrence surveys in a nostalgic mood the history of surface chemistry from 1917 t o 1957 a n d emphasizes -4dam’s role in its developmen t . a’hilc the field has grown too wide to permit of a complete cross-section within little more than 300 pages, the volume provides valuable information on the endeavors of a n irnportant group of surface chemists, who have honored D r . Adam by contributing their representative best. T h e group of his pupils and friends, found in this well prepared and handsomely bound volume, comprises primarily colleagues from Great Britain, also a few Frenchmen a n d Russians. D r . A4dammay be assured t h a t his life’s work is equally appreciated and admired by the rest of the scientific world.
T h e book also includes generally useful tables of heat trailsfer data for packed beds containing various materials. I was pleased with the way the author outlined what hc was about t o say both in the introduction and a t the beginning of each chapter and then set about expeditiously t o do so. The purist will object t o some word usage, b u t there is effected no change in sense. Dr. Kjaer’s formulation, a t times, becomes necessarily complex, b u t he never assigns a symbol two meanings, whence the 213 symbols. I felt the author was somewhat cavalier in fitting his calculations to the data. For example, on page 156 he assigns an activation energy of 45 kcal./mole for the reaction abovc 450” in a TVA converter. On page 163, he a2signs an activation energy of 35 kcal./mole abovc 430 and 30 kcal./mole above 500” t o get a better fit in thc Montccatiiii converter. T h e apparent change in activation cncrgy with temperature suggests t h a t the intraparticle diffusion effects be considered more carefully at t h a t pressure (275 atmospheres). For those working in the catalytic reactor field, I rccoiiimend the book. Others concerned with complex heat traiisfer problems will find t h e book of interest. GEKERAL ELECTRIC Co. KSOLLSATOMICPOWERLABORATORY LV. hl. CAYHIN SCHENECTADY, SETV YORK
Liquid Scintillation Counting. Procccditigs of a Cotifcrcticc held a t Sorthwestern University, August 20-22, 1957. Editors, CARLOSG. BELL, Jr,, C . E. Department. HAT Sorthwestern Cniversity, and F. SEWTOS Health Division, Los Alamos Scientific Lulmrato Perganion Press, 122 East 55th Street, S e w Yurk 9. Y. 1958. xi 292 pp. 15.5 X 23.5 ciii. Price, $10.00. Scintillation counting, a s the term is now ciriploycd, means the detection of moving charged particles by using a photomultiplier tube in conjunction with a scintillating material. T h e flashes of light produced in the scintillator by thc moving particles are converted b y the photomultiplier tubc into short intense electrical pulses which can be effectivcl), recorded. This technique was developed over ten years ago when the photomultiplier tube replaced visual observation as the method of detecting the scintillations produced in ZiiS by a-particles. The need for larger sensitive volumes t o dctect charged particles other than a-particles then led t o the use of large single crystals of scintillating substances such as NaI and anthracene instead of ZnS. It then was found t h a t if small quantities of organic scintillators such as anthracene were dissolved in a suitable solvent the liquid would be converted into a n efficient scintillator. This made it possible t o use even larger scintillating volumes. These scintillating liquids found immediate use in counters for high energy DEPARTMEST OF CHEMISTRY particles (Enrico Fermi was one of the early users) and these ~ ~ O U N SIXAI T HOSPITAL HARRYSOBOTKAdevices became known a s liquid scintillating counters. The SET?‘ YORK, s.1’. technique soon proved t o be useful in a very wide range of applications and this counting technique is rapidly replacing geiger counters. In August, 1957, a Conference on Liquid Scintillating Counters was held at Northwestern University. Measurement and Calculation of Temperature and Conversion in Fixed-Bed Catalytic Reactors. By J ~ R C E XKJAER. The book reviewed here is a compilation of the reports given A Contribution from Haldor Tops$e, Chemical Engineers, a t this conference. T h e volume is not a well rounded presentation of the subHellerup, Denmark. Jul. Gjellerups Forlag, S$lvgdde 87, Copenhagen, Denmark. 1958. 201 pp, 16 X 23.5 ctn. ject, as might be expected from the fact t h a t contributions Price: Paperbound, 25,OO Danish Kroner; cloth-bound, from over thirty authors are included. Many specific applications of t h e technique are given, some of which are im30,OO Danish Kroner. portant and interesting, b u t there is little systematic discussion of the techniques involved and the book can hardly This work is a discussion of thc problems of temperature, rate and convcrsioii calculations in reactors such as ammonia be recommended t o a novice in the field who wants t o know how t o build a liquid scintillation counter. One would judgc converters. the title t o be too ambitious arid the book could more accuT h e author dividcs the book into two parts-theoretical rately be callcd a report of thc Coliference on Liquid Scintillaa i d experimental. T h e theorctical p a r t is conccrncd riot with mechanisms b u t with detailed mcthods for calculating tion Coutiters. Some sections are cxccllciit. P a r t I, for cxaruple, is a retcnnperatures in fixed beds particularly ammonia converters. view of the basic physical processes occurriug iti a scintillating Included is a n excellent review of t h e literature, and some of liquid by the authorities on t h e subject, H. Kallnian and hl. the author’s own work on thermal profile calculations. Furst. T h e chapter by R. K. Swank on the limits of sensiI n the experimental part, Dr. Kjaer includes his work on phthalic anhydride synthesis and the analysis of data from tivity is thoughtfully written and contains some very useful several ammonia converters. I n this he checked details data. P a r t I1 on Instrumentation will be of benefit t o those with a good background in electronics. Much of the book carefully. is devoted t o quite special topics which extend in scope from The appendices include English and Danish summaries of Giant Liquid Scintillation Counters used t o detect the neuthe book by chapter, a list of symbols, t h e usual pertinent conversion factors and a bibliography (380 rrferences). trino, t o an account, “The Simultaneous I:se of I I ” and ‘2’‘
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