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The author of thia booklet is a man of rare ability and unusual courage. I n addition t o the present volume he has turned out three other works under the following titles: Il‘ciss Magnetons as Components of Nuclear and Subnuclear Slructures (1946); Experiments 011 the Presence of Carcinogenic Compounds in Human Surroundings (1916); and A n Introduction io Definitiue Philosophy and Basic Psychology (1916). van Schelven has recognized the incomplete state of our knowledge of protein structure and the difficulty of isolating these substances from their native habitats without modification. “Assuming t h a t the protein has a regular structure and is built up of more or less congruent hydrocarbon units, the problem is t o find the configuration in which the atoms of the amino acids in proteins may be arranged in a regular manner in some geometrid pattern.” He suggests “ t h a t the native protein is a quadric structure.” “This elongated, rectangular tube consists of 4 side walls, 4 flat steroid poly-chrysane chains, perpendicular to each other. Living protein may be a micellar aggregate of these prismatic, quadraugular, parallel molecular tubes arranged in a regular mosaic”, etc. I t is apparent that the author is entranced with the prevalence of sis-memhered rings in organic compounds and uses this common structural feature as a basis for the statement t h a t steroids are “protein fossils” which conserve “many peculiarities typical for protein tetracts.” Unfortunately the author discusses a \vide variety of topics only remotely related to the central thesis. Aside from a few typographical mistakes, the reader soon becomcs aware of some obvious errors in the text. Steroids are w i t t e n as polyhydrochrysanes rather than cyclopentanophenanthrenes,and proposals concerning the chemistry of tricyclo(Z,2,2,2)decane indicate a serious lack of background in fundamental organic chemistry. His suggestion t h a t “ i t may be possible to esterid the physical theories of relativity, statistics, quanta, and wave machanics t o atoms underlying t h r phenomena of life” is well within the realm of possibility. Most readers. I believe, \vould be happy if, within their natural lifetimes, i t will be possible to calculate “from scratch” the result of the simplest reactions of organic compounds. I n s p i t e of theinterestinggeometrical pattern proposed for proteins in t h e i r n a t i v e s t a t r , the reviewer found himself exhausted after being exposcd to this maze of facts and fancies. RICHARDT.ARSOLIJ.
Textbook of Physical Chemistry. By SAlinxL GLASSTOXI:. ond cdition. G x 9; in.; xiii 1320 pp, S e w York: D. Van S o s t r a n d Co., Inc., i946. Price: 59.00.
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I n preparing the second edition of this well-known test: the author has introduced few important changes. The general organization is the same, and most of thc chapters art) substantially unchanged. The total number of pages has been iiicrcasrd froni 1289 to 1320. A slight saving of space has been effected by reducing the scalc of a fcw diagrams, particularly in the first chapter. The hook has been “modernized” by introducing bricf discussions of such topics as the meson, S i e r ’ s mass spectrograph, nuclear isomerism, pluto nium, the atomic bomb, etc. The thermodynamic symbols and 1 erniinology havr been altered to conform to the conventions of Le\vis and Handall. One rsccption is t h a t the term “thermodynamic potential” and the symbol p have berii retained in preference to Lewis’ “partial molal free energy” and F . I n chapter VI11 the prcscnt edition is in agreement with standard American usage i n that the adjective molar i F substituted for niolce.. ular, as inmolar volume, molar refraction, etc. The order of presentation has been changed in the section on electromotive force and the discussion somewhat amplified. I n several chapters the subheadings have been simplified. On the whole, the niodificatiorls are not of such a nature as to change the popularity of this text. Its supporters \vi11 probably rrniain a s ardent a s before and its critics as unconvinced of its merits. The present, edition is clearly printed on white opaque paper. One unfortunate consequence of the use of heavier paper is that the thickness of the volume has been increased from about 2: to 3+ in., and its weight from 3% to 5; pounds. The present book is S O unwieldy t h a t i t is to be hoped that thinnerpaper will be usedin futureeditionsand printings. ROBERTL I V ~ X G S T O X ,
