The Fine Structure of Matter. Part I. X-Rays and the Structure of Matter

Part I. X-Rays and the Structure of Matter (Clark, C. H. Douglas). W. H. Zachariasen. J. Chem. Educ. , 1938, 15 (3), p 150. DOI: 10.1021/ed015p150.3...
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teat that the historical approach and the recurring use of chemists' names throughout the treatment of a subject are interesting t o the pupil. T o illustrate: the author uses two pages t o interest the pupil in Arrhenius and makes thirteen references t o him in the following seven pages. Thereby the chemist is made real t o the pupil, and the association is carried through the section dealing with the topic.

than those which are given. Under the analyses of solutions and solids, the possibility of interferences of acids in the detection of metal ions is not considered. The book is well printed and is quite free of typographical errors. LEOLEERMAN TBBCOLU~OR OP TBB CITYOF NEWYOBI Nsw Yon= Crr"

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THE GOLDSMITH'S HANDBOOK. George E. Gee. Chemical Puhlishing Co., of New York, Inc., New York City, 1937. xxiv 263 pp. 12.5 X 18.5 cm. S2.50. This book, with its absence of technical and scientific terms. written expressly for the worker in gold, will be found quite readable by those who lack chemical training. Frequent tables which fix arbitrarily the proper mixtures and conditionsfor the production of jeweler's alloys and their fabrication will be useful primarily to the artificer. As a contribution to chemical education the value of the hook is small. CnoseY F. B ~ E R

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QUALITATIVEANALYSIS. H . V . Anderson, B.Ch.E., MS., Associate Professor of Chemistry, Lehigh University, and T. H. Hazkhurst, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Lehigh University. Second Revised Edition. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York City, 1937. xiii 280 pp. 8 figs. 13.5 X 20.5 cm. $2.25. The recent trend in the presentation of qualitative analysis has been to show the relation of modern theory, especially physical chemical, to the methods of analysis. The second revised edition of this book, with nearly a complete change in authorsfirst edition written by J. S. Long, D. S. Chamherlin, and H. V. Anderson--conforms with this idea. I n the preface t o this edition the authors say, "The principal objective has been to arrive a t a more logical and clearer presentation of the principles underlying the science of chemistry and of the physical processes behind such commonplace phenomena as solution and crystallization." I n accordance with this objective, the first half of the book is devoted to a discussion of theory with occasional reference t o the laboratory work. Topics, important to qualitative analysis, dealing with ionization, mass action, common ion e5ect, solubility product, oxidation-reduction, and subdivisions thereof are presented in a readable fashion. Some new concepts such as the electronic structure of atoms and molecules and the new idea of acids and bases are included. At the end of the discussion of each topic, typical questions or prohlems appear which test the student's understanding of the subject matter. Thoueh i t is often necessarv to refresh the minds of students - therc scems robe duplication of somc malerill usually found inn good modern t r x t on general chemistry. It scems unusual that such important subjects as complex ions, salt effect, adsorption, and coprecipitation have not more space devoted to their discussion, and complete ionization of strong electrolytes is not mentioned. The idea presented in Chapter 2 that highly ionized substances are less than one hundred per cent. ionized, and on Daze 36.. that there are some unionized silver chloride molecules iu a s ~ t u r a t daoll~tionindicntc an ohsoletc pomt of r k w . It would have been mwh more in krrping with the trcnd tomudernizntion of the sul,je,,t if nwst of I he rqun~ionshad not been written in molecular, but in ionic form. The laboratory work is planned after the usually accepted procedure of first performing preliminary experiments on the various cations of a group. Then an analysis is carried out, employing a method which is indicated by the experiments. Explanatory notes appear after each group, together with a set of review questions. As in other chemical fields, methods of analysis have made considerable progress in recent years. Notwithstanding the authors' statement in the preface, the laboratory methods could have been kept up t o date. Certain procedures such as the use of ammonium polysuifide t o separate groups 2A and 2B, the use of dilute hydrochloric acid t o separate nickel and cobalt sulfide from the remainder of the ammonium sulfide group, the failure to mention the usual presence of magnesium in group 4, the use of perchloric acid t o detect potassium, and the reliance on a flame test for the detection of sodium could have been considerably improved upon. Apparently one great fault with mast recent texts on qualitative analysis is that they modernize the theory and lose sight of the fact that it is a laboratory science. The analvsis of anions is mite well Dlanned and takes in a number of acids usually not considered in an elementary course. For some of the acids, however, there are much better identifying tests

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THE FINE STRUCTURE OF MATTER. Part I. X-Rays and the Structure of Matter. C. H. Douglas Clark, Assistant Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry in the University of Leeds. John 216 pp. Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1937. Ixxii 14 X 22 cm. $4.25. This book forms Part I, Volume I1 of A COMPREHENSIVE TKEATISE o s ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR STRUCTURE. I n the apinion of the reviewer, the hook must he considered as a classified bibliography of crystal structure, and not as a comprehensive treatise of the subject. Only the last chapter represents a discussion of the more general results of crystal structure work. Apart from this last chapter (and the introductory chapter I ) the book represents a compilation of the compounds which have been examined by X-rays (up t o 1936). These compounds are divided into three msin groups, inorganic, organic, and metallic. Far every substance are listed the cell dimensions, the number of molecules per cell and the space group. However, the author does not indicate which structures have been completely determined. Clearly, this information would have been of importance, as in general the determination only of cell size and space group is of little value. In of -~~the ~~~-text the author describes the more common tvDes .. structures, and there nrr hrkf remark9 ahour a few additional structures. These remnrks are unrriticnl, lxencc they are oftun irrelevant and sometmei outright incorrect. In Chapter IX thc author mentmns briefly a few of the fundomental results of V. hi. Goldschmidt. 1,111also thts chapter is written with the same lack of authority that characterizes the entire hook. The appendix on "Atomic Structure Factors" is confused, as well as confusing. The author obviously does not know the difference hetween the atomic structure factor (atomic scattering power) and crystal structure factor. Thus on page 211 the symbol F, according to definition, represents atomic structure factor. A few lines below, however, the same symbol, without further notice, represents the crystal structure factor. The statement on the same page that "for even orders of reflections from ionic crystals, the structure factors of the ions are added, and for odd orders subtracted," is incorrect, even if we choose the proper alternative of the ambiguous term structure factor. The statement is only true far crystals of the sodium chloride type of structure (whether they are ionic or not). The reviewer is willing t o admit that the book can be used as a classified bibliography. The text, however, is so full of incorrect statements and ambiguities that the bookcannot berecommended.. W. H. Z A ~ A R I A S E N

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