RECENT BOOKS L ~ B R A RGUIDE Y EOR THE CHEMIST. Byron A. Soule, Sc.D., Assistant Professor of Analytical Chemistry, University of Michigan. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York City, 1938. xiii 302 pp. 55 figs. 14 X 20.5 cm. $2.75.
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This exceedingly practical book is designed by the author t o train chemists in library technic and to assist them to acquire skill in the use of the available chemical publications. Since the book is a guide for the chemist in the library, the author states that he does not pretend to include a complete bibliography of source material but be wishes rather to emphasize the methods of using the more important books and journals. The first two chapters discuss the arrangement of a library and the card catalog from the standpoint of the chemist who uses them, and not that of the librarian who takes charge of their organization. A chapter devoted to biographical material follows. The next four chapters present methods of using in the most efficient manner the periodicals publishing original papers, the abstract journals, the review serials and monographs and the encyclopaedias. These types of pnhlication represent the gradual condensation of chemical information from the original through three stages of secondary source material. Patents and government publications are the subjects of the remaining chapters except for the last, which is an excellent discussion of the schemes for making literature reports. The outstanding contribution of the book is the assembly of ideas and devices which give definite practical assistance. There are fifty-five tables which indicate in compact form, summaries of the contents of the important chemical publications. There are suggestions relating to the evaluation o f , the literature, organizing bihliographical investigations, preparing accurate, concise reports and directions for the standard types of reference writing. The lucid explanation of the use of the keys t o such compilations, as formidable to the beginner as the International Critical Tables and Beilstein, is very valuable. The chapters on patents enlighten the reader not only on the problem of how to find a patent, but also on how much he should know about patents in the course of his professional career. Since it is approximatelv a decade since the nublication of a similar book, the ~~~hihliographical nmtrrial of Pmfrsor Soulr'~vulume hriclges the gap h a t e u that oldcr period and the prcwnt. This hook ic the outgrowth of a course in the use of chpmical literature which has given the author opportunity to ascertain what the students want to know. Therefore, he has been able to anticipate and answer the questions of chemists as a whole. There is no doubt that the hook is full of thoughtful advice and in the hands of the young research worker is an invaluable source of information. It is recommended without reservation t o chemistry students, chemistry librarians, teachers of the use of chemical literature, and t o all others who feel a t a loss as to how and where best t o begin to utilize the chemical library. VIRGINIA BARTOW U ~ r n a s r r u09 ILLINOIS URBAN*. IYlNOlS
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INTRODUCTORV GENERAL CHEMISTRY.Stuart R. Brinkley, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Yale University. Revised Edi731 pp. 'tion. The MacmiUan Co., New York City, 1938. x 176 figs. 14 X 21.5cm. $3.50.
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This book is strikingly different from most of the current introductory chemistry texts. Professor Brinkley presents several novel ideas in point of view and order of presentation of subject matter and weaves them into a well-organized plan. Every teacher who sees the book will want a copy for reference; he who plans to teach a rigorous and scholarly course will wish to examine it with a view to adoption.
The first third of the book follows the usual plan, but is somewhat more detailed than most introductory books. For example, under the determination of molecular weights we find descriptions of the Dumas and Victor Meyer methods and a discussion of Raoult's Law, with illustrative problems and diagrams. The chapter on the halogens (which are discussed as a group) occupies eighteen pages and that on the hydrohalides, thirteen pages. These chapters, and the following one on the alkali metals, furnish a background for the discussion of the periodic system which follows. This, in turn, is followed by chapters on Atomic Structure, Ionization, and Electrolysis. This sequence, while unusual, introduces the subjects in a logical and natural manner. Once introduced, they are used freely, and the latter half of the hook utilizes electronic formulas and ionic equations in large number. The author intends that the book shall serve as an introduction to qualitative analysis, and discusses the necessary theoretical concepts in some detail. The analytical behavior of the various metallic ions is touched upon only briefly, although the description of the metals and their salts is given marespace than inmost of therecent elementary texts-ahout one hundred fifty pages. The book is up to date in both theory and practice. The Debye-Hiickel and Br6nsted concepts are used freely, and recent exnerimental work. such as that on deuterium and atomic transmutation, is discussed. Several new industrial developments are described. Production figures for important chemicals are given for 1936. Several other features of INTRODUCTORY GENERAL CHEMISTRY deserve mention. These include the numerous full-page portraits of eminent chemists, the brief historical sketches with which the book abounds, and the many applications of chemisw to industry. Each chapter concludes with a group of study cxercises and references for additional reading. A section on organic chemistry, occupying fifty pages, is placed a t the end of the hook. I n this hook, Professor Brinkley has produced a scholarly, yet teachable, text which should receive wide attention. The printing and binding are splendid, and considering the size of the hook, the price is surprisingly low. JOHNC. BAILAR,JR. U N I " & R S ~ Y 0. ILLINOrE URBAN& I L I N O I ~
THE FINE STRUCTURE OP MATTER: PAKT11, MOLGCULAR POLARIZATION. C. H. Douglas Clark. Assistant Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry in the University of Leeds. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York City, 1938. lav 240 pp. 124 figs.
13.5 X 22 an. $4.50.
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This book is Part I1 of Volume I1 of a projected three-volume comprehensive treatise by the author on atomic and molecular structure. This part, which forms a complete book in itself includes references t o almost all of the experimental and thearetical papers published on the subject of molecular polarization up to 1935. The part starts with Chapter X on dielectric constants. This chapter contains a brief r6sum6, without discussion, of a few theoretical laws, and then proceeds t o summarize the results of some two hundred seventy experimental papers, to which references are given. The Debye Theory of Polarization is treated, with references t o thirty-five theoretical papers in Chapter XI. Chapter XII, on Molecular Refraction, deals mostly with experimental results, again quoting from approximately a hundred papers. Chapter XIII, on Polar Molecules, summarizes the methods determining permanent dipole moments, and lists many of the results. The Kerr effect is treated a t the end of the chapter. The
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literature references in this chapter number almost four hundred. The part closes with a short chapter, XIV, on molecular fields. The discussion here concerns modern theories. Partly because of a commendable attempt a t completeness the book lacks some of the fluencv and continuitv of thoueht which is desirable in the textbook fo; class use or sGf studv. "It -~ should be rxtremely mluahle, however, to the specialied worker in the Geld. seeking to find n conlpcndium of information available up to the time of publication. I n view of the inherent diaculties of the author's task i t is perhaps unjust to criticize him for failure to meet successfully all of the desires of all types of readers. Nevertheless, the hook seems, in certain respects, t o fulfil some of these desiderata less well than could have been hoped, even without sacrifice of the admirable brevitv and comoleteness of the treatment. The author is evidently consciously and conscientiously uncritical in his reviews of papers. This is carried t o the extent of omitting any comprehensive discussion of the assumptions involved in the derivation of the theoretical equations discussed. Since the author actually goes through the mathematical derivation of some of these equations the omission is not entirely to be Laid t o a desire for brevity. Thus the reader is often left entirely a t sea whether experimental deviations from the theoretical equation, which are often quoted in considerable detail, are due t o an inherent error in the reasoning involved in its derivation, as is occasionally the case, or due to some deviation in the substance investigated from the ideal behavior assumed in the derivation. An example which must be disturbing to the student may be mentioned. The author cites Maxwell's conclusion that the dielectric constant r is the same as the square of the index of refraction 7 extrapolated to infinite wavelength. Apparent deviations from this law are discussed frequently, and considerable use is made of these deviations. It is, however, apparently nowhere explicitly mentioned that Maxwell's theoretical conclusion is absolutely accurate, and that the deviation is solely due to the fact that both experimentally and theoretically the smooth extrapolation of r from the visible region t o infinite wavelength differs from the correct extrapolation from measurements made in the far infra-red. Largely because of this reticence of the author to discuss the assumptions underlying attempts a t theoretical developments, Chapter XI, on the Dehye theory of Polarization, and Chapter XIV, on molecular fields, are somewhat inadequate. The book is scarcely to be recommended as a text, but is without doubt an important compendium of the available scientific information in the field. I t is, therefore, a valuable reference hook. TOSEPA E. MAYER ~
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T E E FINE STR~CTUREOF MATTER. PART111, THE QUANTUM
MORY ~WD LINESPECTRA. C. H. Doudas Clavk. Universitv of Leeds. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., e e w ~ o r k ' c i t y ,1938. lxxii 185 pp. 28 figs. 13 5 X 22 cm. $4 50.
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As intimated by the title, this volume forms the third part of a series, of which Part I deals with X-rays and the structure of matter, and Part I1 with molecular polarization. The volume under review contains Chapters XV to XVIII of the series inclusive. I n the first of these c h a ~ t e r sa brief review is eiven of the different quantum effects, and mention i r made of the obaervations on the diffraction of rlcctrons. This is the only place in the volume in which rlcctron a n w i are discussed. The subject of wave mechanics is completely omitted. The sewnd chapter wntains a review of the Bohr orbital theory of the origin of line spectra, and the thud deals with the application to atomic spectra of the hypothesis of the spinning electron. The subheadings in this chapter are as follows: The Spinning Electron, Selection and Intensity Rules, The Fine Structure of Lines in Hydrogen and Ionized Helium, Multiplicity Rules and Term
Intervals, and The Ground Terms of Atoms and Ions. I n the last chapter there are discussed the magnetic energy levels of hy:sogen, the Pauli Exclusion Principle, and the application to the periodic classification of the elements and the observations on valency. A very comprehensive bibliography is attached t o each of the chapters: For those who wish t o obtain a presentation of the theory of line spectra in its simplest aspects, that is from the point of view of Bohr and Sommerfeld, this volume should prove very helpful. It is, however, a question whether it is justifiable in a discussion of the subject of spectra to omit completely any reference to the anantum mechanics interoretation of enerev levels and soectral lines, especially since thrse concepts, as developed d u r i n ~the past decade, are of such essential hpnrtance for a satisfactory interpretation of chemical valcncc and of the nature of the solid
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SEMI-MICRO QuALITATIvE ANALYSIS.Paul Arthur, Ph.D.. Assistant Professor of Analytical Chemistry, and Otto M. Smith, Ph.D.. Professor of Chemistry, both a t the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College. First Edition. McGrawHill Book Company, Inc., New York City, 1938. xi 198 pp. 10 figs. 13.5 X 20.5 cm. $2.00.
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This new volume of the International Chemical Series attempts t o give in condensed form a description of semimicro methods (Part I , twelve pages: Semimicro technic and construction of apparatus), the theory of analysis (Part 11, fifty-six pages: Important principles, Mathematical relationships, Modern theories of electrolytes, Organic compounds in analysis), the analytical procedure for the detection of cations (Part 111, seventy-one pages) and the procedure for the detection of anions (Part IV, fifteen pages). A series of problems, same special notes an analytical procedure, references t o the original literature, an sppendii with numerical tables, lists of apparatus and reagents, and an index, complete the book. I n Part I, the authors brieSy describe the essential methods of semimicro analysis, and give ingenious instructions for the conversion of ordinary equipment into microapparatus. These methods are probably quite suitable for use in small classes, hut the reviewer is somewhat skeptical as to the advisability of adopting them in the case of large groups of students, particularly if qualitative analysis is given as a portion of the freshman chemistry course, 5. e., a t a moment when so much in the standard methods is still to be learned. This is, however, a debatable point and more evidence of the kind gathered by the authors in their classes is needed. Part I1 begins with a qualitative discussion of same of the important principles of the theory of electrolytes. Derivations of most formulas are purposely left out. As a result, several paragraphs are vague and inadequate, in particular the one an amphoteric hydroxides. There follows a section in which two common types of problems are discussed: problems on the ionization of weak electrolytes and problems on solubility products, but there are no problems in which the two types are combined. The all-important relationships describ'mg the ionization of hydrogen sulfide are not used and are not even mentioned in the discussion of orincioles. The followine " section. entitled Modem Theories of Klmtrolytes, is entirely out of place in such an elementary and sketchy tmntment. The Debyc-IIuckcl thcorydocsnutlend itself to arersimplification of the kind aflrr
