NEW BOOKS
619
impression is gained from inspection of the reviews in those fields in which he has some special interest. If he mentions particularly reviews on “Radioactivity and Nuclear Theo r y , ” “Radiation Chemistry,’’ “Spectroscopy,” “Chemical Kinetics,” “Contact Catalysis and Surface Chemistry,’’ and “Photochemistry,” it does not imply that the other subjects are not equally well treated. I t is now fifteen years since the National Research Council series of Annual Surveys was abandoned. The Annual Reports of the Chemical Society (of London) has amply demonstrated through many years the value of periodical reviews. The Annual Surveys of American Chemistry were published under the auspices of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the National Research Council from 1925 t o 1935. Their termination in 1935 has left a gap which will be partly filled by the new series. I n attempting to cover the entire field of chemistry the Annual Surueyssought a limitation by confiningattention t o American research. Since the present review will not suffer under either of these handicaps i t will be better able t o represent progress in physical chemistry, although it cannot review all subjects each year. The twenty subjects already chosen for the second year include many of the 1950 volume, but under changed authorship. Apparently this will be the future policy-retention each year of the most active fields under different reviewers and variation from year t o year of the less productive fields. The exact period under review is not uniform in this first volume. T o establish adequate background some authors have covered a number of recent years, others only one or two. I n “Thermochemistry and Thermodynamic Properties” Rossini and his collaborators present a complete bibliography of eight hundred and twenty-five references t o literature, embracing a vast array of chemical entities, a most valuable index. This could be achieved only by omitting almost completely any discussion of methods or principles,-perhapa not essential in a field so firmly established. Discussion and narrative in the other subjects appear t o be quite adequate. Wisely the editors look well ahead. Authors are now being selected for the third volume. The literature t o be covered in each year will be that of the year preceding the volume date. I t is a happy circumstance that this excellent series is initiated just as physical chemistry is reaching its full post-war stride. May there be no interruption by a third World War. S . C. LIND. The Solubilitu of Nonelectrolytes. Third edition. By JOELH. H ~ L D E B R AAX ND D ROBERT L. SCOTT.x 488 pp. Kew York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1950. Price: $10.00. One of the subjects of greatest importance t o chemists is that of the solubility of the substances with which they deal. Professor Hildebrand has probably done more than anyone else t o put this subject on a scientific, rather than a purely empirical, basis. The first two editions of his Solubility have been recognized as outstanding contributions t o the science. Since the second edition was published, in 1936, there has been much progress in the field, both experimentally and theoretically. For example, the effects of the relative sizes and shapes of the molecules, previously neglected, can now be dealt with reasonably satisfactorily. Also, many of the previous qualitative treatments can now be put on a more quantitative basis. I n preparing the third edition, Professor Hildebrand has had the able collaboration of Professor Scott, a n authority in the high-polymer solution field. This edition is not merely a revision; the book has been almost completely rewritten and greatly extended. New chapters on multicomponent s y s t e m , mixtures of gases, solid solutions, high polymer solutions, surface phenomena, and chemical equilibria and reaction rates have been included. An appendix, entitled “Solutions of Konelectrolytes-1949,” reprinted from Volume I of Annual Review of Physical Chemistry has been added t o bring the subject as nearly up-tod a t e as possible. The necessary background material-for example, the basic thermodynamics-is con-
+
620
NEW BOOKS
cisely but clearly presented. Step by step the authors show how fundamental principles can be applied to the development of a satisfactory semiquantitative theory of solubility. Appropriate experimental data are frequently introduced, often graphically, to test the theoretical relationships and t o show how they may be applied. The reviewer can find much to praise in this work and but little to criticize adversely. He considers it an excellent contribution t o the scientific literature and is glad to recommend i t to all who want a well-written, theoretically sound treatise on the subject. hf.4URICE L. HUGQINS.
BOOKS RECEIVED (to Sovember 2, 1950) HAHN,OTTO.Xew Atoms. Elsevier Publishing Company, Inc., 215 Fourth Ave., S e w York 3. 1950. Price: $1.75. KARRER,P., AND JUCKER, E . Carotenozds. Translated and revised by E. A. Braude. Elsevier Publishing Company, Inc., 215 Fourth Ave., New York 3. 1950. 384 pp. Price: $8.50. KUMN,ROBERT,AND MYERS,ROBERTJ. Ion Ezchange Resins. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 440 Fourth Ave., New York 16. 1950. 212 pp. Price: $4.75. LONDON, FRITZ. Superfluids. Vol. 1. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 440 Fourth Ave., S e a York 16. 1950. 161 pp. Price: $5.00. MEYER,K. H . Natural and Synthetic High Polymers. 2nd edition. (High Polymers, Vol. IV). Interscience Publishers, Inc., 215 Fourth Ave., New York 3. 1950. 891 pp, Price: $15.00. MoMMAERTs, W. F. H . 11.Muscular Contraction-A Topic in Molecular Physiology. Interscience Publishers, Inc., 215 Fourth Ave., New York 3. 1950. 191 pp. Price: $4.20. SAXDELL, E. B. Colorimetric Determination of Traces o f k f e l a l s . Vol. 3. 2nd edition. Interscience Publishers, 215 Fourth Ave., New York 3. 1950. 673 pp. Price: $9.00. WHITEHEAD, T . R. A Laboratory Manual of Elementary Chemical Analysis. Ginn and Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 1950. 64 pp. Price: $1.25. WILLIAMS, ROGERJ., EAKIN,ROBERTE., BEERSTECHER, ERNEST,JR.,AND SHIVE,WILLIAM. The Biochemistry of B Vitamins. Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 330 West 42nd St., New York 18. 1950. 741 pp. Price: $10.00. ZART,ARTHUR.Kunatseide and Stapelfaser. D . Steinkopff, Darmstadt, Germany. 1950. 177 pp. Price: unbound, 17.50 DM; bound, 19.50 DM. Annual Review of Physical Chemistry. Vol. 1. Edited by G. K. Rollefson, University of California. Annual Reviews, Inc., Stanford, California. 1950. 382 pp. Price: $6.00. , Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. 32nd edition. Charles D . Hodgman, Editor-in-Chief. Chemical Rubber Publishing Company, 2310 Superior Ave., N. E., Cleveland, Ohio. 1950. 2879 pp. Price: $7.50.
