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I t is hoped that the standards which have been prepared by the committee will provide all workers in these fields with a common basis for comparison of measurements and also improve the accuracy of all measurements of this type. I t is likely that they will have other applications, and the Committee would appreciate hearing from interested persons who may desire similar standards for their work. The Committee is also glad to cooperate as far as possiblc in aiding investigators to use these standards to the best advantage and welcomes specific inquiries regarding their use. I t is urged that any suggestions regarding other desirable radioactive standards, not a t present available, be submitted promptly to the Committee. In particular, it will facilitate the work of the Committee if those laboratories and individuals which can make use of these standards will advise the Committee of their probable requirements. Communications may be addressed to the Chairman, Professor Robley D. Evans, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. L. F. CURTISS CLARKGOODMAN ALOISF. KOVARIK S. C. LIND C. S. PIGGOT
ROBLEYD. EVANS
NEW BOOKS M . K . S.Units and Dimensions and a Proposed M . K . 0.S. System. By G. E. M. JATJNCEY A N D A. S. LANGSDORF.viii 62 pp. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1940. Price: $1.00.
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This interesting and instructive brochure can be best described by quoting the authors’ foreword. “The International Electrotechnical Commission (I.E.C.), meeting a t Scheveningen in June, 1935, adopted the meter, kilogram, and second as the basic units of length, mass, and time, this action becoming effective in January, 1940. The purposes of this little book are: t o acquaint electrical engineers, physicists, and teachers and students of electrical engineering and physics with the properties of the new meter-kilogram-second (M. K. S.) system of basic units; to describe methods for shanging from one set of basic units to another; to give reasons for the adoption of the ohm as the fourth basic unit (a question left open by the I.E.C. in 1935); to describe a proposed M. K. 0. S. system of basic units; and to discuss the difference between magnetic flux density (B) and magnetic field strength (H).”
F. H. MACDOUGALL. Thermodynamics and Chemistry. By F. H. MACDOUGALL. Third edition. 6 x 9 in.; ix 491 pp.; 53 tables. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1939. Price:
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$5.00.
The new edition brings up to date MacDougall’s well-known text on Thermodynamics and Chemistry. The principal portion of the book derives the usual equations based on the first and second laws and indicates clearly their application t o chemical problems. The symbolism has been changed to correspond in general with
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the prevailing American practice. The treatment of the phase rule and various relationships a t phase boundaries is particularly complete. The Debye-Hiickel theory for electrolytes is derived and discussed in a clear concise fashion. I n many cases the numerical data quoted are not the most accurate available. While this matter is not important to the student learning general principles, i t detracts considerably from the usefulness of the book to research workers. The tables of data toward the back of the book appear to be much better in this respect than the rest of the text; however, the electrode E . M . F . values are not consistent with the standard free energy values. This situation should be kept in mind by those proposing to use the book for these purposes. Although a few typographical errors were noticed, they were mostly of a sort not likely to lead to confusion. The nonintegral values listed for the symmetry number, U , in table XL on page 469 must be erroneous. The correct value is 2 for both chlorine and bromine, since isotopes are considered identical for this purpose. The treatment of the third law in a book of t,his type is a problem. Since a very considerable fraction of the free energy values now available have been obtained from third law calculations, this subject must be given an important place. On the other hand, the third law cannot be used with perfect accuracy in practiceunless one understands its basis in quantum statistics. MacDougall’s general plan for considering the third law along with a brief discussion of statistical mechanics is excellent. However, a concise statement of the types of situation leading t o failure of the third law would have been an improvement. In this chapter, and a t some other points, more explicit indication of the importance and relationship of the individual topics would assist the reader. This book should be most valuable t o the student learning thermodynamics. The numerous problems are notable from this point of view. Although certain disadvantages have been mentioned, this work should prove an aid also t o the research worker in chemical thermodynamics. KENNETHS. PITZER.
Einfiihrung in die technische FEiesskunde. By G. W. SCOTTBLAIR. 6 x 9 in.; viii f 132 pp. Dresden and Leipzig: Theodor Steinkopff, 1939. Price: unbound, 6 RM. ; bound, 6.75 RM. This is a translation by H. Kauffmann of the author’s Introduction to Industrial Rheology, published in this country by Blakiston’s Sons and Company. I n so brief a work an author cannot be expected to cover the details of his subject, but in an introduction the general reader has a right to expect a modicum of well-established facts upon which are built laws which have been found acceptable. The reader however should expect more, and the technical reader, more perhaps than any other, should look for the illumination of facts and laws by means of a clear theoretical development. The author has chosen t o treat briefly of nearly two hundred and fifty recent monographs on rheology, with the result t h a t clarity is often lost. The book will serve well as a review of recent work, particularly on plasticity, and rather better than as an introduction to the science. The translator has changed the Poiseuille law t o the “Hagen-Poiseuille law.” Poiseuille published his first paper on the circulation of the blood ten years before Hagen’s paper and then worked steadily on that subject and published a series of papers up to 1847. The name “Hagen-Poiseuille,” like Gay-Lussac-Charles, is clumsy. Furthermore, i t is impracticable t o do historical justice in a name. Newton and Stokes and others antedate Poiseuille and have a greater claim than Hagen. EUQENE C. BINQHAM.
