limiting it to Paracelsian doctrine in English medicine. Not so snceeasful is the account of Baerhaave's achievements by F. W. Gibba; he claims too much for his hero and grants too little to some nnof quantitative calculations for confirming named and nndehed people with the one's understanding of the topics to which . i t is perhaps fair to say that worde: they pertain. They are of graded diffithe full significance of Boerhswe's chemculty and indude some which require the istry teaching is seldom appreciated use of secondary reference materials. One of the distinctive features of the today" (p. 39). No, it, is not fair! book is the manner in which it directs the McKie's survey of 1660-1800 is disapreader's attention to the evolutionary pointing in his selection of materiala and development of the physical sciences. his judgments. F. G. Young's presenta(No student should feel that here is a tion of biochemistry between 1800 and reading chemical dogma.) This tone is 1900 suffers from serious misjudgments. generated by brief historical notes at He sees the concept of s. vital force as a appropriate spots and by straightforward prodnot of fear, and he condemns Liehig's commentaries. mechanistic picture of fermentation as Sematic slips are sure to appear in any "even more destructive" than that of technical writing. Many persona might Berzelius (p. 60). question the use of the term "spontaneous Fortunately, the other ohapters are chemical chmge" to denote spontaneous much better. W. D. M. Pston draws four transmutation of an element (p. 27). The interesting graphs from the history of the n2is a rough measure statement that, British pharmacopoeias. W. D. Foster of the size of the stom." (p. 49) needs tells of research on urine and blood. Sir clarification since n is identitied as the Charlee Dodd increases the value of his principle quantum number of an "atom!' chapter on endocrinology by an illnminatNevertheless, equivocal statements of this ing diagram (p. 114). Similarly, F. L. nature are so few that the overall clarity Rose illustrates his story with a table of of exposition is not marred. the relationship of drugs to dyes (p. 196). A change in type and in paper texture Alexander Haddow on cancer research, T. has made this edition more attractive and F. Mscrae on nutrition, D. G. Cstcheside legible than the previous one. on genetics, and W. A. R. Thomson on This book should serve well as a. test for antihiosis skillfully manage their small freshmen courses in which a relativelv hiah allotted spaces to bring salient facts and level of accomplishment is expect&. 'it new viewpoints. These, and many uncould easily he adapted to somewhat leas usual literature references, make the hook demanding courses by judicious selection valuahle for supplemental reading beyond of certain sections and chapters. Like the limitations of "the old traditional disciits predecessor, it will he an excellent plines." reference book for advanced chemistry Completeness is not the ambition of such students and for scholars in related hrief surveys, m d not much would have sciences. been gained by listing series of names with the ominous addition "and others!' JAMES R. K U P P E R ~ Nevertheless, names like G. J. Mulder, Charlotte College Adolf Windaua, Otto Warburg, and HerCharlotle, N. C. bert M. Evans will he missed in text and index.
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Chemistry in the Service of Medicine
Edited by F. N. L. Poynter, the We& come Historical Medical Library, Great Britain. J. B. Lippincott Co., Phila207 pp. Figures. delphia, 1963. viii 14.5 X 22 cm. $5.
banions, sulfur ylids, snlfenes, 8-oxides of thion acid chlorides, and nonclassical aromatic sulfur heterocycles. The authors' objective is to correlate the physical and chemical properties of various classes of sulfur compounds with the types of bonds present. The book begins with an all too hrief discussion of the valence orbitals available to sulfur. No attempt is made thereafter to analyze bonding in valence orbital terms. This is a reflection of the state of knowledge existing in this area, but it is unfortunate that the authors did not choose to discnas some of the later controversial points in these terms. In subsequent chapters, acidity constants, dipole moments, ultraviolet spectra, infrared spectra, and a linlited amount of rate data are used to bring out the tendency of sulfide, disulfide, polysnlfide (Chapter 2), sulfonyl (Chapter 3), sulfinyl (Chapter 9), and sulfonm (Chapter 5) groupings to enter into electron-releasing, electron-pairing, and electron-accepting conjugative interactions. No attempt is made to give complete coverage to the chemistry of thiols, sulfides, disulfides, polysulfides, sulfones, snlfoxides, and sulfonium salts, hut a. good insight into the chemical and physical properties of these claases can nonetheless be achieved by a study of this little book. Particular emohasis is eiven
in theliterature. There are the usual minor misprints, but otherwise the presentation is clear, concise, and relatively free of trouble spots. The hook has already stimulated research activity in the sulfur area, and its catalytic influence will no doubt continue for some time to come. F. G. BORDVELL Northwestern Univemity Evanstm. Illinois
EDUARD FARBER 4530 Bmndywine St., N. W. Washington, D. C.
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In the Preface, t,he editor explains: "The papers collected and published far the first time in this volume were read at the Second British Congress on the History of Medicine and Pharmacy which met in London under the presidency of Professor Douglas McKie on 27-29th September 1961." As Lord Todd states in the Intrcdnction. the title "hardlv does full iustice
second scientific revolution-me in which the old traditional disciplines are dissolving and will be replaced by new groupings with new outlooks." Appropriately enough, the first of the 12 papers is devoted to Paracelsus, who is uaually credited with turning chemistry towards medicine. Naturally, he was not the absolutely first to do this according to Allen G. Debus, who manages to bring new material into an often told story by
A592
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Chemical Education
The Enjoyment of Chemistry Sulfur Bonding
Charles C. Price, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and Shigeru Oae, Radiation Center of Osaka. Prefecture, Japan. Ronald Press Ca., 208 pp. Figs. New York, 1962. v and tables. 16 X 23.5 em. $8.
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As the literature of ohemistry continues to grow a t an ever expanding rate, it becomes more and more essential for investigators to review and summarize the status of research in areas in which they are particularly interest. Contributions, such as the present one are, therefore, most welcome. Interest in the subject of sulfur valence bonding has intensified since publication of this book, which should make it all the mare valuable. On the other hand, it is unfortunate that the book was published just prior to the recent development of such topics as rtsymmetrie sulfone ear-
Louis Vaezek. Viking Press, New York, 243 pp. 15 X 21.5 cm. 1964. x 56. As one might guess from the title, this book is written for "the untrained general reader!' There is no specific statement from the author himself concerning his objectives but, in a foreword by Rene Duhos it is stated that "what Mr. Va-caek has done is to take his readers by the hand, to lead them through the channels of thought which the human scientific collectivity has fdowed for several thousand years. His hook will not trmsform laymen into chemists, but it will make it possible for all intelligent persons to share in the intellectual eniovment of those who probe into the structire of matter and the machinery of life." The book has three main sections on Atoms Unlimited, The Atom in Close-up, snd The Chemical Xature of Atoms. The last section covers such topics as electron
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