book reviews
A sttldent would probably do bet,ter to invest in Cot,ton's boak on group theory and work through that in preference to the third chapter af Hollingsworth's boak.
Editor: W . F. KIEFFER College of Wester Wowter,
fication of vihratlons or electronic wave functions. Both the strenglhi and limit,ations of lhis book lie in its specific organization for independent st,udy. I t is not intended to he a rigorous treatise. Much of ( h e material is presented by means of examples rather t h m by development, of general formulas. There are quite a few problems, and complete soh~tions(not. just answers) are provided in the back of the book. All these factors will prove advantageous for x chemistry student who is more interested in learning what the mathematics will do for him than in complete rigor and generality. If he works through the book, he will find t h a t i t is not too difficult and that he emerges with a relatively good background. One other recent book which covers nearly the same topics is "Vectors, Tensors, and Groops" by Bak and Lichtenberg (Benjamin, New York, 19671, which is avail~blein paperback. Hollingsworth's book is considerably longer, the difference lying mostly in the more detailed examples and problem solutions. These would certainly benefit, the sbodent. On the other hand, the featnres which would recommend this book to a student working lhrough i t wonld make it, less useful as a. reference book. Far such use the chemist would be wiser to provide himself with a more complete and rigorous hook such as bhat by Margenan and Murphy. The most disappointing part of lhis book is the treatment of group theory. Althooah most of the formalism of finite groups is there, a feeling for the usefidness of group theory to the chemist is lacking.
Vectors, Matrices, a n d Group Theory for Scientists a n d Engineers
Charles A . Hollingsurorlh, University of Pittsburgh. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1967. xii 3.55 pp. Figs. and tables. 5 . 5 X 24 cm. N0.50.
+
The fields of mathematics covered by this book are of considerable importance for understanding modern t,heroetical chemistry. A large n~imher of hooks which cover all or some of these topics are available. They can perhaps be divided into three classes according to their intent, and suitability: hooks for self st,udy, texts f cowses in these areas, and reference books for those who have some knowledge in the area, but who need to look up methods or formulas on ocemion. The present boak falls definit,ely into the first category, R. hook for self study by someone who has little background beyond elementary ealc~tlus. As suggested by the W e , the book is divided into three chspt,ers. The first, deals with vector algebra, inclllding a n introduction to the idea of a tensor. A number of applications in the field of mechanics are diseilssed in t,his section. The second chapter treats matrix algebra, canelnding with another section on tensors. Applications in this part include xn introduction to norms1 coordinate analysis. The third chapter of the book discusses group theory, including general properties of groups, cert,ain point groups, and a brief introduction t,o space gl.onps. Unfort ~ ~ n a t e l this y , part has few applications to typical molecdnr pvohlems such as clmsi-
-Reviewed
Ohio
in this Issue
Charle.9 A . Hollingsumrh, Vectors, Mntriers, and (:roup Theory for Scientisls and Engine~ln
Emmell F . Kaelble, editor, Handbook of S-il:tys, fm I)iff~.wLion,Emission, Abs o r p t i o ~and ~ , Microscopy Geo~geR. Ham, editor, Kinetirs aud Mechnnisrn of Polymerirntinu Series, V o l m ~ e 1. \-inyl Polyme~.iaslion: Part I
P. G. Arhmore, F . S. Dainlon, arid T . J!. Siryrlen, editors, Photochemistry and Reaction Kinetics
Waller Huber, Titrations in Non-Aqueous solvent,^ H. Af. Asscnheirn, 1ntt.odrlctian to Electmn Spin llesonnncc Norman V. Sleere, oditor, Handbook of Laboratory Safety R. J . X.Voorlweue, Organohalosilanes:
Precursors of Silicones
C . A . Rurland, The A1.t~of the Alchemists Jerome S. Mqer, Great. Accidents in Science that Changed the Wwld
Walter Rotseh, Keine Angst vor Chemischen h r m e l n :
Grundbegriffe der Chemie
S. J. STRICKLER Universily of Colorado Boulder
Handbook of X-Rays, For Diffraction, Emission, Absorption, a n d Microscopy Edited by Ernn~ellF. Raelble, hlonsantinta Cu., St. Louis, Missouri. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1967. I120 pp. Figs. and tables. 1 . 5 X 23.5 cm. 833. I t is axiomatic lhat a. single volume of eleven hundred pages cannot cover all known aspects of X-ray diffraction, emission, absorption, microscopy, and microradiography. When the book is also the prodllet of approximately fifly authors, the problems are m~dtiplied geometrically. T o be of value, the authors must furnish lucid discussions of basic theoreticdprinciplcq and experimentnl techniqnes with ample references to specialized treatments, while the editor must eliminate needless repetition and provide a uniform format. I t is withsuch trepidation that thereviewer approached the "IIsndbook of X-Rays." Happily, the "Handbook" satisfies most of these requirements. T o be sure, there are a. number of minor misprints, occasional repetition or improper arrangement of subjects, and s. few neglected topics. But, the trest,menls of most subjects m e well suited for the beginner and s. few superb chapters would be helpful even for the experienced investigator. The arrangement of material by topics rather than by alphabetical subject headings makes this book potenlially more usefill than the "Eneyclopedia of X-Rays and Gamma Rays," which is t.he only other comparable t,ext. The "Handbook" is divided into six parts: Fundamentals (six chapters), Diffraction of X-Rays by Polycrystnlline and Amorphous Meterisls (seventeen chnpters), Determination of Crystal Strocbure (six chapters), X-Ray Emission Spcctroscopy (eleven chapters), X-Ray Absorption hlethods (fonr chapters), and Microritdiography and X-llsy Microscopy (fanr chapters). As many a9. 120 specific and general references are found a t the end of each chapter. Unfortunately, only 26 of the approximately. 1,700 references are dated later than 1964, with 19 of these a p p e ~ r i n gin inst two chanters. For t,his reason, the coverage of crrtain rapidly changing areas, e.g., instrnmentation and compnler dnlnprocessing techniqoe.;, is not up-to-datc. A nnmher of the references are to books lhsi are eithev olttdated or presently available in more recent editions. Ono notable example is the reference on page 63-17 to 0. E. Bacon, Neutron I)ifiraclion, 1935. Aetnnlly, the first edition of 1)r. Bacon's book nnne:tred in 1955 and bv 1062 (he
Andri. Mirhel, Ph6nom6nos Alagn6liq11ese t Sttxctme Roj, A . Keller, editor, Separation Technique in Chemistry and Biorhemistry
and not readily avsilahle elsewhere are: the discmsion of X-ray counter detectors (chapter 3), the description of the propor Volume 45, Number 6, June 1968
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