WIVEOUT FAME. Otto Eiscnschiml. Alliance B w k Corporation, Chicago and New York. 368 pp. 15 X 23 cm. S . 5 0 . A feeling of dissatisfaction with their economic lot has long been growing among the present-day chemists. One of the most important committee reports in recent years t o the American Chemical Society was devoted to it. "Without Fame" is intended t o characterize the whole chemical profession. The author has two complaints, which he frankly allows t o run through the whole work: The world does not properly appreciate the chemist and the services which he renders to society; and the educational proeess through which he goes does not properly prepare the young chemist for the sad realities of the world which he will soon meet. The author draws upon an abundant experience t o press these points home. On the other hand, this account of the struggles of a young, ambitious chemist is anything but lugubrious. We hang with hated breath aver the brink of failure, only t o rejoice in the eventual success. Pointedly, virtue, persistence, and sound virtue have their just rewards. One feels repeatedly impelled to glance hack a t the title page t o see whether, after all, this weren't written by Horatio Alger. I t is amazing that anyone should be able to remember so much of what happened t o him in a long and eventful l i f e a n d so much that happened t o others around him. Bits of phaosophy call forth personal experiences and anecdotes, and vice versa. One learns about life in Vienna, where the author was born an American, the son of a naturalized Bohemian who had returned t o his native land. One shares the struggles of the author through his early life, through the Realschule, through the technical school, where he prepares to "serve mankind" as a chemist even though his professors predict that he will live to regret it. His joys in the little town of Baden, his adventurous emigration to this country, against the maternal wish; hxr apprenticeship and rise t o reponsibility in the steel industry; the growth of the wanderlust which drove him to Chicago; his disillusionment and eventual success as an expert in the chemistry of oils; his reluctant abandonment of chemistry for the more substantial returns of business-all these things makea fascinating tale which any young chemist can read with great interest and profit. One appreciates the background against which the author has built such an excellent record in the field of labor relations. His feeling for the troubles of others leads him to dilate on the deficiencies of our system of scientific training. "Each chemical task consists of three entirely separate parts: the first is t o find a good problem; the second is to salve it; the third is t o sell the solution." Our educational efforts are too often limited t o the second of these, to the solving of problems which others have set, with no regard t o the practical marketing or utilization of the solution. The result, as he saw it, was that "most Doctors of Philosophy were fine chemists, nothing more." By implication, our training should go beyond this. A specific comment upon the chemical curriculum, which may not he shared by others, is: "Routine analytical chemistry has long become a mere mechanical art and should be separated from the curriculum of a real chemistry student." Onewonders what would have become of him, in the early stages of his career, if he had not been well grounded in this mere mechanical art. Human qualities crop out frequently: in his tolerance for the Biblical prophesy of the World War; in the interval of his enthusiasm for phrenology; even in his setting up the ewpression MV2 t o represent power, when he proposed to t w n the scrutiny of exact physics upon the dictum, "Knowledge Is Power." The brief accounts of the earlier days of Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society are full of g w d suggestions, especially the one made in connection with his own first paper; which deserves inclusion in the Directions to Authors: "In my opinion, to read a paper from notes is a discourtesy to the audience. If a man does not command his subject well enough to talk freely about i t I do not think he is worth listening +n "
W. RAnEmMw Baoww UNNBRIPIPPROVIDENCE, R B O D ~ISG*ND
PROTEINS, AMINOACIDSAND PEPTIDESAS IONS AND DIPOLAR IONS.Edwin 1. Cohn and John T. Edsall, Harvard Medical School, including chapters by John G. Kirkwood. Hans Mud2~1,J. L. O n ~ l e yand . George Scatchnrd. American Chemical Society Monograph Series. Reinhold Publishing Corporation. New York. 1943. xviii 686 pp. $13.50. This is the most recent addition t o the rapidly growing list of hwks that deal with the chemistry of the amino acids and proteins. The fact that there is now a considerable number of texts and monographs bearing on this subject is indicative of the increasing amount of research work that has been and is deing carried out in this field. The monograph does not attempt to cover all aspects of the chemistry of the amino acids, peptides, and proteins. It is not a suitable text to introduce a beginning student to the field. No attempt is made t o develop the subject from an historical standpoint or even to point out all of the classical experiments on which our present knowledge of amino acids and proteins is based. The reader will find little or no mention of the mode of synthesizing amino acids and oeotides. the ao~licationof the mass law. the theory of the disscciation o l a m l h t c r i c electrolytes, tronjporr. Donnm rncmbrnne cquilibriurn, complex ions, or ekctrophoresis, as developrd by Tisrlius, to mcntion only a few of thc leading topics. The text is essentiallya compilation of that part of thechemistry of the amino acids, peptides, and proteins in which the interests of the authors and their associates have centered. Extensive application is made of the zwitterion concept as developed by Adams, Bierrum. and others and the Debve-Hiickel theorv of interionic f o r c ~ cin solutions of clertrolytrs Thcat cottccprs are of fundamental impurwnce to the unJer,tnnrliug of the behavior of nmiw acids and proteins. However, they are by no means the only ones. Viewed from a hislorical standpoint our knowledge of the behavior of amino acids and proteins has been built up by the judicious application of many of the fundametal coucepts of chemistry and physics to this class of compounds. A lot of ingenuity has been shown by workers in devising suitable techniques. As might be expected, some theories have been promulgated by certain individuals that were not based on sound experimentally obtained data, and considerable effort was required in order to bring the subject back into channels of rigorous thought. Out of all of this, however, have came experimental data which, as far as the subject has gone, have placed the chemistry of this class of compounds on a firm basis. I t is to be regretted that no discussion was given of the brilliaut work of recent years which has shown that i n yzvo the proteins constitute dynamically mobile systems. The monograph will be found very useful to students who have had a course dealing with amino acids and proteins (which unfortunately tw few of our universities offer) and who are sufficiently mature to engage in research work. The authors have assembled a large amount of data that are presented in tabular fonn and they have quoted extensively from the literature bearing on the subject under discussion. From this standpoint alone the book will be found of great convenience to workers. Extensive use is made of mathematics. Adequate preparation in this subject is a necessary prerequisite t o the understanding of the discussions. Difficulty will be encountered as t o the meaning of the symbols employed unless the table in the back of the book is consulted, since in different chapters of the monograph the significance of the symbols differs and many of the terms employed do not conform to standard convention. Many readers prefer t o have the symbols defined in the place where they are used. The inclusion of an author index would have facilitated greatly the use of the monograph. From a pedagogical standpoint the sequence of chapters might have been arranged t o better advantage. Thus chapter 2, which discusses the application of spectroscopy t o the determination of the state of amino acids when in solution, is followed by a chapter dealina- with thermodvnamics and simole electrostatic theom wherein no direct application is made to amino acids. The sequence of amino acid thought is again taken up in chapter 4. which deals with dipolar ions aud acid-base equilibria. Similarly,
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