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densed version of t h a t of Schottky, L-lich, arid Wagner, hut brevity has been gained only a t the expense of lucidity and accuracy. The best feature of the treatment is the discusdon of the most general physical principles, such as the first and second la17 s of thermodynamics, chemical equililirium, and osmotic equilibrium There is also a good, if out of place, revien of photochemistry, \I hich is not thermodynamics at all The treatment of other topics is less fortunate. For in,ctanc-e, nhereas emphasis is rightlylaid on the distinction hetneen total nork and useful nork (Sutzarbeit), the difference is not clearly defined. Again the nell-knonn formula ohtained for the efficiencj of a Carnot cycle is applied to cycles of other types, for which its validity has not been demonstrated. This error occurs in almost all elementary textbooks, but the present hook is not a t all elementar). In fact the revieaer found it heavier reading than alniost any of the most advanced treatises on thermodynamics. The applications described in the second part of the book are of great interest. I t is explained that, oning to the great experimental difficulty of obtaining accurate thermodynamic data n i t h plant materials. only a low order of accuracy is possihle This being the case, surely a hriefer and easier treatment would have been adequate as x-ell as more attractive. To sum up, the book should interest the reader n hose chief concern is thermodynamics, by shoii-ing the importance of the suhject for botany. I t is, on the other hand, less likely t o attract the hotanid to a study of thermodynamicsthan to frighten him ai$a y from it.
E. A GUGGENHEIV. The S c z c n c e of R a d i o l o g y . Edited by Otto Glaser. 450 pp Baltimore: Charles C . Thomas, 1933 Price: 34 50. This collection of tnenty-five papers o n the various phases of the wience of radiologv is published under the auspices of the -4merican Congress of Radiology and the editorship of Dr. Otto Glaser, v,ho also contributes the first t n o papers on the history of the discovery of Roentgen rays and on the discovery of radium. The succeeding ten chapters are devoted t o x-rays, including one tiv D. L. Webster on Roentgen-ray physics, one b v IT. D. Coolidge arid E. E . Charlton on Roentgen-ray tubes, and one on therapy by U.V. Portniann. Several chapters deal u i t h radium therapy and technique. Xscellaneous chapters treat Roentgen-ray protection, teaching of radiology, and industrial radiology. Leaving therapy entirely, the last two chapters comprise one by A H.Compton on cosmic rays and one by William Seifriz on the mitogenic rays nhich he calls “Gurnitsch” rays. The author is not convincing in his defense of the reality of this much questioned type of radiation. Quantized energy relations are n holly neglected, though evidently important in attempting to decide n hether light of ultra-violet 11ave length may be invoked as a cause of the observed phenomena. The entire collection is highly creditahle t o the contrihutors and to the editor and mill be indispensable to all VI ho are interested in radiotherapy. d. C. LISD ElectroXznetic Phenomena and their d p p l i c a f i o n to Biology arid J i e d i c z n e Bv H ~ R O L D Chemical Society Monograph 15 5 Y 23 5 ern ; 331 pp ; A. A B R ~ M S O NAmerican . 106 figs. Nen T o r k : The Chemical Catalog Companv, Inc , 1934 Price: $7 50 This book nil1 fill a great need in the field of physical chemlstry and of its allies, biochemistry and biophysics The reviener has, for a number of years, heen norking in the field of electrokmetics and has acutely felt the need for a monographic treatment of the literature, n hich, untd this volume appeared, has been scattered
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through a great variety of texts and journals, many of nhich are almost inaccessible to the average xyorker. Electrokinetics deals lvith the electrical behavior of the phase boundary a t interfaces The solid-liquid and liquid-liquid interfaces have been most n idely studied, although unquestionably solid-gas and liquid-gas interfaces shoTr similar phenomena. .kt these interfaces, electrokinetics is concerned n i t h the so-called Helmholtz double layer, and should not he confused n i t h the Nernst, or thermodynamic, or membrane potential. The book opens n i t h an excellent “Historical” chapter n hich adequately covers the literature from Reuss (1808) t o Helmholtz (1879). This is followed b y “Early theorj- and related experiments,” n here the contributions of Helmholtz, Quincke, Wiedemann, Lamb, von Smoluchov ski, Perrin, I’ellat and others, in building up the theory of a rigid double layer are considered. These chapters are folloned by others on “Earlv confirmation of theory’’ and an excellent discussion of “Alethods.” A discussion of “Recent theory and related experiments,” in n hich the reviewer as delighted t o find a thorough treatment of the diffuse layer theory of Gouy and Debye and Huckel, closes the theoretical section. Later chapters deal with “Proteins and some related compounds,” “General effect of salts on inert surfaces,” “Inorganic surfaces,” “Organic surfaces,” “Gases,” “Blood cells, spermatozoa, tissues, etc.,” and “Bacteria, antibodies, x iruses, and related systems.” An appendix follons, n hich includes a key to the mathematical symbols used in the formulas, a table of the numerical value of the various constants and factors, and a list of patents covering various phases of electrokinetic behavior. Author and subject indices close the volume. Throughout the hook the mathematical treatment is excellent. The author, while himself actively doing research in this field, presents impartially his o n n viewpoint and the vieirpoints of others. One sometimes even nishes he nere not such an inipartial critic. As one glances through the literature references one is impressed v,ith the fact t h a t the vast majority date since 1920. Industry. hiology, and medicine have all profited by the use of electrokinetic technics They nill profit still more as workers in this field are multiplied, and this hook nil1 he a great assistance to t h a t end. I t is highly recommended to all n ho are interested in the solution of the problems of interfaces. I t should be in all chemical, physical, a n d biophysical libraries. The price nill be the only deterrent to Its purchase by many individuals. Ross AIKES GORTKER.
Physico-chemical Practzcal Exercises. By 17’. N. RIE ASD JOSEPH REILLY. 19 x 13 cm.; xiv 276 pp. London: Methuen and Co., 1934. Price: 7s. 6d. The authors of the nell-knon n book, “Physico-chemical Methods,” now in its second edition, nhich is so useful to the advanced norker for reference, have here given us a much smaller volume, intended for students x-orking for an honors degree in chemistry. The hook begins n ith a mathematical consideration of error, nomography, a n d calibration of apparatus. Important as this is, it IT-ould have been better, in the revieirer’s opinion, to have placed this section a t the end of the book The student beginning n o r k on physical chemistry is too apt to concentrate on the elimination of amall errors and unknon ingly introduce larger ones. The experiments described, seventy-three in all, are many of them usual in such textbooks; there are, honever, interesting additions, e.g., in surface tension, Jaeger’s method, viscosity bv the falling sphere, Rast and Menzies’ methods in determination of molecular neight, and the use of the glass electrode and valve electrometer. On
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