ELEMENTARY PRACTICAL ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. PART I. SMALL SCALE PREPARATIONS
Arthur I. Vogel, Head of Chemistry Depa~hnent,Woolwich Polytechnic. Longmans, Green & Co., New York. 1957. xv 347 xiv pp. Many tables and figures. 1 5 X 22.5 cm. $4.50.
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THISnew book is the first of a series of three books intended for Use by students of organic ehemistn. and deal8 with smallscale laboratory preparations. Part 11, now in press, is concerned with the qualitative analysis and Part 111 u.hich is in preparation with the quantitative analysis of organic compounds. Chapter I of "Elementary Practical Organic Chemistrj-" is a good, thorough discussion of the theory of general technique including: the thoory of distillation, solutions of liquids in liquids, theory of melting and frwzing, and the theory of drying and extraction. Chapter I1 on experimental technique consiats of 110 pages of very helpful in~t,ruetionsand suggestions regarding the rleaning of glasswave, construction of heating and cooling lmths, mechanical agitation, rslihrat,ion of thermometers, experimental determinations of melting points and boiling points, fractionation, distillation under diminished pressure, purification by recrystallization, removal of coloring matter, drying of nolid organic compounds, drying of liquids or solution^ of o~gnniccompounds in organic solvents, the technique of extraction u-ith solvents including continuous extraction methods, and tho purification of organic d v o n t s . Chapter 111 gives detailed instructions for the preparat,ion of a wide variety of nliphntir compounds including: saturated xnd unsaturated hydracarhana, alkyl halides, aliphatic ethers, aldehydes, ketones, anhydrides, carboxylir acids and their esters, and amides, amines and related compounds, maleic and fumaric acids, and the produot~ of the malonic ester ~ynthesisand tho acetoacetic ester synt,hesis. Chapter IV deals with the preparation and reactions of the aromatic compounds; nitration, halogenation and sulfonatian of aromatic hydrocnrhons, preparation of amines and many of their derivatives, reduction products of nitrobenzene, resetions of diaeanium salts to form various substituted aromatic compounds, propertie8 and preparation of aldehydes, ketones, acids, and alcohols. Chapter V includes 21 miscellaneous experiments which should draw the attention of some of the better students. They include Skraup's reaction for quinoline, Uoebner-Miller reaction for quinaldine, the preparation 2,4pdichlaraphonoxyscotir acid, S-benzyl-~othiuronium chloVOLUME 34, NO. 10, OCTOBER, 1957
ride, D.D.T., the depolymerization of nylon, the use of an organolithium oompound, reduction with aluminium isomonoxide. reductions with lithiumd d u minium hydride, the dime ~ynthenis,and applications of some chromatographic adsorptions. The most interesting feature of the book is that tho author uses apparatus of such design that all of the experiments are performed on a small scale. He Rtates that "the student trained with their aid will be able to adapt himself easily and without effort to preparations on 8. macro scale." In section 11, 1, the author enumerates many advantages of small-scale apparatus for small-scale preparations. Electronic interpretations are given for many of the more important react,ions. The book is an excellent guide for anyone who might wish to carry out litboratory preparations on a small ~ c a l c . It is an excellent laboratory manual.
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OERRlT VAN BYL HOP.CoL~eor: HOLLAND, MICHI.*W
PROFESSIONAL AMATEUR. THE BIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES FRANKLIN KETTERING
the 37 years of his direction, came: ethyl gasoline, new finishes for quick car paint, ing, a more efficient Diesel engine, and a high compression engine for automobiles. His extracurricular activities have included: a share in the study of heat for medical therapy, production of a World War I pilotless plane, and a part in the planning and financing of an Institute for Cancer Research. His reluctant response to a call for help is ereditcd with "saving the Winters National Bankof Lhytan from collapse" in 1924. I t was hi8 initiative that put him into businens with a. hometown concern, in order "to elevate living conditions and general pranperity of the people of the town." Since his retirement in 1947 he has been almost ns active a8 before. Four interests cli~imhis sttention: the canoer research, photosynthesis, magnetism, and a better and cheaper light, airplane. Author Royd, a former research ass* eiate of Kettering, makes generous use of quoted excerpts from Kettering's writings and speeches. He is irankly laudatory and gives aeant attention ta any personal quirks shich may have been less than helpful to family or aasociztes. However, the book's narrative does, in course, bring the reader to a. sense of encounter with "Ross Ket" in person. R. CLIFFORD HENDRICXS
T.A. Boyd. E. P. Dutton & Co., lnc., New
457 21th AVEXCE
York. 1957. xii 242 pp. 14 X 21.5 cm. $4.50.
LONCVIEW.
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WHATis there ahout an electrical engineer, turned mechanical, that merits a chemist's attention? For one thing, Ket, tering was mare than "mechanical!' In his habit of ignoring subjert-matter houndrtries he ha8 ptmpected in the domain of chemistry. Kettering was, in a sense, the catalyst that helped Thomas Midgley change from mechanical engineer to chemist. Whether for chemical or athcr fields, his markedly unconventional ppatterns of handling research problems are sugge~tivefor all who cope with the frub trationfi of research. Some of his admirers have noted that his middle name is Franklin and that his total personality merits t,hr label, "A twentieth eentur,y Franklin." By an inventory of inventions, howwer, one finds % more accurate comparative in Thomas A. Edison. The book chronicles his life in renearch as a truly American success story. For five ypwp fallowing his graduation from college he worked for the National Cash Register Company. By 1009 his private research program oeeupied all his time. Ten years later he was persuaded to hitch his inventive genius t o the star of the new1.v o~tshlishedGeneral Motors Research L a b oratory. From that labor at or?^, during
W*BXIN.TON
CHROMIUM. VOLUME I: CHEMISTRY OF CHROMIUM AND ITS COMPOUNDS Edited by Momin I. Udy, Strategic-Udy Metallurgical and Chemical Processes, Ltd. Niagara Falls. Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York. 1956. xii 433 pp. 4 0 figs. 83 tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $11.
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VOLUMEI of a two volume aeries on Chromium is the result of the combined effortsof sixteen authors in addition to the editor, who authored the historical introduction. These contributors represent academic, government, and industrial organizations, and even casual inspection reveals the care exercised in the distribution of the writing. The volume is divided into two major sections. The first section includes chapters on History of Chromium, Analytical Chemistry of Chromium, Relation of Chromium to Health, and Chromium in Soils, Plants, and Animals. The second section bear8 the heading "Physical and Chemical Properties of Chromium Compounds." The chapters in this section include The Physical and Chemical Properties of Comp o u n d ~of Chromium, Chromium Chemicals: Their Industrial Use, Chromium Chpmieals in the Text,& Industry, Chrom-
