this valuable and complex subject. I t would have been much more desirable if the pages ooctrpied by the chspter on binary distillation would have heen used for additional information on multicomponent distillations. The chapter on distillation equipment is almost an entirely quslithtiv? One. Although the author gives G5 references for t,his chapter he does not give suificient information to discuss adequately the mechanics of tray design. Although the entirc section on dist,illation (Chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12) is not on the same level as the remaining contents of the book, this Volume 5 will be a v d u a l ~ l r addition to a chemical mpineer'e. library. JOHN J. MCKETTA University of Texas
Austin
for a comprehensive understanding of the material. The first part of the book is concerned with the fundamental principles of statistical mechanics. No discussion of the kinetic theory of gams is given itt this point and the reviewer certainly approves of this approach. The ensemble method of Gihhs is stressed and bath the canonical ensemble and grand canonical ensemble are discussed and used. The early intrw duction and use of the grand canonical ensemble is indeed an improvement over the discussion usually found in textbooks. Since no attempt is made to use the Fowler-Darwin theory or a similar type of argument to introduce the distrihution laws, the student will probably not he satisfied with the justification of the basic equations. The sketchy type of presentation mzy also he subject to criticism but
the reviewer faund that it provided a. good framework in which to use one's own lertures with a. minimum of confusion. The truly unique instructional contritrutions of this textbook is contained in I'&s 2 and 3 which give an introduction to the t.heory of stochastic variables and thc kinetic theory of transport processes. The material on fit,ochastir processes follows a series of basic papers which ran he found in a Dover publication ("Selected Papers on 'Joise and Stochastic Proces~es" edited hy Nelson \Val, Dover Publieations, Ine., New York). This latter reference is a valuable supplement to Kittel's presentation. From the point of view of a course for physical chemistry majors the principal omissions of subject matter are (a) the theory of real gnses, ( h ) cslcdntiun of the thermodynamic properties of ideal gas
Elemenbry Statistical Physics
C. Kiltel, Profe~mrof Phy~ics,Uniwr~ i t y of Cdifornis, Borkcley. John FYiley & Sona, Inc., Ncw York, 1068. is 228 pp. 16 X 23.5 cm. 58.
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Professor Kittel has pmdueed another excellent tortbook in an area where there had heen a. complete lack of any dementwy expositions. While tho material preuented in this book lics on the border brtwecn chemistry and physics, it act,nally Atplirntos littlr of the suhjert matter usually r o v e r d in a course on stxtistied mechanics for first or second year chemistry graduate students. For this reason it shottld not be considered siluply as an alternative teat. for s w h x course. However, anyone who is interp~tedin placing more emphasis on irmversihle theory of transport propertics without lengt,l~ening thc time spent an s. formal course in stutiptical mechanics will find Prafesaor liit,t,el's approach to this prohlcm vcry dieht,eninz. The rrviewer has used this rugineering and faund it very satisfaetog. from nearly 311 paintsof view. An outstanding feature of the book is t,lle splect,ion of problems Professor Kittel has compiled. The number of prohlems is lsr~ewhen compared u-it,h other texts on statistical mechanics and about one bhird of them prove to be challenging even t o the hest students. The prohlems form an intimate part of t,hc text (heing given a t the m d of each section) and the author prohnhly aasumcs that the reader nil1 work rnch prohlem ns it is encountered. This is onv of the nmjjar reasons for regarding this hook st,rictlv as a text,book for a Icrdiacuura~wits me RS a reading referonce. Another feature of tho hook is the list of rcfcrenrra given at, tho besinning of each chapter. The student is often refcrred to original journal articles and is given an erct4lmt n?!retion of background rending mat,cri~d. Quite oitm the- pree cntat,ion given by Kittel is just an outline and reeolll.sr to the rcfcrmres is necessary
Volume 36; Number 9, September 1959
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A531
molecules with internal degrees of freedom, and ( c ) cooperative phenomena and its application to nonelectrolyte solution theory. On the other hand Professor Kittel has made the much needed step of introducing many current topics or research interest (in particular transport theory) into a textbook suitable for first or second year graduate studonta.
Analysis of Straight-Line Data
Forman S. Acton, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University. John Wiley & Sous, Inc., New York, 1959. xiii 267 pp. 46 figs. Tables. 15.5 X 23.5 em. $9.
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The straight line occupies a central Z m r \1'. SALSBURG position in the presentation and interpreThe Kiee Inslilule tation of experimental results. FreHouston, Texas quent1.v experimenters devote considerable time and ingenuity to the dcvelopment of reasonable (and sometimes unreasonable) procedures for linearizing their data. I t is the objective of this hook to guide the experimenter-analyst through Elementary Matrix Algebra the maze of regression techniques, each with its o m set of assumptions, that. has Franz E. Hohn, Associate Professor of accumulated over the past eighty years. Mathematics, University of Illinois. The author gets off to an excellent The Maemillan Co., New Yo'ork, 1958. start with a brief discussion of the choice xi 305 pp. 16 X 24 em. $7.50. of a statistical model on which to base the analysis. Most experimenters should pale This book is the product of several considerably when, after a listing of seven years' experience with a course in linear hypothetical experiments, the author transformations and matrices, which was states ". . . it n-auld he sheer folly to apply primarily for students in a variety of fields cli~aaicalleast-squares fitting to most of including science, engineering, economthese data." Thia phrase should frighten ics, sociology, etc. Specific applicamost people into reading the remainder of tions, however, are omitted for the sake the hook. of brevity. The text is elementary in the Well over a third of this book deals with sense that an effort has been made to have the so-called classical model in which the it useful a t the junior or senior level. independent variable (z) is considered The book is excellent. The well-orknown (essentially) without error and gmized and clear style of presentation (almost) all of the experimental variation makes i t easy to follow and the select,ion is assumed t o b e associated with the deof topics is most appropriate for a course pendent, variable (y). Considerable emone might wish every graduate student phasisis placed on confidence intervals, in physical chemistry could have. Some and several non-pitramctrie methods are of the principles are included only in p r o b discussed and exemplified. lems, a device frequently used in mathoA short chapter is devoted to samples matics. This may make it more difficult from the bivariste normal distribution. as a basis for self-education than as a The middle fifth of the book deals with course textbook. On the other hand, the Lhe krrotty problem of what to do when text and examples provide a continuity of both the independent and the dependent development adequate for one to undervariables contain error. Here the author stand the later material without working does well with his opportunity to draw d l the problems. The author, however, together the diverse work on this subject specifically recommends working most of extending over many years and several the problems to get the most out of the countries. Following this is a brief erbook. position of how the analysis of variance The chapter topics include the introcan be applied to the simultaneous duction to matrix algebra; determinants; examination of several lines. Then comes the inverse of a matrix; rank and equivaa chapter on orthogonal polynomials lence; linear equations and linear depenwhich provides detailed examples for both dence; vector spaces and linear transforequally and unequally spaced pointe. mations; unitary and orthogonal transThe last three chapters of the book, formations; tho characteristic equation of extending over only a dozen pages, coneist a matrix; and bilinear, quadratic, and of a few brief observations on transforHermitian forms. Appendixes cover the mations, the rejection of data, and models summation and product notations; the with cumulative error. An appendix is algebra of complex numbers; and the provided which gives nineteen tables general concept of isomorphism. There including several for "quick and denormais also a bibliography containing referlized" methods of analysis. ences not only to more advanced matheThe line dranings, which are used very matical treatments of the subjects but effectively, are extremely well done. also to books in which applications in the Tho reader will, nevertheless, find that various fields are discussed. the going is not easy. The style of writing Thc hook is recommended as a valuable ranges from heavy (maximum likelihood three-hundred-page collection of mathederivations) to light ("What isn't worth matical concepts and techniques useful to doing a t all isn't worth doing well!"). the modern ehemist, especially if he is Sometimes the introduction to a section interested in following recent theoretical is found in the concluding paragraph of developments involving applications of the preceding section. This gives the quantum mechanics. impression that the chapters were written in one breath and makes it difficult to eonsider an isolated part. This reviewer feels that the author
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A532 / Journal o f Chemical Education
