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NEW BOOK8
the new Volume I contains some 50 pages more than the old, it is about half as thick; the quality of the paper and the binding are much improved. There are author and subject indexes. LEE IRVINSMITH.
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103 pp. New York: Pitman Publishing Corporation, 1947. Essays in Rheology. vii Price: $3.00. This little book is a compilation of a series of papers presented a t the 1944 Oxford Conference of the British Rheologists Club. The Club was established in 1940 under the presidency of Professor Sir Geoffrey Taylor for the discussion of problems relating t o the deformation and flow of matter. The first chapter, “The Rheology of Metals, Polymers and Liquids,” was prepared by G . W. Scott Blair on the basis of papers read by E. Orowan (“The Plasticity of Metals”), R . F. Tuckett (“The Rheology of Polymers”), and A. G. Ward (“The Liquid State”). The present status of inquiry in these fields is reviewed in a simple and easily understandable form, with emphasis on the descriptive and qualitative aspects, rather than on the more difficult mathematical and physical aspects, although the latter receive adequate attention for a book of this scope. Other interesting chapters include “The Relationship Between Compression and Shear Tests”; “The Time Variations of Stress and Strain”; “Rheological Nomenclature and Symbols”; “Theology and Medical Science”; “Rheology and Kava1 Problems”; “Rheology in the Fine Arts.” An appendix on the “Ordinate Method of Exponential Analysis” should prove useful for those interested in the quantitative analysis of relaxation phenomena. This easily readable little hook is a contribution of value not only for the specialist, but also for the non-specialist who wishes to orient himself in the field of rheology.
JOHNG . KIRKWOOD.
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1767 271 pp, of matheHandbook of Chemistry. By S . A . LANGE. Sixth edition. xiv matical tables and formulas. Sandusky, Ohio: Handbook Publishers, Inc., 1946. Price: $7 .oo The first edition of this book was published in September, 1934, and contained 1556 pages. The present edition contains 2038 pages of material of use t o chemists with 16 pages of prefaces, acknowledgments, and table of contents, and an index of 28 pages. I n order to appreciate the extent of the material in this sixth edition and the care and work required to get this material together, one must spend many hours browsing through the hook. After these hours have been well spent, the reader will come to the conclusion that Lange’s Handbook of Chemistry is to the chemist what the unabridged edition of the dictionary is to the student of English literature. To compile a book of the scope of this handbook without error would not fall within the realm of probability, but one has to search diligently to find errors. For instance, on p. 662 the compound vinylamine, CHI .CH,KH*, is listed, and a footnote is given that this product is actually ethylene imine, CHz.CHz.SH.
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The formula for this latter compound should be written C H 2 . C H z , h H . The compound vinylamine has not been prepared and should be omitted from the list of organic compounds. The printing, the paper, and the binding are excellent. €I. H . BARBER. Methods of Vilarnin A s s a y . Prepared and edited by the Association of Vitamin Chemists, Inc. 189 pp. Sew York: Interscience Publishers, Inc., 1947. Price: $3.50. This hook admirably fills the need for a compilation of tested methods of vitamin assay applicable t o and tested with E great variety of materials. As stated in the preface, “the methods described here are the result of the pooling and interchange of information on analytical technics, and thus represent the combined knowledge and experience of many persons. Only such methods have been included as have been successfully applied to a
