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NEW BOOKS Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants and Some Mathematical Functions. By G. W. KAYEAND T. H. LABY. Ninth edition. 25 x 17 cm.; 181 pp. London, New York, and Toronto: Longmans, Green and Company, 1941. Price: 18 shillings net. The ninth edition of this well-known work has undergone revision in many parts. The inclusion of interesting descriptive matter as well as numerical tables is continued, a n attempt has been made to give an account of the basis of the choice of physical units, consideration is given to the selection of general and atomic constants, and explanatory introductions have been added t o new tables of radioelements and isotopes. The final inspection of the text was made by the Physics Department of the National Physical Laboratory. The handy volume is intended t o be a laboratory companion t o both the advanced student and the research worker and much of its contents have a direct interest in physical chemistry. Although in future editions some sections could with advantage undergo a more thorough and critical revision, with particular attention t o the correlation of interdependent data in separate parts of the work, and fuller use made of recent critical studies of some fields, the volume is certain t o have a well-deserved welcome and will continue the useful part played by former editions. The inclusion of references to books and papers dealing with many parts of the subject is a useful feature. I n practically every case the author and date are given for the constant selected, so that the user is aware of the standing of the figure given. The layout, printing, and paper arc very good. The volume contains much useful information not commonly found in books of tables, as well as the data which could be expected. The book may be cordially recommended. J. R. PARTINGTON. Chemical Analysis. Volume I I , Chromatographic Adsorption: BY HAROLDH. STRAIN. 6 x 9 t in.; x 222 pp.; 37 fig. R’ew York: Interscience Publishers, Inc., 1942. Price: $3.75. Chromatography involves the selective adsorption of constituents from a solution which is passed through a column filled with a suitable adsorbent. I n the past ten years, extensive use has been made of chromatographic adsorption analysis for the detection, isolation, and purification of organic substances which could not be separated easily by other methods. From a physicochemical viewpoint the present book is not of great interest. Reference is made to one paper dealing with the theory of chromatography, but, as the author states in the preface, “major emphasis has been placed upon experimental procedure”. I n this respect the author has done an excellent piece of work. This monograph undoubtedly deserves a place in all laboratories in which natural products and other organic compounds are separated and isolated. The reviewer does not expect that chromatography will play an important r81e in inorganic analysis. The book contains nine chapters: Historical Introduction; Application of Chromatographic Adsorption Methods; Apparatus and Procedure; Adsorbents; Solvents and Eluants; Location of Colorless Adsorbed Substances; Chromatography of Inorganic Compounds; Chromatography of Organic Compounds; Industrial Uses. A bibliography covering forty pages and a n author and a subject index are given a t the end of the book. A very instructive colored frontispiece shows the chromatograms obtained in the separation of carotenes and of xanthophylls. I. M. KOLTHOFF.
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Ezperimental Physical Chemistry. By W. G. PALMER. 321 pp. Cambridge: The University Press, 1941. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1941. Price: $2.75. The exercises in this book have for some time been part of a couree of physical chemistry a t Cambridge University. The chapter headings, in brief, are: (I) gas and vapor densities; ( 8 ) crystallization and the properties of crystals; (3) solutions and solubility; (4) dilute solutions (molecular weights, osmosis, distribution) ; (6) thermochemistry; (6) ionization
NEW BOOKS
(conductance, electromotive force, hydrogen-ion indicators, buffer solutions) ; (7) velocity of chemical reaction; and ( 8 ) surface chemistry. The theoretical notes which precede the experimental parts, though “not intended to replace the use of adequate textbooks on the theory”, are more extensive than those usually found in laboratory manuals. There are several experiments in each chapter, sometimes exhibiting a sequence, sometimes merely presenting alternative experiments. Sample numerical calculations appear regularly. There appears to be no adequate experiment upon chemical equilibrium. The subject is mentioned in a theoretical note under thermochemistry, page 157; however, only calorimetric experiments support the theoretical discussion. This omission seems the more serious in view of the inclusion of several experiments in the second chapter (for example, the experiment upon the influence of foreign substances upon crystal habit) which, though interesting, are not so important as are experiments illustrating the application of the laws of thermodynamics t o a chemical reaction. The following observations were made upon the sixth chapter: There is no satisfactory definition or discussion of the standard state of an electrolyte in solution (page 197). The Nernst equation seems to be relied upon in cases for which i t is not valid (pages 195,206, 223). Voltaic cells with liquid junctions, involving indeterminate processes, are employed in cases where i t would appear to the reviewer that cells without liquid junction might well have been introduced (pages 193,206, 221, 223). The definition of pH ‘(page 206) is not satisfactory, in view of the careful re-definition of this quantity by MacInnes. The first and third chapters are espedially commendable. Here, and indeed throughout the book, the author bas successfully presented many details of apparatus assembly and of technique which should be of value to the student who must make his own preparation for a n experiment. The author is also to be commended for his attempt t o bring unusual material into the elementary laboratory work of physical chemistry. T . E. PRIPPS.
High Polymeric Reactions. Their Theory and Practice. By H . M A R K A N D R. RAFF.Translated from the manuscript by Luise Weissberger and I. P. Irany. 15 x 23 cm.; xiii 476 pp.; 49 fig. 215 Fourth Avenue, Kew York: Interscience Publishers, Inc., 1941. Price: S6.50. This volume, the third in a series of monographs on high polymers, “attempts to describe the present state of our knowledge concerning the mechanism of chemical processes during which high polymers are formed.” The book is carefully planned, well presented, and deserving of careful study. Emphasis in the presentation is on the physicochemical side. Considerable attention is paid t o the fundamentals of reaction kinetics and its application in reactions of polymerization. This is preceded by a discussion of the structure of high polymers and of methods of determining the progress of polymerization and the molecular weights of the products. In the last half of the book the various unsaturated compounds are taken up one by one, the aim being t o “collect the literature on the subject.” The collection is not complete, but perhaps a complete literature survey was not intended. Almost no reference was made t o patent literature on reactions of polymerization and polycondensation. The pleasure of reading this book is marred somewhat by an abundance of faulty chemical names. Throughout the book one encounters such expressions as methylchloride for methyl chloride, vinylacetate for vinyl acetate, acrylic methylester for acrylic methyl ester, chinoide ring (page 220) for quinoid ring, methyl acetylene for methylacetylene, 2-methyl-pentene-2,-one-4 for 4-methyl-3-pentene-2-one, and many others. The erroneous term “isobutene” is used throughout, yet the polymer is always referred t o as polyisobutylene. I n summary, the merits of the book far outweigh euch demerits as these. The authors are t o be commended in offering such a worthwhile presentation on so timely a theme. CHARLES D. HURD.
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