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between the unit operations and the technology would improve certain chapters. The make-up of the book is excellent. I t is well arranged; the printing is clear and on good paper. The flow sheets are too small and somewhat difficult to follow through. The author must be complimented upon a big job well done. The Chemical Process Industries is a fine contribution, which will be valuable to practicing chemists, chemical engineers, and students. CHARLES A . MANS.
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Fundamental Principles of Physical C h e m i s t r y . By C A R LF . PRCTTOX ASD S A M ~ EH I .. 31.4RON. 779 pp. New 1-ork: The Maemillan Company, 1944. Price: $4.50. There are a t least three types of students of physical chemistry. A few who are particularly interested and specially qualified study the subject intensively for i t s own sake. Many college students take it as a “required course,” in the rather vague hope t h a t they will thereby acquire (as painlessly as possible) a general impression of the subject which may later serve as a partial background for some more “practical” specialty, such as medicine. Probably the largest group of students who attempt t o master the elements of physical chemistry intend t o use it as a tool i n some other field of chemistry or in chemical engineering. Prutton and Maron’s text is apparently written with the needs and interests of this third group of students in mind. The authors use the thermodynamic rather than the statistical or kinetic approach t o the subject. The fundamental laws are presented concisely and in a n orderly way, and some attempt is made to show their applications and their relation t o the experimental aspects of the subject. The average student Fill be delighted t o discover t h a t in this book derivations are either given in complete algebraic detail or not a t all. The last three chapters, which are devoted to atomic and molecular structure and t o the relation between physical properties and niolecular structure, are presented in the purely descriptive or survey-course manner. Students who are seriously interested in the fundamental aspects of the subject may find certain characteristics of the book rather annoying. I n a number of places the authors sacrifice rigor for the sake of simplicity. The problems are mostly of the simple substitutioii-in-formula type, and a t least in a few instances the algebraic detail is complete t o the point of being painfuI. On the other hand, the students who desire a survey course and who have been brought up on chatty texts filled Kith predigested descriptive material and profusely illustrated with cartoons and photographs, will find the thermodynamic approach, the rather prosaic style, and thc simple line drawings of this book distinctly discouraging. On the whole, the authors have presented a highly satisfactory if not exactly inspired text. I t is well adapted t o the needs of the average student of chemical engineering. ROBERTLIVISGSTON.
Sunthetic Rubber f r o m illcohol. .I S u r c q j based o n the R u s s i a n Literature. By ANSELM TALALAY ~ K MICHEL D MAGAT. 6 s 9 in.; 312 pp.; 61 illustrations. Kew York: Interscience Publishers, Inc., 1949. Price: $5.00. This book is divided into four major parts. The first part is devoted t o the Lebedev process of convert,ing alcohol t o butadiene. h comprehensive discussion is given of the probable reaction mechanisms and the various chemical and physical factors influencing the Lebedev catalysis. The second part gives, i n considerable detail, a discussion of the technology of the production of synthetic rubber according to the Lebedev process (sodium polymerization), on the laboratory, pilot-plant, and full plant scales. I t will be noted that the majority of the literature references in this section are t o 1937 or earlier years. This is due, of course, to the fact that publication of recent synthetic rubber research and production has been subject t o secrecy restrictions for military reasons. Many of the problems discussed in this section of the book arose from the relatively low purity of the butadiene which was commercially available seven or eight years ago, and therefore these problems have disappeared now that high-purity butadiene is being produced as a routine
