RECENT BOOKS F U N D ~ N T AOP L SFIBRESIRUCTURE. W. T. Asfbury, University of Leeds. Oxford University Press, New York City. 1933. ix 187 pp. 62Figs. 14 X 21.5cm. $3.00.
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Imagine a book of six lectures delivered t o a group of British textile workers, so simple in its language and so striking and original in its analogies that a sixteen yar-old American high-school boy gets a "kick" out of it, yet so scientificallyexact and so full of real information that his college professor father gets an equally big "kick" from reading it. Such a book is "Fundamentals of Fibre Structure!' The author, who was one of Sir William Bragg's pupils, is Lecturer in Textile Physics and Director of the Textile Physics Research Laboratory of the University of Leeds. The fundaThe six chapters in this book are entitled-"I. mental nature of matter and radiation; 11, The invisible fibres of the world of molecules; 111, How atoms and molecules make patterns in space; IV, An X-ray view of the inside of a textile fibre; V. The fundamental structural difference between wool and other fibres; VI, Some i side formation about the properties of the wool fibre." The first chapter alone should be worth the price of the whole baok to any high-school teacher of physics. chemistry, general science, or home economics. Not only should every such teacher own a personal copy, but also there should be a copy in every high-school library. The nature of the hook is such. however. that its usefulness is not limited to h i ~ h schools. The reviewer has alrtady recommended it privately to srvcral of his colleagues who have collrgc classes in frrqhmnn vhrmistry and in tcsttle chemistry with the belirf that thry will enjoy it ;LS much as he bas done. If you want to get really intimately acquainted with atoms and molecules so that their chemical formulas are as vivid to You as the kindergarten "C-A-T spells cat," so that the forces of chemical combination seem as natural as buttons on a vest, so that the slipperiness of graphite reminds you of slipping on the front hall rug; if you want to appreciate clearly in a noo-mathematical way how the arrangements of molecules in fibers are investigated by X-ray methods; if you want to know the real difference between wool a d other textile fibers; if you want t o learn why the passage of water through a textile fiber resembles the straining of a crowd of people through the narrow winding streets of an old-world t o m ; then yon cannot afford t o be without this book. The price per page is high-probably higher than is warranted by the cost of publication, but the book is really worth it. Pewsnv~m Srnre ~ Co~soz WHEELERP. DAWY ~~
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have been well selected as new and challenging problems for the student with high-school experience. Two introductory exercises are followed by two inorganic preparations and these by such problems as the determination of transition temperatures, factors affectinethe rate of chemical reaction. solubilitv..electrolvsis, molerulsr and atomic weights, hydrwtvid., ,,olloids, hydrolysis, cqu~libriurnin solut~on,studies of the i d t s , separation of metal ions into analytical gruupf, and derwatives of the hydrocarbons. Quantitative experiments are introduced early with a view to developing habits of careful manipulation. A considerable amount of qualitative work is included in Section I, but the authors exnlain that this mav be omitted for students who are latrr t o take a course in qualttative analysis. The mtlwrs' purpose with r q n d to Section I1 is not entirely clear. Qtlaliwtwc analyiic is u,ually offered as n scparate course following general chcmistry, and accompanied by rather thorough wurk in the theorirsof sulution and ionization, solubility and precipitatiun. e~uilibrium,etc Section I1 contains 7:3 pages of elementary work-in qualitative analysis apparently intended for the first-year student. The reviewer feels t h a t this is too much qualitative work to be followed by a standard course in qualitative analysis and that i t is too elementam to meet the requirements in qualitative analysis for technical students. This amount and character of work would probably be well suited for those students who are rather non-technical or who are primarilv interested in certain engineering courses where i t is felt that an introductory or survey course in qualitative analysis is sufficient. However, the book as a whole presents more work than can be accomplished in one year and this offers excellent opportunity for selection and elimination by way of adaptation to the needs of particular courses. The alternate pages are left blank to provide space for student's notes, which fact gives the book twice its necessary size and prevents its second-hand use. The arrangement of the book is well planned and the exercises are well written. Errors noted are few and insignificant. The type and form of exercise presented are well calculated to engage the interest and call out the best &ort of the slightly experienced student for whom the manual is designed.
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THE BOOKOF META New York City. 23.5 cm. $4.00 net.
Dondd Wdhclm. Harper & Bros., 5 Photos. 15.5 X
LABORATORY MANUAL TO ACCOMPANY (BRINXLBY'S)PRJNCIPLES The author presents a delightfully picturesque description of B. Kclsey and Harold G . the metallurgy of the important commercial metals against a oa GENERALC m a a r s ~ n ~Erwin . Dietrich, Assistant Professors in Chemistry, Yale University. background of glamour and color. Using words as his medium Revised edition. The Macmillan Co., New York City, 1933. and paper as his canvas, he paints with the rare skill of an artist x 133 73 pp. 15 Figs. 14.5 X 21.5 cm. $1.50. a brilliant and scintillating picture of many metallurgical procThis manual is presented as a revision of the book of the same esses. The hook is distinctly non-technical, no chemical formula nor title by Brinkley and Kelsey, published in 1926. The preface makes no reference to the former edition, however, and the equation hcing included, and written distinctly for the Laymm; volumc i.i, as a matter of fact, much more closely related to the the result of many questions asked of the author by his t w o "1.aboratory hlanual to Accompany (Ilrinklcy's) Introductow young sons. Each introductory chapter contains a complete General Chcmicuv" bv the samc author-. ~ublishedin 1932, and history of the metallurgp of the element under consideration, reviewed in the j. CHBM. EDUC.,9, 20'05(No".. 1932). The followed bv a detailed descrirrtion of the mechanical side of the forty-seven exercises in general chemistry and inorganic prepara- modern pradice and finally complete presentation of its manitions of the first edition give place in Section I of the revised fold uses. Moreover, each chapter has been reviewed and apedition to thirty-one exercises, while Section 11, devoted to proved for publication by one or more competent and diselementary qualitative analysis, is practically identical, page for tinguished "authorities" in each field, so that the information page, with the corresponding section of the recent introductory therein contained is "authentic." Most of the physical chemical explanations and interpretations are written by such authorities, manual. I n harmony with the text which i t is designed to accompany, or are presented in the form of interviews with these distinthe new manual presupposes a secondary-school course in guished gentlemen. The book is pleasingly set up and the type chemistry. Accordingly, the simpler exercises, such as the is large and easily readable. The first third of the book deals with iron and its various studies of oxygen and hydrogen, the gas laws, composition of water, and the like are omitted. The exercises presented alloys. Starting with a fascinating description of open-pit min-
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