Chapter V, on the mechanics of rarefied gases, deals with transport effects in the free-molecule flow of gases. Three appendixes, on mathematied aids, on diffel; ential equations and their characteristics (a valuable summary) and on the basic equations of motion of a gas, close the work. The book is intended for physicists and engineers. English units are used in many applications of the theory. To many readers, this volume will present a formidable appearance: 844 numbered equations, plus many unnumbered, in 214 pages of text. The mathematics, however, is not beyond the competence of anyone who has had a course in theoretical physics. The figures are clearly and neatly drawn. The t,vpography is good and pleasing in appearance. A glossary of symbala, a t the close of each chapter, is definitely helpful. The main interest of the work, to chemists, lies in the proof it supplies of the importance of the laws of molecular behavior to the theory of such ultra-modern events as supersonic flight and the p~.opagatianof shock naves. AND&
J. d
e
~
Bosrol- Comeoz C n ~ s l s n rH,L&, M * s ~ * c " " ~ E T T E ~
HISTORY OF .CHEMISTRY IN ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA Edited by Priyodoronjan Roy, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Calcutta. Indian Chemical Society, Calcutta, 1956. xviii 494 pp. 39 figs. 1 table. 16 X 24 cm. $6.
+
PROFESSORRAY,in his carefully ronstrueted revision of Prafulla Chandra Ray's standard "History of Hindu Chemistry," has given us a highly informabive and interesting description of Indian chemistry. In chronological order, the contributions of Indians to chemistry have been recarded from the Harappa period of the fourth millennium B.C. to the end of the Mogul culture. The theoretical aspects as well as the practical arts of ancient Indian chemistry have been given full treatment in addition to discussion of social and cultural conditions concomitant with ancient chemical development. Of value for those interestedin the-history of chemical technology, Ray discusses the a r t of making glazed pottery, the extraction and working of metals and alloys, preparation of caustir alkalies, oxides and sulfides of metals and other substsnces. Some other representative topics are the genesin of the infraatomic unit potentials, chemistry in the medical schools of ancient India, chemistry of colors, atomic theory of the Buddhists, and the theory of atomic eombination. Many of the ideas deserihed make delightful reading for the average chemist n-ith a historical bent. The scholar in the history of science will find equally rewarding the inclusion of tests in the original Sanskrit and transcriptions from Tibetan xylographs and (Conlinwd m Page A80) JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
*
~
their translations relating to chemical matters. There are many enoellent illustrationr spanning a period of thousands of years and a variet.~of ehxrts to enhance the work. Chemists and historians of chemistry will find in this book a rich and valuable assessmeot of ancient Indian chemistry and culture. M l R T I N LEVEY
T ~ X P LUEB W E R ~ ~ Y P H I L A D E L P H I A . PEZNBTLIAN~A
BASIC CHEhfISTRY OF TEXTILE PREPARATION
S. R. Cockert and K. A. Hilton. Philosophical Library, Inc., New York, 1956. vii f 197 pp. 27 figs. Tables. 14.5 X 22 cm. $6. BASIC CHEMISTRY OF TEXTILE COLOURING AND FINISHING S. R. Cockett and K. A. Hilton. Philosophical Library. Inc., New York, 1956. vii 191 pp. 41 figs. 3 tables. 14.5 X 22 cm. $6.
+
THE task of condensing the chemistry of textile preparation, dyeing, and finishing into trm volumes of less than two hundred pages each is a monumental one. In t r o short volumes, it is h a d ? possible to rover the ,vide range of theoretical and pracbical chemistry which makes up t,he present textile a r t without a considerable sacrifice in detail. Unlcsa he has Rome harkground in the fields of physical and organic chemistl.?, the reader is not likcly to derive murh benefit from the theoretical discussions; uith such a barkground, he is apt to criticize the theoretical portions of these texts as superficial and aversimplified. I n an already limited space, the authors have departed from their chosen subjects. in three chapters, occupying some 15 per cent of the total xvailahle pages, which deal with "Plast,ics," "Colornation of Miscellaneous Materials," and "Some Related Industries." Though interesting, the material covered in these ct~apte1.sis not likely to he of lasting value fat. the average textile chemist. Messrs. Corkett and Hilton have covered an imposing array of subjects, most of which are of immediate interest t o both American and British textile ehemists. I t is perhaps inevitable, but nonetheless disappointing, to find a fcw omissions. The newer neutral-dyeing premetallized e a l a r ~ ,and the cuprous ion dveine technioue for acrvlic fibers are not
in only four pages, with no reference to the eyelio urea materials which are responsible for the tremendous advances of t h e last few years in the field of wash-and-wear cottons. The chapters on Literature and Information are rather sketchy, and give t h e reader no clue of the existence of some of (Continued on Page A82) JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
