THE FIGHT FOR FLUORIDATION
some gaps and an unavoidable lack of continuit,y. The second is a very well orgnnized and readable technical rvark. Dr. Casey's book is the first place s. student or technical man in the industry turns nhen a new problem faces him; it is not, however, written a t the level of highschool senior or college freshman. The lafit is a valuable but exceedingly detailed work w,hich has heen aptly chametorised as "exhaustive and exhausting." One may see that there is a real place for a readable, descriptive work for the general reader. "Modern Pulp and Paper Making" fits very well in this place. EDW.4RD F. THODE THEIYSWTUTEO P PAPERC n ~ x m r n s APPLETOY.Wrscoh.mx
Donald R. McNeil, Associate Director of the Wisconsin State Historioal Society. Oxford University Press, New York, 1957. xi 241 pp. 13 X 2 0 cm. $5.
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THIS hook is a well-documented, historical account of the events t h a t led to thc cstahlishment of the relation~hiphetween fluoride ion content of drinking water and dental decay. I t nlso recites the attempts of various individuals and public health organizations t,o establish the practice of fluoridating public water supplies. Like those who first attempted t o induce t,he public to adopt vaccination, ehlorinstion, and pasteurization, advocates of fluoridation met with growing resistance from laymen inHoenced by a wide variety of opponents. These included men who
oppose public health measures on religious grounds, as well as chiropractorfi who see in the situstion sn opportunity to embsrass the medical profession, and those who setoslly believe that Hnoridation is n plot of the "communists to take over this country." The reader is impressed hy a seeming conflict in our democracy which delegates to our elected representatives the power to make decisions that require greator knowlcdgc than the public nt large possesses, yct which in many ~ t a t e sprovides machinery to put such questions as fluoridation I d o r e the public for approval or disnpprovnl in the form of referenda. T o a wientiat this might be eqoivalent to determining the validity oi the law of g r a v i t ~ by means of z popular vote. IJnder t,he rieht conditions and with the same type of opposition that now opposes fluoridation, the law of gravity could be repealed by the general public. MoKeil's account stresses the role played by a number of Wisconsin dentists in promot,ing fluoridation in that stat?. The activities of Dr. J . G. Frisch and Dr. F. A. Boll in particular are given promincnee because through their efiorts more cities in Wisconsin fluoridate their public water supplie~than in any state in the Union. I t carries thestoriesof the fight in Seat,tle and Cincinnati where fluoridation was defeated a t the polls. It nlso tells how some of our largest cities like Philadelphia, Milwsukce, San Francisco, and Baltimore adopted this health measure. The book cnds with an accorlnt of the struggle now in progress to fluoridate the wstw of our largest city, New York, and of the formation of t,he "Committee to Protect Our Children's Teeth" headed by the eminent pediatrician, Dr. Benjamin Spack, a committee which is now in the midst of the New 1'ot.k battle. The latter is nt a standstill hecauso of the opposition by the h a d of the Yew York City water works despite the repeated recommenrlstion hy the New York City Department of Health that the water supply be Huoridated. The hook gives no solace to the opposition hecause the scientific facts of fluoridation are set forth with historical accuracy and clarity. Nor does it fail to asscsa the eompetencc(?) of many of the lcadcrs oi the opposition. l l a t a are tmsod on verified documentary evidcnee. T o the proponents of fluoridation this book relates in a sobering mnnncr the difficulties, t,he pitfalls, and the hard work required to hring about the adoption of this Latest pul~liehealth measure. I t is recommended rendine for overr chemist, and rhomistry teacher.
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5. F. DARLING
INSTRUMENTAL ANALYSIS Paul Delohoy, Professor of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Macmillan Co., 384 pp. 137 New York, 1957. xi figs. 2 4 tables. 16 X 2 4 cm. $7.90
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THEreviewer must confess to heing preiudired against the term, instrumental analysis. This prejudice is based on the fact that to many chemist6 the term, (Continued on page A.598)
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
some raleulos, rand tho hasic undergraduate courses in analyticrtl and physical chemi s t , ~ . In the author's opinion, the material givrn can tx covered in 40 t o CW in~trumrntalxnxlysis, h x ~concealed in it I w t ~ r e s ,alt,hough a much shorter rourse certain value judgmmt,s which imply that is possible. inat,rumental annlwin is somehow suAfter a short introductory chapter, thwe perior to what is r~suiallyrefrtwd to as wpt are six ehapt,ers (152 pages) on electrical met,hods of annlysi~. Thwc is no point in methods: &:leetrde Potentials; Potenthe w v i p w ~ ~belalmrint. .'~ t h x~h s ~ ~ r d i of ty fiomrtry; Polarogrsphy and Voltammecomparing analytirnl mrthods on any f r y ; Ampemmetric and Voltammetric surh supprfirial hnsis of rlaadimtion: Titmtions; Eleetmgrsvimetry, Electrolytic Scpamtions and Coulometric Methothers have discussrrl t,his topic a t great length. Dr. 1)clahay rrrognises the nrtiods; and Conductarnetry and High-frefirial nntnre of attempting t,o mnko any r p m r y Met,hods. Thew are followcd by fundammt,nl di&inrtions h e t w e ~ n sofivr chapters (120 pages) on optical methcalled invtn~mrmtaland noninstnlment~al ods: Emifision Speet,roseopy; Absorption methods; in this rrgnrd, it is worth quotSpectrometry and Filter Photometrj-; ing n paragraph from pngr one of the hook: Ruorimetry, Turbidimetry and Nephe"Therp is no fundamantsl differenrr lometp; Roman Spectroscopy; and X-ray between inst,rnmmhl and noninatruM.let,hods. Two chapters (46 pages) on mental methods. ICwn s w h a elrtaaical maas spert.romet,ry and nuclear radiation method as prnvimrt,ry involves thc use methwls ronrkde the discusnion p w t of of an inst,ntmmt,, the hitlmre, and the the text. The Inst 40 pages are devoted disclls~ion of noninst,nm~mtal mot,hods to 24 rxprrirnents which are well designed involve^ phYsiral ch~mist,ry_ I t is t r w bo introdnre the student to the theoretie~l t,hat, eqnipm~nt in inst,nimcntal analysis and prbrticel fundsmcntrals of electricnl is oft,en more romplirat,rd t,han t,he Imw.nd optical m r t h d n of analysis. anee, hut t,hk i~ onlv a mat,t,er of degrep. One of the moat useful features of the not a fundam~ntaldifference. '1natn1hook hoth to the student in a course n ~ i n g mental analysis' is mwely a wnvenient, the book as a text and to the chemi~tr h o expression for grouping n variety of U ~ P Ethe book to refresh himself on cermethods." tain ront,cmporary methods are apt to The resent hook is intended as a text he the- provocative suggestions and quesfor s course t,o he prwented to advanced t,ions to be found a t the end of most undergraduitte and graduate ~ t u d e n t ~ . chapters. These questions are generally The treatment t,hrnnghout is one which of three types: extension of the theory could be readily follor*.ed by anyone hav(Codinaed on page A6001 ing had an introdurt,ory POUPFP in phv~ies,
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
of the technique involved, applications of the techniquc, and literature surveys of limited mope. Most of these questions, particulsrly those in the latter group, refer to specific papers in the literature for which references are given. I n some cases the questions involved the comparifion or correlation of work appearing in different papers. As far as the description of instruments is concerned, the author hns very wisely restricted himself to the use of simple optical and electrical diagrams, and of block diagrams for electronic circuits. The use of elaborate circuit disgrrtms and of photographs has heen, in tho reviewer's opinion, very properly eschewed. The balance between theory, practire, and applicability is, on the wholc, a very proper one. I t is possible to go through t,he book, and to select individual specific items and to argue that the author might have done something else other than that which he did do. However, this would he rather silly since the book, as a whole, is excellent. Actually, the reviewer ransiders this hook to he by far the most satisfactory book in the area of textbooks for "instrument,al snslysis" which has yet been published. The hook ran he heartily recommended to tearhers looking for a satisfactory advanced undergraduate and p d o a t e student t,ext as well an to chemists who would like a review or r~fresher survey in rertain techniques of analytical importance. PHILIP J . E L V l N G U ~ - I Y E R ~ I OF T T MICHLOAN
A N N ARBOR.M ~ C Z < ~ C A B
INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Louis F. Fieser, Sheldon Emery Professor of Organic Chemistry, and Mory Fieser, Research Fellow in Chemi4ry. Harvard University. D. C. Heath and Co., Boston, 1957. 614 pp. 18 X 24 cm. $7. THIS new Fieser and Fieser textbook of organic chemistry replaces the hooks previously entitled "Orgnnic Chemistry, Abridged Edition" (1014) and "Textbook of Organic Chemistry" (1950). I t is more than a mere revision of the earlier books. New in name and attractively modern in format, thc text diRers from the earlier ones not only in these twofentwer hut also in scope and in organization. More basic theory is included, and new theoretical concepts are introduced st the places where the concepts are first applicable. A n interesting and entirely new addition is the part dealing with t,he application of reactions and principles to resesreh. T h e book is divided into two sections. The twenty-eight chapters of P a r t I take up systematieslly, in four hundred and ninety-eight pages, the essential principles of organic chemistry; and, as stated by tho authors in the preface, "includes about all the facts and t h o aries a stndcnt can be expected to assim-
(Cmtinued on page A60S) JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
