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one case into 1949 and in another only 1944. As would be expected in a subject that covers ~ a c t i a nkinetics, physics and structure, and electrophysics, there is a considerable amount of mathematics. I t is of intorest in a book on general theory that the first chapter is on "Economic aspects." The text is full of tables, figures, graphs, mathematical expressions, and organic structural formulas, all of which add much to the understanding of the subject matter. There is a very good index which consists of twenty-seven columns. The typography of this book is very good and yet there are some letters that are only half printed and some not printed at all. The text contains some misspelled words, and the organic nomenclature does not always conform to American Chemical Society standards. An unfortunate statement on page 72 should he comcted-"butyl ruhber" and "Ameripol" are not synonymous. The book rovers the subject well and contains much good information. When this series of volumes is completed it will he a small encyclopedia on this general subject. HARRY L. FISHER
solutions. The following eight chapters deal with an excellent discussion of protolysis reactions and equilibria, including acidbase indicators, all based on the theory of Brbbsted. The style is concise and exact. This is especially true of Chapter XIII, in which the titration error is discussed on the basis of the classical monograph of N. Bjerrum (1914) and the papers by H. Arnfelt (1937) and A. Orlander (1939). In six chapters s. discussion of solubility, solubility equilibria, properties of precipitates, colloids, precipitation, and complex formation titrations is given. The last two chapters deal with oxidation-reduction reactions and titrations. The monograph does not seem useful in this country as a text for a beginning course in quantitative analysis, not only beca'we no laboratory directions are given, but also because the subject has not been treated exhaustively. For example, electricsl methods of analysis (like electroanalysis, potentiomet,ric titrations), optical methods of analysis, separations in general, use of organic reagents are not discussed. Aside from these limitations the author has enriched the literature of the science of analvtical chemistrv with an excellent t,ext.
many modern textbooks. The present book is warmly recommended to students whose major field of interest is analytical chemistry.
MODERN CHEMISTRY Charles E. Dull, Late Head of Science Department, West Side High School, Newark, New Jersey; William 0. Brooks, Chairman, Science Department, Technical High School, Springfield, Massachusetts; and H. Clarke Metcalfe, Science Department, Brentwood High School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Henry 564 pp. Illustrated. 16 X Holt & Co., New York, 1950, xi 24 Em.
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THIS edition of "Modern Chemistry" is a complete revision of the successful text by the late Charles E. Dull. It is a wellorganized text. There are sixteen units, each one concluding with "Some things for you to do." The summaries are very good and careful attention hss been given to word study. The materials for superior students are marked thus taking care of individual differences. The latest theories on the structure of matter are presented. I t would be an easy book from which to teach because the pupils themselves could handle the materials so well. Simple language is used throughout, making it easier to read than some high-school chemistry texts. Authors sometimes forget that high-school students are a teen-age group studying chemistry. This is a welcome addition to chemistry texts for high-school use. GRETA OPPE
DIE THEORETISCHEN GRUNDLAGEN DER ANALYTISCHEN CHEMIE Gunnar Hagg, University of Uppsala, Sweden. Translated by H. Baumann, Verlag Virhauser, Basel. 1950. 197 pp. 26 figs. 8 tables. 17.5 X 25 cm. 18 Swiss francs.
INA smce of lem than 200 Danes the author has succeeded in
I. M. KOLTHOFF
INTRODUCTION TO SEMIMICRO QUALITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS Louis 1. Curtman, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, The City College of New York, New York City. The Macmillan Co., New 391 pp. 3 9 figs. 24 York, 1950. Revised edition. xvi tables. 14 X 21 cm. $3.50.
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THISrevised edition of a widely used text differs very slightly from the 1942 edition. With the exception of the mention of additional teds for sulfite and fluoride, and the inclusion of a discussion of the basic ferric acetate method far the removal of phosphate, the first 220 pages are identical with those of the earlier edition. The only change (if it can be called that) in the scheme of analysis for the cations is the instruction to evaporate aqua. regia under the hood. Although the author states that "The entire procedure for the systematic detection of the Group 2 anions my own inspection revealed significant has been rewritten. changes only in the section in which the test for chloride is madc, with more attention given to the interference of bromide and iodide. Several notes on the sensitivities of the tests are appended to the procedures in this section. The chapter on semimicro technique and equipment has heen expanded slightly. These instructions are clear and complete; ample illustriutions of manipulations help to make this chapter really excellent. I liked this book when I used the earlier edition; the following comments are not intended to obscure this fact. The instructor who values primarily the experimental side of qualitative analysis will find this book entirely sound. On the theoretical side the book is. in mv ooinion. a bit sketohv in soots. such as 1116 tl.rorg of rcdor rcxtiorw wl.icl~ir cowrcd in 9 page?. As i n rturl,y texts in qualif3tive analysi~,this book gives errone(,us
. .,"
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should be very useful for that purpose in many European univeni-
page'14.) &apter 11deals with the mass & o n lew'and equilihria: Chanter 111 with the chemical bond (a reference to the
opposing rates of two second-order bimolecular reactions in a homogeneous medium. The trouble is that the student is not told that this is a rather special type of reaction and the serious error comes when this conventiond approach is extended to the zener.4 case that is familiar to us all. No mention is made of the w r y ir!~portaut fort thht 111e r ~ ~ r l l i ~ i e nint s 1 I w y m e ~ ~ l i z ~ 1 1 equilibriuul rnmtnv.1 have no dcpeudc~ccm rater of rrwtiw.. I bets'ceu this Jcrivatiorl nn.1 think t l w r ma). br some eo~nrwt~orl ~
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SEPTEMBER. 1950
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the dozens of students encountered at all levels who, if they express an opinion a t all, think that the rate of an oxidation by dichromateis proportional to the 14th power of the H+concentration. This is all the more embarrassing because we teach our students that the concentrations that exist under a particular set of reversible equilihrium conditions are independent of the rates involved. There are only two ways of treating the equilibrium constant on a general, valid basis: the first is to say that the exprimatal msults ~ e p i m that the coefficients correspond to the balanced equation, and the second is to admit that the exponents are the coeficients of the partial mokl f ~ e eene~& of the reacting comvonents. This situation is a dilemma. The att.emnt to solve it
These have been replaced by sections on the general theory of diffusional operations, furnaces and kilns, and subsections on dialysis, size enlargement, multi-component distillation, aseotropic and extrmtive distillation, and molecular distillrttian. The new section on the general theory of diffusional operations by A. P. Colhurn and R. L. Pigford is most welcome and serves as an excellent introduction to the following sections on distillation and sublimation, gas absorption, solvent extraction and dialysis, humidification, drying, and adsorption. The libraries serving engineers and the individual chemical engineera have long realized how essential the "Chemical Engineers' Handbook" is in their work. The chemical library should realize that this handbook contains a wealth of cherhicd data arranged for practical use, that it explains the terminology and background of the chemical engineering article being read by the chemist, and that it explains the translation of chemical manipulations, as distillation, filtration, drying, from the lahoratory to plant operations. The chemist must know how and why the chemical eneineer will modifv his laborstorv stem in ex-
calculated that a conce;ltration of 16 M H + would de necessary to prevent the precipitation of CdSl Most students should know that concentrated HC1 is only 12 M. But these calculations are opposed in spirit to the experimental aspect of the subject; equally important, thby fail to point out the differences in behavior of HCI and H.S04. This is a particular example of a general tendency throughout the book. We should not expect a epturated solution of Pbo(P04)~ to contain unhydrolyzed P 0 4 i P ions as the only species of phosphate present, but this assumption is implicit in one of the standard problems on page 71. The vulnerable nature of some solubilitv constants can be shown bv 0 which one can use such constants with any certainty is quite narrow. The maturing chemist learns theae limits, hut current texts in qualitative analysis could do much to catalyze his growth in knowledge. They would probably come nearer to the truth if they were a hit hazier %bout solubility products of the metallic sulfides, and treated the two groups as resembling two galaxies whose members are placed with approximate coordinates. Then it could be said that, with a few exceptions, the members of each galaxy can be kept out of each other's way. The instructor who wants a reliable laboratory manual can choose this book with confidence. The very few typographical errors of the earlier edition have been virtually eliminated. ROBERT EPPLE Bnowlr UNIVERBITY PROVIDENCE, R ~ D ISLAND E
0
CHEMICAL ENGINWS' HANDBOOK
John H. Perry, Chemical Engineer, E. I. du Pont de Nernours and Co., Editor. Third edition. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New Yo*, 1950. xv 1942 pp. 19 X 26 cm. Textbook edition, $12.50.
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ONLYthe title appears familiar an the new edition of the "Chemical Engineers' Handbook." The editor and publishers realized that the book was a reference volume that was kept on the desk or book shelf within easy reach, that the charts and curves bed to be large enough to he read accurately, and that the important advances since the second edition in 1941 had to be included. This has been accomplished in the third edition by expanding the page size from 12 X 18 cm. to 19 X 26 om. and arranging the descriptive material in two columns. Tables and charts can now cover the entire page, and hence numerical values can be read from the graphs with sufficient accuracy for engineering calcnlations. Editor Perry has heen assisted by over 140 speciallists who have prepared the various sections and suhsections relating to their specialty. The sections themselves have been critically rearranged with the elimination of several, as qualitative snalysw, organic chemistry, and report writing.
KENNETIi A. KOBE
PATENT PRACTICE AND MANAGEMENT
Robert Colvert, Patent Attorney, New York. Soarsdale Press, Box 536, Scaradale, New York. xi 371 pp. 7 photographs. 16 X 24.5 om. $5.
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TAISbeautifully printed hook makes an immediate appeal and it soon becomes evident that it is as interesting as it is elegant. Without making insidious comparisons, we believe that it is perhaps the best general account that has been written of American patent prectioe. The subject is opened by a discussion of what can be patented. What can he classed as a "new and useful invention?" The great inventions of yesterday were often embodiments of clearout, unit ideas. Important industrial inventions today mare likely to he accretions of many minor ideas, each of limited patentable novelty. At certain stages the firm's patent lawyer will often question whether the inventor has in fact invented anything. Your reviewer's reply to these incredulities would run thus: "Have you ever heard of a device like this that operated efficiently?" "No." Well, this one does. Will you please patent the difference." Recognizing and describing the difference between the workable and the unworkable is the essence of the patentee's task. The author's next concern is the assignment of correct authorship to an invention, without which the patent is liable to he held invalid. There is a. tendency today to conventionalize inventorship. According to one convention, it is the owner or senior employee who gives instructions to the fabricator, who is considered to be the inventor. According to another it is the man who actually makes the invention, in a. physical sense; joint inventorship is not in favor. Our own feeling is that when invention is by accretion most novel ideas are group ideas which emerge from a school of thought, and it is as inaccurate as it is unfair to select a single individual to adorn the printed patent, even though a single member of the group appeared to "exhibit the divine spark of genius." Patents taken out in established industry involve two obligations, assignment to the employer and reward to the employee. Mr. Cdvert shows us that there is very little uniformity of practice in either matter, though a standard code of ethics and treatment is sorely needed. The amateur will find two chapters partiiculmly informative: how to draft a patent with its preamble, subject matter, and claims, and how to lodge the patent and use the facilities of the
