book edited by Desty and Harhourn. Because this book is not a. complete coverage of present knowledge of the subject, other references must be consulted in order to understand many of the theoretical topics. The 27 papers included in the hook vary considerably in quality and content. No strict arrangement of material has been followed. The papers cover theoretical developments (71, new instrumental equipment (91, and analytical applications of gas chromatography including analysis of process streams (10). One chapter contains a discussion of the past, present, and future of gas chromatography by one of the discoverers of the method, A. J. P. Martin. A brief summary of discussion following twelve of the papers has been included. Most of the chapters contain a short list of references. In addition, a very fine annotated hihliography (487 references) is presented near the end of the hook. Recent recommendations on gas chromatography nomenclature appear in Appendix I. Of particular interest to the reviewer are the chapters dealing with gas-liquid partition chromatography in capillaries, operation of high temperature gas chromatographic equipment, a study of themistors as katharometers, use of a combustion tube and analysis of products, apparatus for preparative scale vapor chromatography, and the continuous gas chromatographic column. For the most part, the papers are well written and carefully edited. If extrapolation of a line through two points is justified, we may anticipate future editions of this type following other symposia on gas chromatography. Aside from the objections raised earlier, this book will be extremely valuable to anyone engaged in fundamental or applied r e search involving this important snalytioal technique. JR. W. H. MCCURDY, Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey
Manual of Scientific Russian
Thomas F. Magnw, Department of Slavic and Oriental Languages, University of Minnesota. Burgess Publishing Co., Minneapolis, Minn., 1958. iii t 101 pp. 21 X 27 cm. Unbound, $4. Spiralhound, $4.60. The stark lack of American scientists who can read the Soviet scientific literature coupled with events in the news has focused attention on the serious linguistic gap which exists in our present-day scientific environment. I t is not surprising, therefore, that textbooks should appear in an attempt ta close or a t least narrow this intellectual hbreaoh. The "Manual of Scientific Russian" is such a hook. The author is to be commended far his teaching intent. He rightly states, in the introduction, that since the scientist ."is s. who wishes to study Russian. mature person, used to complex structures, the writer has dispensed with the slow,
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shock-avoiding spprolrch of the multiIt is one thing to purpose textbook!' avoid shocks, and another to avoid essenti&, however. For in his desire to abbreviate the study of the Russjan language apropos to the time limitations and needs of the American scientist, the author has swung to the other extreme and has introduced a brevity and typographical layout which defeat his purpose. The hook is supposed to serve as a combination reference and textbook. The former function is quite well served by the presentation of several useful compilations and tables. I t is as a textbook, however, partioularly one for self-study, that the manual has shortcomings. The first section (pp. 3-35) which deals with the Cyrillic alphabet and Russian grammar oontains the following three chief faults: (1) Deviation from the traditional order of noun declension. While the presentation is self-consistent, the student will be confused when he consults, as he must, mother Russian textbook with the customary order of noun cases. (2) Indefinite typographical layout without any major chapter breaks. (3) The lack of accent marks. The student should get s "vocal feel" for Russian sounds. Incidentally, Dover Publications Inc. also retails a Russian language record for ap~roximatelv one .. doliar.. The second section (pp. 3649) contains paradigms (example8 of noun, pronoun, and adjective dedentions and verb conjugations). The grammatical formation of the verbal participles, which occur so frequently in scientific and technical Russian, are not included either in the pp. 32-33 discussion or the listing on pp. 4849. Reference, the third seotion (pp. 50-64), although attempting to simplify and categorize the irregularities of Russian nouns, adjectives, and verbs, introduces a ~ymbolismwhich serves to only eomplicate an already oamplexlsnguage. Vocabulary help is the fourth seotion (pp. 65-75). I t contains useful discussions of word derivations, prepositions, connectives, frequently used terms, a list of the chemical elements, and available dictionaries, both general and specific. The fifth section (pp. 76-77) whioh deals with the Techniques of Translation approaches the translating process from the grammar point d view. The sixth, and last section (pp. 78-100) is concerned with excerots from Russian scientific texts and journals for reading practice and the last portion consists of a glossary. The reviewer sympathizes with the author in his desire to appromh the study of the Russian language used in scientific texts, without having to resort to reading Puahkin's poetry. There is a minimum aspect of the Russian language, however, which the conciseness of this book with its lack of exercises, examples of sentences, etc., does not completely fulfill. In conjunction with a. standard Russian grammar, however, this manual is certainly a step in the right direction.
Soviet Research in Crystallography. Chemistry Collection No. 5. Volvmar 1 and 2.
Consultante R m e ~ u ,Ine., New York, 1958. VOI.I , 388 vi pp. VOI. 2, 229 vi pp. Many figs and tables. 21.5 X 27.5 cm. Paper bound. Vol. 1, 8100. Vol. 2, $30. The set, $115.
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Growth of Crysials
A. V . Shubnibu, Academician and N . N. Sheflal, Editorsin-Chief. Consultants Bureau, Inc., New York, 1958. 294 pp. Many figs. 21.5 X 27.5 em. Paper hound. $15. These three volumes are translations by the Consultants Bureau, Ine., of reports on Russian research. That on growth of crystals covers a conference held in March of 1956. The papers are divided into those which deal with: (1) general questions, (2) theory, (3) experimental research, (4) growing of crystals, apparatus, and method, (5) miscellaneous. Most of the currently active fields are discussed and the general content of the papers is at 8. high level. The two volumes on crystallollography cover a total of 185 papers. The majority of these are concerned with X-ray studies of multicamponent systems, but there is some pork on structurd &udies, theory of structure, analytical, and more general topics. All three volume6 suffer a t times from translationd difficulties, but these never seem to he serious enough to he really confusing. An ancillary observation from p~rusalof the three volumes is the large degree to which the Russians cite primarily their own literature. I was personally discouraged to find this American fault waurring in these pape~s.
J. A. CAMPBELL Hawey Mwld College Clummmt, California Cholesterol
David Kritchevsky, As.wciate Member, the Wistar Institute, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry in Medicine, The University of Pennsylvania. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1958. xi 291 pp. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $9.75.
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Considering the many facets which the work on and with cholesterol htls assumed in the h t half century, the writing of a hook on this substance appears as a. singularly hold undertaking. The useful organization of the unending amount of literature on cholesterol is a tremendous task for a single scientist, and for this reason the enterprise which Dr. Kritchevskv has shown in makine his compilation would still call for our admiration, even if he had not succeeded as well as he did. The first chapter of this book gives an adequate review of the chemistry of cholesterol and the elucidation of its constitution. The mare recent work on the totd syntheses of this substance is IRVING 8. BENWLSDORF described in sufficient detail and a special place is given to the ~yntbeses of the General Electric Research Labomlory (Continued a page ASS81 Schenectady, Neu, York
BOOK REVIEWS isotopicdy labeled substance, which is now so often used in biological experiments. In the second chapter the complicated work an the biosynthesis of cholesterol is reported and discussed with due attention given to experiments on the mechanism, the precursors and the site of this biosynthesis. A special paragraph is given to the discussion of its rate. Absorption and tramport are treated in the next chapter and the role of fat, of bile, and of esterification is adequately elaborated. A short discussion of the lipoproteins is inserted here, but these important bearers of oholesterol are more extensively dealt with in a
later part of the hook on blood cholesterol. The next chapter on metabolism describes the physiological conversion of cholesterol into bile acids, steroid hormones, and other derivatives. The following section of the book summarizes aptly the reports on the relationship between cholesterol and disease-states like cancer and atherosclerosis. A s e p mate paragraph discusses the interesting and somewhat neglected fact that cancer and atherosclerosis seem to be mutually exclusive. There follows a large chapter on blood cholesterol. Its presence in the different blood constituents, the influence of the diet, its behavior in pathological or disease states, and the action of the sex hormones is described. Experimental hypercholesteremh and the reaction of
the blood cholesterol to hypocholesteremio agents, including sterols, steroids, and the newer substances like Zphenylhutyric acid or nicotinic acid are considered here. The last chapter bringd an excellent description of the color reactions and the qualitative snd quantitative methods for the analysis of cholesterol, including the chromi~tographie procedures, which me now so much in the foreground of interest. An appendix contains physical constants of cholesterol and derivatives and useful tables on cholesterol contents of foods and in a number of physiological occurrences. Each chapter is accompanied by an extensive list of pertinent references, and a good general index is attached. This book is avery usefuladdition to the literature of cholesterol and will be appreciated by the worker in the cholesterol field for whom it will be a readily accessible source of information and to whom it is earnestly recommended. ERWINSCEWENX The Worcester Foundation for Ezperimental Biology Shrewsbu~y,Massachusetts
Martin Hainrich Klmproth 1743-1817
&ow EdmundDann. Akademie Verlag, 172 pp. 17 X Berlin, 1958. x 24 om. 27 full page illus. $4.75.
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This fine biography of an outstanding apothecary and chemist has long been needed. Although every chemist knows something of Scheele, only the specialists in chemical and pharmacal history are awwe of the contributions of his contemporary, which were on a par with those of the great German-Swedish scientist. Bath were primarily pharmacists and made their living from this profession; chemistry was their avocation. However, their method of approach was fundamentally different. Scheele was purely a qualitative observer who applied his extraordinary chemical intuition to what he saw. Klaproth was a matterof-fact individual, who had no use for thwries or hypotheses; he relied on quantitative data entirely. Apprentice at 15, Klaproth was closely associated with pharmacy the remainder of his life, passing through the various grades until he eventually became owner of one of the largest pharmacies in Berlin and a member of the boards governing this profession in Prussis. He was a dominant force in the revision of the old Prussian pharmacopeia and set a model which was adopted by many countries including the United States. His chemical researches were made mostly at night and during his free days. He was especially interested in the analysis of minerals and mineral products and made fundamental contributions to this field, with respect to methods and reagents. He was one of the first to insist on repetition of analyses and absolutely rejected the then common practice of rounding off divergent data. He published literally (Continued on page A370)
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