Journal of a scientician (Modigliani, Piero) - Journal of Chemical

Journal of a scientician (Modigliani, Piero). Greta Oppe. J. Chem. Educ. , 1957, 34 (11), p A550. DOI: 10.1021/ed034pA550. Publication Date: November ...
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However, practical considerations have not been neglected. They include advice on choosing the mobile and stationary phases, a discussion of the relittion of chromatography t o a larger schema of analysis, procedural steps, and hints to one "with little or no experience in chromatography." It should be stated that with d l such emphssis on guiding principles, the book is well stocked with specific illustrations, usually given to makes point clear. The author has been selective, rather than exhaustive, in his list of 1081 references, many of which appeared in 1056. Of the total, more than 30 are to publications by Dr. Cassidy and c*workers. Some 18 references are to personal communications from as many sources, further attesting to the degree with which the author is aware of current work. The publishers, editor, and author are all to be congratulated on bringing out aa importmt a. contribution as this. There has long been a need for taking chomatography out of the realm of "art," and eomvorting it into a "scienoe." This book meets a substantial portion of that need. JOHN W. CHITTUM T R E COLLECE OF WDOBTER

W o o s r ~ nO . m0

JOURNAL OF A SCIENTICIAN

Piero Modigliooi, Executive Director of Research, Modiglass Fibers, Inc., Philasophical Lihra1.y. New York, 1957. 136 pp. l0figs. 14.7 X 21.5 em. $3.75.

DR. PIERO MODIGLIANI,8. native of Italy, hut for many years an American citizen, is s pioneer in the glass tiher industry and has devoted most of his life to industrial research. Tho Journal, however is not an sutabiography. Neither is it the story of fiberglass, but a long letter in many short chapters to a "Dear Reader I don't know but hope t o find somewhere," I t is a highly personalized and philosophic rcrord of the human side of scientific and industrial research as well as philosophical reflections upon the resources of science and the science of human happiness. He defines a seientieian as 8. "kind of butterfly, Living out of the flowers of other people's gardens, ignorant among experts and brainy in the common crowd, half way between an artist and a scientist and despised by both!' The entries in his Journal follow the trend of his thoughts without consideration of time: and the seooe and content of his thoughts range fro& econophysirs, technicians, and life in the laboratory to Manhattan projects, rockets, and pipelines in Arkansas; from a promenade in Tuscany and Trader Horn a t Princeton to the science of Gsndhi and Leonardo da Vinci. The Journal is written, according to the author in a "holiday mood," meaning "living in the present, forgetting the past, and not worrying about the future." "Some day," he writes, "philosophy and science will be merged in some sort of (Continued on page A552) JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION

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General Motors of Knowledge. There will be so many physicists that the research centers will advertise for philosophers." The Journal is so spiced with his personal opinions or private philosophy that the reader will absorb many of them for himself.

APPLIFD MATHEMATICS IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING H a m l d S. Mickley, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Thomas K. Sherwood, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Charles E. Reed, Engineering Manager, Chemical Department, General Electric Ca. Second edition. McGraw. Hill Book Co.. New York, 1957. xii + 413 pp. 9 9 figs. 16 X 23.5 cm. $9. THE first edition of "Sherwood and Reed" which appeared in 1939 has been entirely rearranged and rewritten by Prcfessor Mickley. Experience in using the text with students, and the many new mathematical techniques which are being used in chemical engineering, have called for new treatment of old material and the addition of new topics in the second edition.

Now Chapter I on Treatment of Engineering Data and Chapter I1 an Interpretation of Engineering Data deal withmate rial previously in Chapters I , VII, VIII, and I X on graphical representation, differentiation and integration, interpolation, and theory of errors. Chapter I1 now discusses variance and design of experiments. Chapter I11 on the Mathematical Formulation of the Physioal Problem discusses the method of setting up the differential equation for a procesp. This naturally is followed by Chapter IV on the Solution of Ordinary Differential Equations in which the usual methods of solution are given. Because the usual methods are not always applicable, Chapter V discusses Series and Numerical Solutions of Ordinary Differential Equations. Chemical and physical prooesses f r e quently involve more than two variables, so Chapter VI deals with the Formulation of Partial Differential Equations and Chapter VII with the Solution of Partial Differential Equations. Vector notation is introduced in the formulation of partial differential equations and used for flaw equations. A completely new section contains Chapter VIII on the Laplace Transform, Chapter I X on Analysis of Stagewise Processes by the Calculus of Finite Differences, and Chapter X an the Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations. The second edition appears to have a more uniform level of treatment of all subjects than did the first edition. I t has much excellent material and has fulfilled

its "purpose of this hook is to consolidate the advanced methods of mathematics into a form that can be applied readily by both the student and the professional engineer." The man who desires to use advanced mathematics must know and be able to use his basic mathematics. He may need to review some of it before he can apply the advanced methods of mathematics given here. KENNETH A. KOBE THEUNIVEBBLTT OI. TEXAS

an an^. TEXAS

ADVANCES IN CARBOHYDRATE CHEMISTRY. VOLUME 11 Edited by Melville L. Wolfrom and R. Stuart Tipson. Academic Press Inc., 464 pp. 12 New York, 1956. viii tables. 16 X 23.5 om. $11.

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THElatest volume of "Advances in Carbohydrate Chemistry," published in 1956, maintains the same able and comprehensive treatment of subject matter and international scope of authorship that distinguished the preceding volumes of this series. The topics presented are: Periodate Oxidation of Cmhohydrates, which is discussed by J. M. Bohbitt; The Osones, by S. Bayne and J. A. Fewster; Reactions af the Monosaccharides, with beta-Ketonic Esters and Related Substances, by F. Garcia Gonzilez; Kojic Acid, by Andrew Bedik; The Biosyntheeis of the Mono-

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION.