book reviews Editor: W. F. KIEFFER College of Womter wowter, Ohio
Vectors, Matrices, a n d Group Theory for Scientists a n d Engineers
Charles A . Hollingsurorlh, University of Pittsburgh. hlcGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1967. xii 355 pp. Figs. and tables. I . X 24 cm. 810.50.
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The fields of mathematics covered by this book are of considerable importance for understanding modern t,heroetical chemistry. A large numher of hooks which cover all or some of these topics are available. They can perhaps be divided into three classes according to their intent, and suitability: hooks for self st,ndy, texts f cowses in these areas, and reference books for those who have some knowledge in the area, but who need to look up methods or formulas on ocemion. The present boak falls definit,ely into the first category, R. hook for self stndy by someone who has little background beyond elementary ealcltlus. As suggested by the W e , the book is divided into three chspt,ers. The first, deals with vector algebra, inclllding an introduction to the idea of a tensor. A number of applications in the field of mechanics are diseilssed in t,his section. The second chapter treats matrix algebra, canelnding with another section on tensors. Applications in this part include xn introduction to norms1 coordinate analysis. The third chapter of the book discusses group theory, including general properties of groups, cert,ain point groups, and a brief introduction t,a space gt.onps. Unfortunately, this part has few applications to typical molecnlnr pvohlems such as clmsi-
-Reviewed
fication of vihratmns or electronic wave functions. Bath the strenglhi and limit,ations of this book lie in its specific organization for independent st,udy. I t is not intended to he a rieorous treatise. Mnch of (he
and complete sohitions (not. just answers) are provided in the back of the book. All these factors will prove advantageous for x chemistry student who is more interested in learning what the mathematics will do for him than in complete rigor and generality. If he works through the book, he will find that it is not too difficult and that he emerges with a relatively good background. One other recent book which covers nearly the same topics is "Vectors, Tensors, and Groops" by Bak and Lichtenberg (Benjamin, New York, 1967), which is avail~blein paperback. Hollingsworih's book is considerably longer, the difference lying mostly in the more detailed examples and problem solutions. These would certainly benefit, the sbodent. On the other hand, the featnres which would recommend this book to a student working lhrough it would make it, less useful as a. reference book. Far such use the chemist would be wiser to provide himself with a more complete and rigorous hook such as bhat by Margenan and Murphy. The most disappointing part of this book is the treatment of group theory. Althonah most of the formalism of finite groups is there, a feeling for the usefulness of group theory to the chemist is lackinning.
in this Issue
Charles A . Hollingsumlh, Vectors, Mntriers, nud (:ro,rp Theory for Scientisls and Engine~ln
Emrnell F . Kaelble, editor, Handbook of S-llays, fm I)itTl.n~.lion,Emission, Abs o r p t i o ~nnd ~ , Microscopy Geo~geR. Ham, editor, Kinetirs aud hlechnnisrn of Polymerirntinu Series, Volwne 1. \-inyl Polyme~.ianlion: Part I
P. G. Arhmore, F . S. Dainlon, and T . M. Siryrlen, editors, Photochernist~~y and Reaction Kinetics
Waller Huber, Titrations in Non-Aqueous solvent,^ H. Af. Asscnheirn, Jntt.odr~ctianto Electmn Spin llesonnncc A'orman V. Sleere, oditor, Handbook of Laboratory Safety R. J . X.Voorlweue, Organohalosilanes: Precursors of Silicones C . A . Rurland, The A1.t~of the Alchemists Jerome S. Mqer, Great. Accidents in Science that Changed the Wwld
Walter Rotseh, Keine Augst vor Chemischen k,rmeln: Grundbegriffe der Chemie
A st~ldentwould probably do bet,ter to invest in Cot,ton's boak on group theory and work through that in preference to the third chapter af Hallingsworth's boak.
S. J. STRICKLER Universily of Colorado Roulder
Handbook of X-Rays, For Diffraction, Emission, Absorption, a n d Microscopy Edited by Emtell F. Raelble, hlonsantinta Cu., St. Louis, Missouri. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1967. 1120 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.5 X 23.5 cm. 833. I t is axiomatic lhat a. single volume of eleven hundred pages cannot cover all known aspects of X-ray diffraction, emission, absorption, microscopy, and microradiography. When the book is also the prod\let of approximately fifly authors, the problems are m~dtiplied geometrically. T o be of value, the aot,hors must furnish lucid discussions of basic theoreticdprincip l a and experimental techniqnes with ample references to specialized treatments, while the editor must eliminate needless repetition and provide a uniform format. I t is withsuch trepidation that thereviewer approached the "Handbook of X-Rays." Happily, the "Handbook" satisfies most of these requirements. T o be sure, there are a. number of minor misprints, occasional repetition or improper arrangement of subjects, and s. few neglected topics. But, the trest,menls of most subjects me well suited for the beginner and s. few superb chapters would be helpful even for the experienced invmtigat,or. The arrangement of material by topics rather than by alphabetical subject headings makes this book potentially more usefill than the "Eneyclopedia of X-Rays and Gamma Rays," which is t.he only ot,her comparable text. The "Handbook" is divided into six parts: Fundamentals (six chapters), Diffraction of X-l?ays by Polycrystnlline and Amorphous Meterisls (seventeen chapters), Determination of Crysld Stroct,me (six chapters), X-Ray Emission Spcctroscopy (eleven chapters), X-Ray Absorption hlethods (fonr chapters), and Microritdiography and X-llsy Microscopy (fanr chapters). As many a9. 120 specific and general references are found a t the end of each chapter. Unfortunately, only 26 of the appraximxtely. 1,700 references are dated later than 1964, with 19 of these a p p e ~ r i n gin inst two chanters. For t,his reason, tho :overage of crrtain rapidly changing areas, e.g., instrnmentation and compnler dnlnprocessing techniqoe.;, is not up-to-date. A nnmher of the references are to books lhsi are eithev olttdated or presently available in more recent editions. Ono notable example is the reference on page 63-17 to 0. E. Bacon, Neutron I)iffraclion, 1935. Act,tnlly, the first edit,ion of 1)r. Bacon's book nnne:tred in 1955 and bv 1962 (he
And4 Mirhel, Ph6norn6nos Alagn6liq11ese t Stt.ttct.me Roj, A . Keller, editor, Separation Technique in Chemistry and Biochemistry
and not readily availehle elsewhere are: the discwsion of X-ray counter detectors (chapter 3), the description of the propor Volume 45, Number 6, June 1968
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method for aligning a. powder diffractomI), t,he comprehensive eter (chapter $and treatment of accurate determination of r l:ct~i.?p:tr.trwters h p t ~ 11, .\ fcn d 11,s. 1111m. < h i o w~.rilivi-mr idI. I TIN.r l ~ t n t v ' r r i ~ X-ray t i ~ ~ wnvrlengths for the commonly used* targets shanld have been given to more than three decimal places (cf., pages 1-14, 8-4, and 7-5 where the reported values do not always agree). (2) The "typical" powder pat,terns illustrated in chapter 9 are hardly typical of organic materials and may confuse the uninitiitted. (3) I n the preface the editor st,ates that "primary emphasis throughout the hook has been placed on practical working information." It. is extremely difficult to furnish s practical and concise guide far the location of atomic positions from X-ray dabs. h s a result, and through no fault of the authors, chapter 29 is too technical and condensed for the novice, even though i t is nearly twice as long as any other chapter in the book. (4) Chapter 25 is titled Diffractometric Techniques for Single Crystal Analysis. One would expect the author to discuss, among other items, the various scanning techniques presently used for collecting data. Unfortunately, this very important topic is omitted. Although this chapter could have been a. valuable contribution to the "Hmdbook." it is little more than s. collection of ~.of'erencesto the "scetterod" literatnre. Furthermore, the author of this chapter states that methods for aligning the small (ca. 0.05 mm) single crystals used in crystal-strnctwe determination can he found in Dr. Elizabeth Wood's "Crystal Orientation Manual." A discussion of these techniqnes is found in chap1.e~24 of the "Handhook for X-Rays!' I h . Woad's hook is devoted exclusively to the nse of L m e techniques far aligning large crystals. ( 5 ) I could find no discussion of back-reflection Laue techniqoes. This method is very widely used for aligning large, highly symmetric single crystals (e.g., silicon or quartz bodes) and a detailed description should have been included. In concl~~sion,the "Handbook of XRays" offers a satisfactory survey of the applications of X-rays to modern science and technology. REUBENRUDMN Adelphi Universitv Gayden Citf,, N m York 11530
Kinetics and Mechanism of Polymerir~tionSeries. Volume 1. Vinyl Polymerization: Part I
Edited hy George B. Ham, Geigy Chemical Corporation, Ardsley, New York. Marcel Dekker, Inc., Now York, 1967. xi 546 pp. Figs, and tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $26.75.
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The production of polymers from vinyl monomers hay been an area of rapidly expanding technical and scientific interest for the past three demdes. The rate of expansion is still high. This expansion is reflected in the large number of hooks about polymerization
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which continue to issue. "Vinyl Polymerization," edited by George Ham is a worthwhile addition to the list. Although some of the chapters artre better than others, the general level is very good. We have been given current, intelligent reviews-in-depth of the topics covered in this first volume of the series. These topics include: Cyclopolymorie?tion of Nonconjugated Diolefins, Styrene, Vinyl Acetate, Vinyl Chloride, Vinylidene Chloride, Acrolein, and Occlmion Phenomena in Polymerization (Acrylonitrile and other Illonomers). I n addibion to these, there is a well conntrncted introductory chapter bv the editor. on free radical nolvmeriza. titm a u d t i clllptcr 1111 l l e 3 b of I'
