VOL.8, No. 12
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science. These five steps are stated in the introduction. Problems in the workbook have been designed on a three-level grouping basis. Fundamental problems to be required of all are marked R; optional problems have been marked 0: while the more advanced and complex problems have been marked A. Directions are given for each of the 262 problems included. Prahlems are also designated as class, pupil, or home problems. Lists of individual projeds and original problems, together with a pupil questionnaire and score card are found a t the end of each chapter. Short biographical sketches of some of the leading scientists, emphasizing their chief accomplishments; the metric system; Centigrade and Fahrenheit scales; and lists of equipment necessary to solve the various problems are found in the latter part of the book. The workbwk can he used profitably by all teachers of general science, regardless of whether or not they are using the authors' textbook. It possesses real merit and is an addition to a relatively new important development in science teaching-the science workbwk. C. M. Pnurlr
Objective Tests in General Science. in collaboration with JAMESR. WILSON Enom F. VANBUSKIRKAND EDITHL. Saam. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Mass., 1931. 46 pp. 20.5 X 28cm. $0.24. These tests are based on Van Buskirk and Smith's "The Science of Everyday Life." Types of tests include TrueFalse, Multiple-Choice, Multiple-Recall, Matching, and Completion ones. The items used are taken from hundreds of items which were used and revised by the author in the Phoenix Union High School, Phoenix, Arizona, over a period of years. Test items are principally of the fact and memory type. Several items are either vague = to the correct answer re-
quired or they might be answered in more than one way. Teachers using "The Science of Everyday Life" will find the tests a useful aid in their teaching. C. M. PRTJITT Umvaaslrv OR A w s ~ u * UNIVBPVTY. AU.
Laboratory Manual of Physical Chemistry. ALBERT W. DAYISON,Professor of Chemical Engineering, n m HENRYS. VAN KWOSTER,Professor of Physical Chemistry, both of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Second edition. John Wiley and Sons. Inc., New York City, 1931. xi 237 pp. 36 Figs. 23 X 15 cm. $2.50.
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In general appearance this hook resembles the previous edition which appeared in 1922. However, an important change in the method of presenting the experiments has been introduced. The long list of references to well-known texts and laboratory manuals, with each experiment, has been omitted, except in several cases where references to original articles and special apparatus are retained. In place of this, there is a general discussion of the principles involved in the experiment, a very desirable feature where laboratory work is ahead of the discussion in lecture. The grouping of apparatus and chemicals in a short paragraph simplifies the process of assembling the equipment for the experiment. The directions are clear and complete, calling for but little consultation and help from the instructor in the actual performance of the experiment. Space is provided for the data and observations to he noted, so that if desired, the book may serve also as a laboratory record. Sheets for plotting curves are also provided. The book has been enlarged by the addition of about twelve new experiments, making a total of forty. The experiments are of such a nature that they can readily be perfarmed with the apparatus found in most laboratories, so that the cost of expensive equipment is reduced to a minimum. A list of refer-
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JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
ences to standard texts and laboratory manuals is given,. as well as seventeen tables of data required in calculations. Those who are familiar with the previous edition will welcome the improvements and enlargements in the present edition. This book will appeal to many teachers as containing a greater number of experiments that are workable, than is frequently the case with hooks on this subject. D. C. LICHTENWALNER Dasxar. I~srrrurn PHIL*DBLPS.T*.
PBNN*.
An Introduction to Organic Chemistry. JOHNREAD.M.A. (Cambridge), Ph.D. (Ziirich), BSc. (London); Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Chemical Research Laboratory in the United Colleges of St. Salvator and St. Leonard in the University of St. Andrews; formerly Professor of Organic Chemistry in the University of Sydney. G. Bell & Sons, Ltd., London, 1931. viii 365 pp. 12.75 X 19.5 cm. 6s. 6d. The author begins and ends this book with two apposite quotations from Mrs. Marcet's "Conversations on Chemistry" (1825), which give a hint o f his interest in the history of chemistry, as is shown also in his larger textbook of organic chemistry, of which the present is a "shortened and modified form." "As in the parent work, the treatment of aliphatic chemistry is written about the important groups of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, and a broad s u m y of the subject is completed by a sketch in outline of the chemistry of aromatic, alicyclic, and heterocyclic compounds." I t is partly intended for one-course students interested in such fields as biology, agricultwe, medicine, pharmacy, economics, domestic science, etc. The first 265 pages are devoted t o the aliphatic series, including a short chapter giving a brief summary of aliphatic types. The remainder is a discussion of ring compounds with chapters on heterwclic compounds and a final one on organic dyes and medicinal chemicals.
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DECEM~ER, 1931
Some seventy-eight well chosen and relatively simple experiments are included which can be used either for lecture demonstration or practical laboratory work for students. At the end of each chapter are lists of questions suitable for review and study. The text is written in a very clear and simple style, well adapted to the class of students for which i t is intended, and contains sufficient material for a one semester course without overloading, a fault characteristic of some of the books designed for an introductory course. No brief text can be written that will include all the things that various instructors regard as essential; fortunately, every one can make such additions as seem desirable. It would seem of advantage, however, to include figures showing the stereoisameric relations of the important simple hexoses, s i n e such a representation would throw light on their biochemical hehavior; and for premedical students the brief treatment of the pnrin bases could have been expanded with profit. The author says that the book contains the subject matter of a series of thirty lectures. Within those limits i t is a remarkably clear and well-balanced presentation of the essentials of organic chemistry, and should be very suitahle for a brief introduction to the field.
Popular Science Talks. Vol. 8. I V ~ R GRIFPITH,Editor. Published by the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, under the auspices of the American Journal of Pharmacy, Philadelphia, Penna., 1930. 287 pp. 15.25 X 23 cm. $1.00. As the name indicates. this book mnsists of a series of fourteen talks on science. given by members of the faculty of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science. I n this brief review, only those talks will be discussed which pertain ts chemical subjects.
