LIVING CHEMISTRY Maurice R. Ahrens, Professor of Education, University of Florida, Norris F. Bush, Director of Special Education and Pupil Personnel, Denver, and Ray K. Easley, Principal, Westwood School, Denver. Ginn and Company. Boston, 1957. viii 582 xlix pp. 759 figs. 26 X 20 cm. $5.28.
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the form of n second revised edition. The authors arc fully competent, and alT served as teachers of ehemist.ry in t h e Denver public schools. They have since grstlusted to hetter positions. This has taken them out of the classroom which is: regrettable from the point of view of t h e hoys and girls hut is understandable career-wise. "1,wmg . . Chemist$' depart.: ronsirlrrably from the usual format of a tpnt in high-school ch~rniabry. Xhen it tirst made its appearance conretw.tive tenrhrrs state!! that it would nevcr d l . I t was too "diferent." Only conventional trrtn were presumed to he salesworthy. This wan nnalogaus to the introduction of 1.inus Pauling's tenthook "Cenernl Chemist,ry" s t the C O I I C ~freshman ~ level sevw:tl years ago. Both h a m made their imp:wt felt, in chemical education. The authors have hroken away rrom the traditional pattern si~ceessfully. This is not easy to do. One of t,he diffirult. problems which confronts authors of high-school textbooks in chemistyy is the rrhtive amount of physical rhemiatry vsrsrs descriptive rhemistry. The placement of this material, too, is important,, for an understanding of the latter depends upon the hasir principles of the former. The authors of "Living Chemistry" have solvel this problem d l . One may argue that this text does not mert strict college entrance requirements. C~iticspoint to such chapter headings as "The Chemi~try of Tableware," "The Chemistry or Co~metics,"and the "Chemist",~ of Home 1)ecnrztions" to support their contention. 4 n examination uf the content of these :md similar chapters reveals 3. whale of a lot of terhnical knowledge within them. The trcntment of such fundamcntnl topics as matter and energy, solutions 2nd ionization, and t,hc structure of mnttr:r is adequate. The hook is desixned t,o meet the needs of youth. Broad areas of modern living are encompassed in the 23 chapters relating to the chemistry of the individual, chemistry of the home, and chemistty of the community. Integrated in these chapters is found the material usually found under such traditional headings au "Colloids," "Ores and Minerals," "The Alkali Metals," and "Hydrocarbons." The fact that the material is presmted in an interesting ~ v ; t yand meaningful context does not mean that the text represents a (Continued on paye B410) VOLUME 34, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER, 1957
watered down course of study. I n my opinion, Ahrens, Bush, and Easley have taken a forward step in chemical education ROLLAND J. GLADIEUX MZT.\L.R E ~ E A I ~LABORATORIES C ~ . YO~R N,*~*"A F * L L ~NEV
CHEMICAL MARKET RESEARCH IN PRACTICE Edited by Richard E. Choddock, Director of Development, Virginia Cellulose Department, Hercules Powder Co. Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York, 1956. x 196 pp. Figs. and tables. 13.5 X 19.5 cm. $3.
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THISvolume, written by men who daily face the prohlems of market research in the chemical industly, ia a timely treatment of a. husiness function discussed hy many in ~ m m years t hut perhaps underst,ood by only a few. The first nine chanters do a commendable job of explaining what chemical market research is, how i t is organized, what i t accomplishes, what kind of people are engaged in market research, and what w e its limitat,ions. The book should hp espeeiall5- ufieful t o the college instructor who wishes t o inform his students of the nature of market research in the rhemical indostry. The business executive who is considering the establishment of a staff group t o perform chemiral market research will also find the hook revealing and though&provoking. There are a fcn topics treated that could well fwm t h ~subject of lively debate among those of us already engaged in rhemiral market research. One of these revolves around the sropc of activity of thc Market Research Department in dcnling with any partirulnv nrohlem. Some of the chapters imply t h a t the rhemiral m s ~ k e analyat t conccrns himself with p~ohlemsof market dewlopment and proress economic evaluation t o a greater degree than prohahly exists in most large chemical rampanies. The hook leaves the imptxssion t,hat a chemical market refiearch group normally covers more ground than most groups probahly do. The last seven chapters are cnac histories illustrating the nature of some of the market prohlems bhat might he encountered in certain spgments of the rhemiral industry. d. W. EVERSON
n o w CHEMICAL CO~~PINI MLDLIND. MICHIGAA
FUSION METHODS IN CHEMICAL MICROSCOPY
Walter C.McCrone, Jr., Chicago, Illinois. Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York, 1957. vii 307 pp. 118 figs. 2 5 tables. 1 5 X 2 3 cm. $6.75.
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"Fusros methods" include (1) the methods and procedures useful in research and analysis which involve heating s compound or a mixture of compounds (Continued n page A41P) JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
