MAY. 1948 Owing to the Gelman drives for slaveworkers it was often risky for men under forty to go about in the streets; only very urgent duties and the necessity to procure food or wood for fuel could indnoe them to leave their houses. In spite of this, howkver, mientifio work was continued here and there. In the Zeeman Laboratory of the University of Amsterdam enough fuel was left for one room to still he heated, so that this building remained one of the few centers where research work was carried on. The news supplied clandestinely by the radio, run on the batteries of the laboratory, constituted a h an attraction to the scientific and technical personnel. Owing to the absence of electricity and gas activities were mostly of a theoretical nature: writing theses, discussing theoretieal problems, designing, calculating and working out previous observations. Though from an objective point of view the value of this work was perhaps not outstanding it helped people to rid themselves for a time of the daily absedion and anxiety about food, warmth and the slow progress of the war and to hold their own as self-respecting seientific workers. P. W. SELWOOD
Aside from a few such matters which impress this writer far more than they would the student, there is nothing to pritieize and much to praise. Wisely, I think, Professor Hildebrand is "not in favor of 'going BrBnsted' in the freshman course." Nevertheless, he devotes an exeellent later chapter to aeid-base systems which it will pay the better student to explore carefully if only to discover for himself that definitions increase in complexity about as the square of the understanding. In a few brief parsgraphs he handles without fanfare the wartime developments in nuclear fission. Graphs, line drawings, tables, and photographs are used only as they serve to clarify the text. The publishers have done a pleasing job even though forced to
words of praise could do. I t need only he added that the new edition enhances in no small measure the very enviable reputat,ion already established by its predecessors. S I D N E Y d. FRENCH
NOPTBWBSTGRN UNIYBBSI~
EVANSION,ILL~NOIS
0
PRINCIPLES OF CHEMISTRY
Joel H. ~ i l d e b A n d ,Professor of Chemistry, The University of California. Fifth Edition. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1947. x 446 pp. 77 figs. 51 tables. 14.5 X 22 cm. $4.25.
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REVIEWINQ the fifth edition of Professor Hildebmnd's distinctive hook is like coming home after a long journey. Even before looking inside one knows the modern warmth, light, and eompaetness he will find. Inside, one is far from disappointed; new furnishings are there, carefully placed to blend with, complement, or replace the old. The warmth, light and compactness are there, too, with the same broad windows looking out over clear vistas. Professor Hildebrand summarizes his teaching philosophy in discussing, on pages 80 and 81, the three ways of presenting the subject: The logical, the ehnologieal, and the psyehologieal. I t is implicit in a further statement of his appearing elsewhere, ". .. the ability (of the student) to do something difficult is developed not by having it expounded but by firsehsnd effort and The role of the learner must he an active one." Here, one cannot miss the opportunity to express a vigorous "Amen2'-and the hope as well that before another generation of eollege teachers has passed we will hrtve implemented this philosophy on a far broader front in allof college education. The psychological approaeh is used as the best means of making the student's role an active one. While one might take issue with the implied assumption that a. psychological approach disbars, a priori, either the logical or the chronological, the fact remains that he has developed and used it with more than noteworthy suocess. As in previous editions the emphmis is on the "structure" of chemistry. This is sound pedagogy, particularly in a day when it has become hopelem to "cover" descri~tivechemistrv as well as "structure'! ih a first course. T ~ book, Q indee2, comes humanly close to "perfection as a goal" even though the author modestly denies the achievement. While the handling of historical material is necessarily restrieted,.it is nevertheless not neglected and is used where it will contribute to better understanding. One might question, however, the interpretation of the Chemical Revolution presented on page 12. Although Priestley is a discoverer of oxygen, it is indeed a new interpretation to say that he discovered it. "by forming mercuric oxide by heating mercury in air then decomposing it in a vacuum a t higher temperatures.. .." Nor did the assumption that phlogiston might have a negative weight play any significant part in Lavoisier's great work. Again, on page 64, it might be helpful to the student to understand a little of why Avogadro's great work was not accepted until revived by Canniezaro in 1858.
COL.*TEUNIYBRBITY HAMILTON. N E WYORK
YALE SCIENCE, THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS, U011801 Louis W. McKeehon, Professor of Physics and Qireotor of the Sloan Physics Laboratory, Yale University. Henry Sehuman, Inc., New York, 1947. x 82 pp. 12.5 X 18.5 om. $2.50.
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IN TEE early days of the oldest universities in this country presidentsand tutors were primarily concerned with preparing young men for the ministry. However, as centers of culture in the communities they served, these clergymen were interested in astronomy, Newtonian mechanics, and the compilation of almanacs. Dr. McKeehao presents the story of the beginnings of interest in science a t Yale College using material gathered from original sources. His book will serve well as a prelude to the study of the development of science in this country. JOHN A. T I M M
ORGANIC SYNTHESES. VOLUME 28 R. L Shriner, Editor-in-Chief. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New 121 pp. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $2.25. York, 1947. vi
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THIS is the 27th annual publication of the series of reeommended methods for the preparation of selected orgsnic eompounds, whieh illustrates useful and practical methods of synthesis. This volume, as previous ones, gives the equations for the reactions, procedures for production with accompanying notes, and other methods of preparation for 39 different orgauio compounds. The directions have been contributed by 52 ditIerent eollaborator8 in addition to members of the Editorial Board. The suggested directions have been further checked or verified by competent referees. Preparations are listed under the names whieh are used commonly for the compounds. For the convenience of those who wish to make ra complete survey of the literature on any preparation, the Chemical Abstracts indexing name for eseh compound is given as a subtitle where that name differs from the title of the preparation. The cumulative subject index comprises all material included in Volumes 20 to 27, inclusive, of this series. Methods for the preparation of the following compounds are included: 6-ahnine, 8-aminopmpionitrile and bis-(Scyrtnoethy1)smine, benzalaeetone dibromide, biallyl, a-bromohenzalaeetone, tert-hutylamine, csrboxymethoxylrtminehemihydrochloride, deeamethylenediamine, diethylaminoacetanitrile, dihydroresorcinol, 3,5-dimethyl4oarbethoxy-2oyclohexen-1-0and 3,5-dimethyl2-eyelahexen-l-one, 1,5-dimethyl-2-pyrrolidone, 2,bdiphenylindone (2,Miphenyl-l-indenone), 2,4dipbenylpyrrole ethyl a-
JOURNAL O F CHEMICAL EDUCATION
amid:, I-mothjl-1-(1-nsphthyl)-2-thiourea,'&ucobiomiE acid, m-nitiodimethylaniline, 3-penten-2-01, r-n-propylbutyrolsctone and 8-(tetrahydrofury1)-propionic acid, pseudothiohydantoin, rhodanine, stesrolic acid, totraiodophthalic anhydride, m-thiocresol, o-toluic acid, p-toluic acid, o-toluidinesulfonic acid, and 1,3.5-triacetylhenzene. This volume measures up in content, organisation and m e chrtnical features to thehigh standard of the earlier members of this series. The work should move to be an eouallv helnful contribution to various processes calling for simpiified"and kproved methods of organic synthesis.
struct,ure, mass and energy equivalence, and a. few other general topics. While the bulk of the book is entirely descriptive there are 15 pages of appendices which go into some of the qusntihtive aspects of the interprotation of nuclear particle tracks. The ent,ire hook including the plates is only 124 pages in length so that it is not to be expected that the treatment of the subject is exhrtustive. The volume as a whole can be recommended to those who have no background in nuclear soienee while the plates comprise a. collection that should he valuable to anyone working in the field. As a reference book to accompany instruction in nuclear physics and chemistry this little volume should be very valuahle. I. PERLMAN umvznsmr or C*,,r~onar* Beslrerer, C * ~ r r o n r r ~
RALPH E. DUNBAR N o s m DAKOTA AORIODLTORAL COI.LB(IE F ~ n o oN . o ~ m D&HOTA
LABORATORY HANDBOOK FOR GENERAL CHEMISTRY
0
Roland M. Whittaker, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Queens College, and Alexander P. Marion, Assistant Professor of Division,+Chemical Chemistry, Co., Queens College. Brooklyn, New Press1941, 363 pp, 23 figs. 20 X 28 em.
SEMIhfICRO EXPERIMENTS IN GENEAAL CHEMISTRY
0
$3.50.
THISis a thick (2.Scm.), paper-covered m m u d spirally bound in two sections with 32 units each followed by perforated sheets on which the student reports answers and data. There me slso six elementary discussions on (a) radioactivity, atomic structure, valence, and periadicit,~(12 pages); (b) solutions and their properties (10 pages); (c) theory of ionization and its applications (9 pages); (d) oxidation-reduction (8 pages); (e) foods (5pages); and (f) consideration of ionic equilibrium (11 pages). The manual presupposes an early knowledgo of chemical arithmetic; for example, in the second unit students m e asked to derive the simplest formulas from percentage-composition data.
Jacob Cornog, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of 217 pp. 40 Iowa. Ginn and Company, Boston. 1947. v i figs. 20 X 28 em. $2.20. ,
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THISloose leaf book provides 41 short experiments and their report sheets, sufficient for one term of two laboratory periods per week. The apparatus is semimicro in size (and cost) and can he used in the second semester far semimicro qualitative analysis. The experiments in the main m e quite simple and many of them give too many hints or even answers. There are more experiments involving numerical answers than one finds normally in a book of this kind; no doubt the use of semimicro equipment permits these experiments to be made quickly and with a fair degree of accuracy. However, themany experiments involving titrations are performed by use of a medicine dropper and a 10-ml. graduated cylinder, while several other experiments neglect vapor pressure data. S. B. ARENSON 1884 Lnnser.
H o ~ n ~ w o o C*,.~FI)RNI* n.
8. B. ARENSON 1884 L~onet.C A ~ OBODLEVARD N
Hamrwaoo. Cu.r.lroar*r*
NUCLEAR PHYSICS C. F. Powell a n d G. P. S.Occhialini, The H. H. Wills Physical
0
Laboratory, University of Bristol. O d d University Press. 1947. viii 124 pp. 16 X 24.5 Em. $6.
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EVERSINCE Becquerel discovered radioactivity by observing the fogging action on photographic plates this method has heen ~ , i k the ~ aloud used in studying nuclear techniques, photographic emulsions give a graphic-record of the events that hefall a high energy particle provided the density of its trajectory is sufficient to produce ionization produced a track. ~ bbook i on ~ yquclear physics in photographs" is built around a collection of photomicrogrs;phs the tracks of charged particles in specid photographic emulsions developed for the purpose. The plates aredisplayed in groups, each of which illustrates a type of observstian that can be made by this method. These include the study of natural alpha-emitters, the scattering of the measurement of neutron energy by proton induced of mesotrons, and others. nuclear reactions, the developments subjects covered by the plates include such as the work with the Berkeley 184-inch synehrocyclotron. are of full 50 plates almost all of ~h~ book page size. The selection and reproduction are exeellent and the ease of study is enhanced by the presence of the interpretation of plate on the same ~h~ text mch group ,f the of plates consists of a brief and simple processes which are to be illustreted. In a similar vein is a group of short sections st the start of the volume giving some background information on the nature of radiation, nuclear
CANYON Boomv~no
TIME AND THERMODYNAMICS
0
A. R. Ubbelohde. Odord .University Press, New York, 1947. vi 110 pp. 14 X 19.5 cm. $2.25.
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B~~~~~~ it is hard to determine the purpose of this book to whom it is addressed, its evaluation is difficult, ~f the book is intended for the reader who has no specialized background, its te'minolog~ is not treated adequately. Knowing the difficulty students who are prepared have ~ 6 t hthermodynamics, one might say that the task of explaining the subject to the general reader is an almost impossible one. Probably the author does it as anyone For the student and teacher, there are well-presented analogies which may prove of value; for examplo, the discussion of entropy and probability in terms of the number of occupied seats in a theater. On the other hand, the same confusion still to be found in a number of textbooks between internal energy and heat, a n d between a s~ontaneouschange and the process by which it is Out, is encountered in this Perhaps more serious is the omission of any discussion of the work of E. A. Milne. In a book that stresses the connection hetween time and the Second Law of Thermodynamics, such an overnight seems inexcusable, fimt, because Mihe has shown that the Second Law as stated in terms of entropy cannot he valid for the whole universe, second, because of Milne's demoustrrttion that our picture of the cosmos depends upon a choice between two time-kee~ing However, the hook is well written, and it is sufficiently novel SO that most students of thermodynamics can read it with interest. W. F. LUDER NO,,.,.,.,
UNIVE~~TY
BDSTON.MIBBACWBETTB
