on general chemistry for medical students would hardly he looked upon with favor. Premedical requirements have for many years included organic chemistry. A number of texts in this subject have been written especially for students in this profession. This hook is a good combination of fundamentals of the subject and application to the field for which it was written. At frequent intervals the author introduces brief hut excellent discussions of groups of organic compounds that must appeal t o premedical students, for example, inhalation anesthetics, astringents, hypnotics, etc. This type of application is a distinct asset to the work and conducive t o sustained interest. The text is not full enough for a whole year of organic chemistry, and whether a semester is sufficient time t o devote t o a subject which is-so completely fundamental t o a proper understanding of the chemistry of the human body is still an unsettled question. There is no discussion of the chemistry of dyes and stains. a subject which this reviewer believes should have a place in anv of this ~ ~ - text < ~ - kind. ~ ~ Where the abject is t o curtail the subject matter t o a minimum so as to fit the time allotted for the work, this is an excellent ~~~~~
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MECHANICS,MOLECULAR PAYSICS,HEAT, AND SOUND. Robert Andrms Milliken, Director of the Norman Bridge Laboratory of Physics, California Institute of Technalogy, Duane Roller, Professor of Physics, University of Oklahoma, and Earnest Chorles Watson, Professor of Physics, California Institute of Technology. Ginn and Company, 15 Ashburton Place, 498 pp. 268 figs. 54 plates. 15 X Bwton, 1937. xiv 23 cm. $4.00.
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This text, which is not a revision of Millikan's "Mechanics. Molecular Physics, and Heat," is intended "for the serious student who seeks a thorough training in the sciences or in engineering, and who has already mastered trigonometry, and who has had the equivalent of a good secondary school course in physics". The aim of the authors was a "thorough treatment of fundamental principles, rather than the presentation of a large mass of facts." The reader gains a remarkably clear and exact picture of same of the history, development, and operation of physics as an experimental science. By means of illustrative plates, hiographical references, and quotations from original papers, so inserted as not t o interrupt the analytical discussion, a humanistic hackaround is developed for the basic principles of the fields of the treatment of physics considered. A noteworthy feature subject matter, whereby the details involved in the discussions have been subordinated t o a minimum number of fundamental principles which are continually emphasized. I n the body of the text detailed instructions are given for thirty-two experiments under fifteen general topics. By this close correlation of class work with laboratory work the beginner will appreciate and understand the experimental method of attack in scientific investigations. I n addition, tweuty-two "Optional Laboratory Problems" are outlined. There are included, also, problems and a question summary for each chapter, a comprehensive list of review problems a t the end of the book, an extensive bibliography of physics material, classified as history, biography, original papers, etc., and the usual appendices and instructions for laboratory use. The subject matter is presented so clearly, concisely, and logically that it should be readily understood by "the serious student." The calculus which is occasionally used need not deter students who are unfamiliar with it. Instructors of physics should welcome this text as a help in cultivating an appreciative, comprehensive concept of the aim and scope of physics as an experimental science, by humanistic touches that sacrifice nothing of sound, basic physics t o make
it "interesting" t o the student. "There is very little in the text that will have to be unlearned by the student when he goes on in ohvsics."
AND k m TECHNICAL APTHE AROXATICDIAW-COMPOUNDS PLICATION. K.H . Saunders, M.A., F.I.C. Longmans. Green & Company, New York City, 1936. xii f 224 pp. 14.5 X 22.5 cm. $4.25.
Every organic chemist will agree that the diazo reaction is one of the most fundamental and interwting in the whole realm of chemistry. Such varied results can he obtained from the reaction; i t can be used for producing such a variety of substances of industrial importance that a certain familiarity with its manysidedness is essential t o a chemical education. The author of this hook has made an effort t o bring together the facts regarding this reaction in such a way that the student is brought up to date in the field. At the same time a successful effort has been made t o keep the discussion within bounds. It is a pleasure to state that the object of the book has been fulfilled admirably and that we now have a text of just the right character covering an immensely important and fascinatingly interesting group of compounds. It is interesting to note that while most reactions carried out in the organic laboratory are paralleled by natural phenomena, the action of nitrous acid on primary amines is entirely artificial; natural azo and diazo compounds being unknown. Because of the very great importance of diazo compounds in the organic industry, this text should he familiar to every student of chemical engineering, as well as to those specializing in organic chemistry. The student may overlook a number of errors, most of them typographical, but many of them serious in altering the meaning. Rather than list the corrections that should he made your reviewer would refer the student t o the excellent review by F. M. Rowe, which appeared in the Journal of the S o d y of Dyers and Coburists. Volume 53, No. 2, page 64. February, 1937. ROBBRTE. ROSE
THE CHEMICAL WHO'S WHO, VOLUME11. Edited by William Haynes. The Haynes & George Company, New Haven, Connecticut, 1937. 543 pp. 14.5 X 23 cm. $6.00. I n two important respects this volume differs from its predecessor published in 1928. These changes are indicated in the change in title from "Who's Who in the Chemical and Drug Industries" t o "Chemical Who's Who." The scope of the book has been a t once narrowed and deepened. Many names from the allied, hut increasingly distinct,medicinal and cosmetic industries have been dropped. Within the chemical field proper, however, the rather strictly industrial point of view of the first volume has been widened t o include technical and educational leaders. Thus, specifically, bhile the president of an important perfumery manufacturing concern has been omitted, the chemical chiefs of their technical and mearch staffs have been included. As always in a work of this kind, selection has been guided bath by the position a man holds and by the work be has accomplished. Full professors of chemistry and chemical engineering a t the leading colleges and universities, as well as the executive heads of all important chemical concerns,have been automatically included. Bureau chiefs and chief chemists in federal and state service will also be found in the following pages. I n commercial and professional fields recognition bas been made of outstanding chemical work reeardless of title. I n the industrial erauo department and hrnnch onice managcrc, directors of research, superintendents of large plants, and the chief chemists in chemical convening and prwessing industries have h e m included. I n mosi instances omissions are due rather to failure t o return the questionnaire than to oversight.
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