touching them with a platinum wire anode, the use of anti-bump boiling rods, the looped suction tube filter, the use of EDTA ss s. complexing agent and the unusually exact measurement of amount of indicator used. This book is intended far college and university teaching in the introduction course in analytical chemistry. I t ineludes enough theory and reference material to satisfy most instructors who wish t o emphasize theory. The procedures are extensive and appear thoroughly done. An outstanding quality is the evidence of wide and detailed experience of the authors. The drawings, while good, are conservative in style. There are no problems with which to give the student practice in theory.
feature materially enhances the usefulness of the work as a general laboratory guide. The above would indicate that "Organic Synthesis" would be a valuable addition to the chemists' library and this is unquestionably true. I t hss a wider coverage than "Synthetic Organic Chemistry" by Wagner and Zaok which i t most nearly resembles. On the other hand, the tables of physical constants appear to be more oomplete in the latter. Two features of the present work may be criticized. There is no index in the first volume and, in the opinion of the reviewer, its inclusion would be worth the small extra cost. There is a page of errata a t the beginning of Volume 1 but none for Volume 2. A quite brief search for specific errors showed that there are possibly quite a few of these in rrome WILLIAM MACNEVlN sections, both in the text and structural Onro S ~ n Umvmemr m formulas. To cite a few examples a t Co~rmraas,Orno random: p. 5, iaomsfor atoms(line 15) and theroetical (line 35); p. 29, a trivalent carbon in the structure of the product of the Nef reaction. Also the products shown for the acetic anhydride sodium acetate treatment in the Zemplin Method are incorrect; p. 31, the structure of one of the osaaones has CH instead of CaHr; p. 37, Hitwarth is spelled Howorth (twice). COMPOUNDS On the other hand, a number of pages in other chapters checked had no errors and Vortkes Migrdichion, Senior Research the total may well be average for a book of Chemist, Central Laboratory, American this type. Points of less importance are Cyanamid Co., Stamford, Conn. Reinthe use of rings both with and without hold Publishing Corp., New York, 1957. double bonds for benaenoid compounds Vol. 1: uviii 833 pp. Vo1. 2: xiii and a few rather poor structures, especially 83s-1822 pp. 16 X 23.5 cm. $35 for for the carbohydrates. None of these set. deficiencies seriously affect the very real value of the hooks and they, along with THISwork reoresents an effort. t,o provide n w u q > l e r ~ guldt. 10 the l i ~ c n ~ t u n : the third volume when it appears, will he among those used most frequently by the for the prvpnr.itim of q,rn+llnin z~lurntt.d practicing organic chemist who has them and uns:tlurnted c nlywlil. available. compounds, and aromatic compounds. A third volume dealing with heterocyclic ARTHUR G. ANDERSON, JR. compounds is contemplated. In contrast U~lvensl~ orr W*BHINCTON to the well-known volumes of "Organio SE*TTL.. WABHINCTOS Syntheses," the present books are not primarily a collection of laboratory directions, and experimental details are provided only for selected preparations MOLECULES AND CRYSTALS IN of a general nature or for specific comINORGANIC CHEMISTRY pounds which are illustrative. Thus the major usefulness of the work will he as A. E. van Arkel, University of Leiden, a quite thorough and well organized guide Leiden, Netherlands. Interscience Pubto the literature. 270 pp. 5 4 lishers, Inc., 1956. ix The organization fallows that of many figs. 41 tables. 14 X 22 em. $4.75. textbooks with division into chapters and sections of chapters according to functional T m s is the second edition of the volume groups or types of compounds with closely originally reviewed in THIS JOURNAL, related material kept together as much as Volume 27, p. 169, January, 1950. I t still possible. Chapter 6 provides a representacontains the faults and serious limitations tive example and includes unsubstituted which were presented in that review. The csboxylic acids, hydroxy acids, aldehyde main one of these is its continued insistence acids, keto acids, amino acids, acid on discussing molecules as though they anhydrides, de-boxylation snd d e ~ r a - were camponed of ions when an intraduedation of acids, halogenation of acids, tion of covalent theory t o a greater extent peracids, and aoyl peroxides. A further might make such discussion more profie feature is the treatment of more general able. The book has been slightly expreparative methods such t h a t separate panded but relatively little of it shows chapters deal with the Grignard reaction, any serious rewriting. This reviewer finds the Friedel-Crafts reaction, and the i t unfortunate that the volume contains dime synthesis. many statements which seem to be exAttention has been given to special tremely loose, such as: "The alkali and areas and among these are carbohydrates, alkaline earth metals are present in d l their terpenes, sterols, peptides, earotenoids, compounds as ions, and the halogens in vitamins, organo metallic8 and compounds nearly all their compounds as ions" (on of boron, silicon, arsenic e t a This p. 29); or on p. 51, "(molecules of AI*O.)
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VOLUME 34. NO. 8, AUGUST, 1957
occur in a. trigonal bipyrsmid in which the three 01- ions lie in an equilateral triangle in the plane of the meridian and the two AP+ ions lie a t the apices of the bipyramid"; or the use of the symbol Pro for the element promethium; or on p. 31 the statement "it is therefore quite easy t o see why there is a limit to the number of compounds theoretically possible." On the other hand, the book contains a very great amount of interesting material which could be read with profit by almost any teacher who is giving a course in structural chemistry. This reviewer, however, could not recommend i t for student use since the ionic point of view is so strongly overemphasized, there are so many misleading statements, and so little attempt to compare the relative merits of several theoretical approaches to the important problems which are discussed. b. I.
HARYEI MUDDCOLLEOE
CAMPBELL
C ~ ~ n m oC wA. L I P O ~ N L A
FIBRES, PLASTICS AND RUBBERS: A HANDBOOK OF COMMON POLYMERS
W. I. Roff, Britiah Cotton Industry Research Association, Academic Press, Inc., New York; Butterworths Scientific Pub. lications, London, 1956. mi 400 pp. Many tables. 1 5 X 22 cm. $10.
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SCIENTI~TS and technologists in the plastics, textile, and ruhher industries will welcome heartily this handbook on ehemical, physical, and general information on common high polymers. The unique organization of information and the broad coverage of items makes this volume a ready reference and an indispensable tool to all workers in these fields. The handbook is divided into two main parts: I. Data on Individual Polymers (tables 1 to 38); 11. Data on Specific Properties and Related Information (tables 51 to 84). Tables 1 t o 38 include 63 different polymers; tables 51 to 84 include 54 different topics. Each table of data is arranged its follows: .1 Structure, .2 Chemistry ( 2 1 preparation, .22 properties and 2 3 identification reactions), .3 Physics (.31 general properties, .32 thermal properties, .33 electrical properties, .34 mechanical properties), .4 Serviceability and Utilization, .5 History, .6 Additional notes, .7 Additional references. The tables on specific properties include Slmelure (unit, molecular weight, X-ray data), Chemistry (Preparation, Solvents, Plasticizers and Identification) and Physics (General p r o p erties, Thermal properties, Electrical properties, and Mechanical properties), Servimabilify and Utilizalim, History, and Additional Refwenees. One marvels a t the completeness of the coverage and aeemsry of the detailed data in this brief volume of 400 pages. A review of chief types of polymers, as well as a spot-check of references, shows the thoroughness of the work and the desired accuracy of its presentation. Although one finds the omission of a number of familiar American names, the most outstanding ones are mentioned. The proper use of bold-face type far
