INDU~TRIAL CFIEMISTRY, Emil R. Rcigel, Ph.D., Professor of Industrial Chemistry, University of Buffalo. Reinhold Publishing COT., New York, 1942. 861 pp. 293 figs., 110 tables. 15.9 X 23.5 cm. $5.50. This fourth edition, like those preceding, is not a textbook of chemical engineering but a readable treatise, suitable for the rhrmist who wants to learn mnething about industrial processes and practice. The empha4- is drsrriptivc rathcr than theoretical and mathemstical. An introrl~~rrory "Table of Chcmical nnd Allied Manufactures" serves immediately to orient the reader in the field in which he is about to venture. The part that this field is playing today is brought out in the first paragraph of the preface: "The titanic war whichhas been forced upon the nation by a treacherous enemy has made the industrial chemist and engineer intent upon only one goal, that of supplying, in the necessary quantities, the goods required for the vigorous prosecution of the war. Mare than ever has i t become evident that the well being, not t o say safety, of the nation is linked to the level of its industrial chemical achievements. At the moment, it is to the chemical engineer, seconded by the chemist and able management, that all eyes anxiously turn in quest for the substitute for Malayan exports; and it is t o him that the task of manufacturing 100 octane aircraft fuel in sufficient quantities is assigned." QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS, William R i c m n III, Pb.D., Associate Professor of Chemistry, Rutgers University, Jacob D. Neuss, Ph.D., Research Chemist, Merck and Co., Inc.; and Barnet Naiman, Ph.D.. Assistant Professor of Chemistry, College of the City of New York. Second Edition. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1942. xi 496 pp. 15.9 X 23.5cm. In this, the second edition, some important changes have been made, both in the laboratory and in the theoretical sections. Among the latter is the adoption of the Brpsted definitions of acids and bases.
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MASSSPECTRA A N D ISOTOPES, F. W. Asto*, SC.D.,F.I.C., F.R.S., Nobel Laureate, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Second Edition. Longmans, Green and Co.. New York. 1942. xii 276 pp. 48 figs., 20 tables. 14 X 22.2 cm. $7.00. Since the first edition of this book appzared in 1933, all the elements have been analyzed and their isotopic constitution determined. The new features in this edition therefore largely concern the results of this analysis and the methods by which it was accomplished. Part 111, The Elements and Their Isotopes, has consequently received the greater part of the author's attention in the revision. The evidence upon which the later tables of isotopes are based is given rather fully. A new chapter has been added in which the development of more accurate types of mass spectrographs and other instruments is described. The author's pretminence in the field makes the book a standard reference monograph.
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CHEMICAL ENGINEERS MANUAL, Donald B. Keyes, Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois; and A. Garrell Deem, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois. John Wiley and Sons. Inc., New York. 1942. vii 221pp. 11.4 X 16.4cm. A pocket handbwk of convenient size, containing the tables, equations, and other material which a student or practicingchemi-
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cal engineer would he likely to use most frequently. A working tool, not a reference library. NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC HIGH POLYMERS.A TEXTBOOK AND REFERENCE BOOKEOR CHEMISTS AND BIOLOGISTS.Kurt H. Meyer, Ph.D.. Professor of Organic Chemistry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. Translated by L. E. R. Picken. Ph.D., Cambridge, England. Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York City, 1942. xviii 690 pp. 182 figs. 15 X 23 cm. $11.00. To scientists working with such naturally occuning organic substances as cellulose, rubber, and proteins, Meyer and Mark's "Der Aufbau der hochpolymeren organischen Naturstoffe" has been a useful and important reference work ever since its publication in 1930. I n 1939 and 1940 the authors published a two-volume revision and extension of this treatise. The book by Mark, entitled "Physical chemistry of high polymeric systems" [reviewed in 1. CHEM.E ~ u c.. 18.200 . f1941)I .. and the hook which is the subjrcr of this review arc translations of thrse two volumes i n spiry of l h close ~ relation~hipbctwcen them, each stands on it-. o w n f w . They complement cach other in covering dificrent phaw-. of the same general subject, yet each is mutually understandable without the other. The scope of this work is indicated by the list of titles of the main divisions: The Study of High Polymers; Inorganic High Polymers: Hkh-Polvmeric Hvdrocarbons and Their Derivati&; ~oiymeric~ t h & E& Sulfides, etc.; Cellulose and I t s Derivatives; Substances Related t o or Associated with Cellulose; Starch and Related Carbohydrates; The Proteins; The Properties of High Polymers in Solution; Films, Foils and Membranes; The Molecular Structure of Animal and Plant Tissues. The author's point of view throughout is that of the physical chemist, emphasizing the molecular structures and their significance in the interpretation of macroscopic properties. He has done a very fine job. This book is certain to prove of great use to chemists and others working with natural or synthetic polymers. I t will also be found interesting and instructive by many others, not actually working with such substances, who neverthMess, wish t o become acquainted with the progress being made in this important and rapidly developing field. Although this is by no means a "popular" book, the style is clear and readily followed by anyone with a fair scientific background. The translator is t o be commended for his part in contributing to this result. The volume might well serve as the basis for an advanced course for college seniors or graduate students in chemistry. I n too many colleges anduniversities this industrially and scientifically important subject is sadly neglected. The reviewer finds little t o criticize adversely. He does wish t o point out, however, that the treatment of solubility and related phenomena (p. 567 JJ.) is based on the assumption that the entropy of mixing is "ideal," whereas-as shown in a later sectionthe actual deviations from ideality are very large indeed. Very recent oroeress in the theorv of the viscositv and thermodvnamic propertics of soh~tionsof polymrrr is not adequately dealt with. hut that is doubtlc~sbecause of the necessary lapse of time be. tnccn the prepxarion of the Cerman manusrript and the yublication of the English translation. The publishers, like the authon and translator, have done their part well. Materials and workmanship are both of high quality. Mnrmrcs L. HuGGrNs
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