BEYOND
THE
sugars into ethyl or grain alcohol by the action of naturally occurring agents called enzymes . . . The* process of fermentation is not a direct one, but involves many steps which are capable of modification. Moreover, other fer mentative conversions are possible on non-sugar components in the raw mate rials used in the wine and liquor indus try, and these by-processes produce ma terials which may be desirable or unde sirable from the point of view of taste and health. Finally, non-enzymatic chemical changes take place during fer mentation and in aging which play an important role in the character of the final product. A knowledge of the na ture of these processes and how they may be controlled is the key to the pro duction of consistently palatable wines and liquors of various types. The book deserves widespread use both by the specialist and by the chem ist or chemical engineer who desire gen eral information in the field. It should also prove a very satisfactory reference for the nonchemical layman who wishes to understand more about the terms often freely used in connection with var ious potable beverages. While there are other more elaborate reference works in several of these fields, this is the best single-volume reference known to the reviewer. His nonchemi cal friends who have seen the book have all been especially interested in
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ι ho chapter on liqueurs and cordials, which is recommended to take a great deal of the mystery out of the claims seen in commercial advertising. The book is also recommended for general reading. Onefinds,for example, on. page 144, President Taft quoted on the subject of whiskies, especially with reference to the moot question of "ag ing." One could wish that the enter prising authors had also been able to quote Winston Churchill regarding brandy. On page 187 is found an inter esting bit of philosophy regarding the functions of wine, followed by an abridged tabulation of the principal dusses of wine and a suggestion about the foods they should accompany. This paragraph ends with the following phrase, "in fine cooking, wines play an im portant part which largely forms the basis of the reputation of the French cuisine." The careful discussion of the processes involved in blending cordials and liqueurs will interest both the chem ist and the nonchemist.
Zechmeister on the new techniques of chromatography and spectroscopy. The next two are medical: W. M. Stanley on virus research and René DuBos on Tuberculosis. The following two are in genetics: G. W. Beadle on the genes themselves and H. Sturtevant on the evolution and function of genes. The last chapter is by Charles E. Kellogg, a long overdue review of modern soil science.
Foundations of Nuclear Physics· Dover Publications, Inc., 1780 Broadway, New York 19, Ν. Υ. 288 pages, illus trated. $2.95. T H I S is a handy volume containing "facsimilies of 13 fundamental studies as they were originally reported by the investigators, the leaders in the idea of atomic research, with a bibliography compiled by Robert T. Beyer, assistant professor of physics, Brown University."
New Books
RAYMOND Έ. KIRK
Science
in Progress.
GEORGE A. BAITSELL.
Sixth
Series.
xv -+- 322 pages,
Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn. $5.00. T H I S is the sixth in the series of annual volumes which reproduces the national Sigma Xi lectures. Valuable as the entire series has been, this volume is outstanding because it is so largely de voted to the epochal advances in physics and chemistry that grew from the work on the nuclear bomb. In addition to seven Sigma Xi lectures this volume contains four Silliman lectures presented at the» Centennial of the Sheffield Scioiitifie School of Yale University in October 1947. These lectures and this book are in tended primarily for the public but they are, in fact, on a level of information and reasoning which is distinctly too high for the general public. On the other hand, they are probably the best means available for working scientists to obtain a summary of the accomplish ments in fields of research other than their own. For any specialized research man and certainly for science teachers everywhere they are all but indispen sable. Nowhere can so much authorita tive exposition be found in so cogent and concise a form. The first four lectures are nucleonic: H. D . Smyth on the historical back ground of fission, John A. Wheeler on elementary particle physics, Ernest O. Lawrence on high-energy physics, and Glenn T. Seaborg on the eight new syn thetic elements. The next two are chemical: Linus Pauling on the signifi cance of molecular structure and L. CHEMICAL
GERALD WBNIIT
Constructive Uses of Atomic Energy. A. H. COMPTON. L. W. CHUBB, S. K. ALLISON, M. BLAU, J. CAKLIN. H. KTHERINGTON. A. P. SCHUKIBKR, E. S. KOPECKI, A. KALITINSKY, A. L. JOHN SON, F. W. PARKER, G. C BUTLER, C. P. RHOADS. J. Έ. CHRISTIAN, AND G. GAILLA. S. C. CROTHMANN, editor.
258 pages. Harper & Brothers, New York 16, N. Y. S3.00. The Development of the American Glass Industry.
PEARCE DAVIS.
300 pages.
Harvard University Press, Cambridge 38, Mass. 86.00. Elementary Metallurgy and Metallog raphy. A. M. SHRAGER. χ -f- 297 pages. The Macmillan Co., New York 11, X. Y. S4.75. From Euclid to Eddington. The Tarner Lectures» 1947.
SIR EDMUND
WHIT-
TAKER, ix 4- 212 pages. Cambridge University Press, New York 10, Ν. Ϋ. $4.00. Metals and Alloys. Specifications of Over 4500 Non-ferrous Alloys. 5th edition. 214 pages. The Louis Cassier Co., Ltd., publisher, c/o Iliffe & Sons, Ltd., London, S. E. I., England. 15 S. OD: 5 d. postage. The Principles of Soil Science. A. A. J. D E SICMOND.
S. B. YOLLAND, trans
lator; G. V. JACKS, editor. 376 pages. The Macmillan Co., New York 11, Ν. Υ. $5.50. Quantum Theory of Fields. GREGOR WENTZEL.
CHARLOTTE
HOUTERMANS
AND J. H. JAUCH; translators,
ix -f
224 pages. New York 3, Ν. Υ. $6.00. Statistical Methods in Research. P. O. JOHNSON. 393 pages. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York 11, Ν. Υ. $5.00. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. Report of the director general on the activities of the organization in 1948. 119 pages. Columbia University Press, New York 27, Ν. Υ. A History of Chemistry in Canada. C. J. S. WARRINGTON AND R. V. V.
NICHOLLS. χ -f- 502 pages. Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons (Canada) Ltd., 381383 Church St., Toronto, Ont. $4.50. AND ENGINEERING
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