New Books and Booklets MANUFACTURE OF G A S .
E d i t e d b y H. Hollings.
VOLUME I ,
W A T E R G A S , b y R. H. Griffith, with a section on Temperature Measurement b y H . C. Exell. 260 -f- X I V pages. -Ernest B e n n , Ltd., London, 1934. Price, 36 s. n e t . T H E more equable climate a n d smaller use of gas for domestic heating favor coal gas manufacture in England, whereas cheap oil a n d high peak loads make the operation of auxiliary water cas equipment not only economical b u t imperative in the m a jority of American cities. Such conditions account for t h e neglect of t h e subject of water gas i n British books on gas m a n u facture, all of which is recognized in t h e decision to publish this volume (the first of a series of three) "because it appeared t h a t there w a s a particularly urgent demand for a textbook upon this b r a n c h of gas technology." T h e general plan of t h e book pursues t h e praiseworthy objective of presenting scientific d a t a obtained b y laboratory methods a n d t h e n showing how s u c h data m a y be linked u p with large-scale practice. Thus Chapter I is mostly compiled from scientific periodical literature dealing with t h e chemistry of t h e water gas process, while Chapter I I discusses t h e practical control of t h e water gas generator. T h e next t w o chapters deal with t h e laboratory and practical aspects of oil cracking, respectively. There are furtner chapters o n methods of testing, plant balances, complete gasification of coal, and special modifications. There appears t o be n o adequate execution of the excellent p l a n conceived for t h e book. I n no sense is it a real textbook. I t p r e supposes on t h e p a r t of t h e reader a fair acquaintance with t h e construction a n d operation of water gas apparatus. N o t u n t i l t h e next t o t h e last of t h e nine chapters on this subject does o n e find a n y description of a water gas plant a n d its operation, a n d this description (curiously placed a t t h e beginning of a chapter entitled "Special Modifications of Water G a s Plant") occupies only twenty-three lines. T h e r e is no discussion of the practical requirements of blue gas manufacture as differentiated from t h e production of carbureted water gas. Substantially nothing is presented i n t h e way of either t h e principles or t h e details of engineering design, a n d t h e t r e a t m e n t of operating technic is cursory and altogether inadequate for a fair understanding of t h e requirements. T o t h e g a s industry this volume will be useful for its presenta tion i n convenient form of m a n y scientific data which have b e e n buried in a mass of periodical literature. The presentation of m u c h of this in clear, legible, convenient graphs is particularly commendable. T h e results of t h e promised effort t o link u p such data with t h e large-scale practice are, however, disappoint ing. Gas technologists will b e inclined t o question t h e utility of six pages of tables showing t h e equivalent in therms of the blue g a s contained i n 1000 cubic feet of carbureted water gas, based on t h e simple formula, X = 0.0325 ( 1 0 0 - 7 6 — d ) . Chapter X on Temperature Measurement is well written a n d useful. Volume I I will deal with G a s Purification a n d Volume I I I with Coal Carbonization. F . W. SPEBR, J R . F L U O R E S C E N C E ANALYSIS I N U L T R A - V I O L E T L I G H T .
J.
A.
Rad-
ley and Julius Grant. Vol. V I I in series of Monographs on Applied Chemistry u n d e r editorship of Ε. H. Tripp. 219 p p . , 5.25 X 8.5 inches. D . V a n Nostrand Co., I n c . , New Y o r k , 1933. Price, $6.00. I F Y O U like a book t o speak with t h e voice of authority, y o u w o n ' t like this one. Almost every paragraph tells t h a t so-andso says this a n d so-and-so-else says t h a t . If you don't mind s u c h obstacles t o easy reading, y o u will obtain a certain a m o u n t of enjoyment from this book. F o r instance, page 56 states t h a t b y m e a n s of ultra-violet light, bee food m a y be controlled and m a n u r e can b e compared against a standard sample. The same p a g e informs y o u t h a t a farmer (or maybe he would be an agricultur ist) can tell whether his fertilizer is uniformly distributed b y merely adding a little anthracene to t h e fertilizer and then in specting t h e soil with ultra-violet light. I t is also interesting t o find on page 94 t h a t milk from cows, sheep, goats, lionesses, a n d h u m a n s all fluoresces yellow. Page 96, in the chapter on foods, tells t h a t cow dung fluoresces a bright raspberry red if it has been previously coated with J a p a n lacquer. Page 105 states t h a t a n u m b e r of fruits have been examined "including different varie ties of grapes, carrot, parsley, onion, a n d also the sap of the milk weed," T h e authors have apparently h a d practical experience i n a variety of applications of ultra-violet fight but they don't s 'get i t across" v e r y well. Their first 2 chapters on t h e theory of light a r e sketchy and are, perhaps, not t o be examined too critically b y a physicist. T h e next 3 chapters on filters, measurement of in tensity, a n d technic of analysis, a r e probably the best in the book.
T h e 19 chapters on t h e applications of ultra-violet light vary in l e n g t h from a little over 1 page t o 30 pages, a n d in quality of presentation from nearly zero to fair; t h e best are on foods, legal applications, medical work, a n d drugs. Unfortunately, the d a t a on fluorescence which t h e authors give are all qualitative in n a t u r e ; the fluorescent light is recorded as being "yellow-green t o blue-white," "rose-red," "sap-green," etc., b u t wave lengths a r e not recorded so t h a t from a scientific s t a n d p o i n t t h e data, a s given, are of little value. W H E E L E R P . DAVEY O U T OF THE T E S T T U B E . Harry N. Holmes. 3 7 3 pages. R a y Long & Richard R . Smith, Inc., N e w York, 1934. Price, $3.00. H E B E is a n author who h a s not hesitated t o suggest t o a n o n chemist audience t h a t the fundamental theories of chemical sci ence are understandable if one b u t looks i n t o them. I t is t r u e t h a t the atomic theory, t h e gas laws, the periodic system, a n d radioactivity are sugar-coated with interesting facts a n d discussed in a sprightly, almost epigrammatic, style, b u t nevertheless t h e y are there. W h a t perhaps is more important is t h a t t h e y are set out clearly a n d without t h e suggestion of apology or condescen sion. V a s t numbers of t h e t r i u m p h s of research and researchers are described, albeit without giving t h e reader a n y r e a l concep tion of t h e painstaking labor a n d heartbreaking failures which preceded each one. ' O u t of t h e Test T u b e " is distinctly a success story of chemistry. Throughout t h e book quotable passages abound, a n d it will n o t be in t h e least surprising t o find coming generations of s t u d e n t s of chemistry t a u g h t by some of them. Dealing primarily in facts and wonders, t h e a u t h o r h a s salted t h e whole with interesting a n d p e r t i n e n t anecdotes a b o u t chemists. T o chemists t h e book will b e entertaining, t o teachers a n d students helpful, a n d to general readers absorbingly interesting. One could wish t h a t t h e arrangement of m a t e r i a l in t h e several chapters h a d been done a little less imaginatively a n d with a m o r e easily discernible plan. O n e could wish, t o o , t h a t t h e members of o u r profession, who a r e t h e heroes of t h e tale, were m a d e a little more h u m a n a n d a little less a n awesome c o m p a n y of twentieth century alchemists weaving magical spells o n some r e m o t e atomic Olympus where reactions always go a s planned. P e r h a p s t h a t is as i t should b e , for i t is assuredly difficult t o m a k e a h e r o of "twelve pounds of ashes a n d eight buckets of w a t e r " — D . H . KXLLEFFER a n d we m u s t have our heroes. CBTEMISCHETTECHNOLOGIE
DER NEUZEIT.
Edited
by
Otto
Damner. " 2 n d éd., revised a n d enlarged b y Franz Peters and H. Grossman. Volume I I , p a r t 1: pages 561-688, price 11.00 marks. Volume I I , p a r t 2 (in 6 sections) : pages 1-888, price 93.00 m a r k s . Volume I V (5 sections): pages 609-1195, price 59.00 m a r k s . Ferdinand Enke, S t u t t g a r t , 1933. W I T H t h e appearance of final sections of Volume I I which is devoted entirely t o metallurgy, t h e new edition of t h i s encyclopedic collection is complete. L a t e sections of Volume I V cover mainly the fermented beverages a n d foods. [Reviews of o t h e r parts of this work appeared in I N D . E N G . C H E M . , 24, 844, 1445 (1932).] Regardless of t h e steady improvement i n chemical technology, m u c h of this material, such as t h e outstanding volumes on m e t a l lurgy a n d t h e organic industries, will r e m a i n of permanent value. If so fundamentally important a n industry as t h a t of petroleum refining, which in t h e United S t a t e s , at least, overshadows all other chemical activities, h a s been r a t h e r meagerly discussed in this work, w e should perhaps b e charitable a n d remember t h a t from t h e German standpoint it is essentially foreign in most of its aspects. B u t such a criticism cannot in general diniinish t h e credit due t h e large g r o u p of scientists a n d engineers w h o have contributed t o t h e success of t h i s task a n d w h o have created a reference work on t h e chemical industries t h a t will n o t soon be duplicated. ι T h e printing, paper, a n d illustrations a r e superlatively good. "~*
H.
L.
OLIN-
GILBERT N . L E W I S TO LECTURE AT CORNELL GILBERT N . L E W I S h a s been appointed George Fisher B a k e r Non-Resident Lecturer in Chemistry a t Cornell University for t h e summer session, July 9 to August 17, 1934. T h e topics of Professor Lewis' lectures a r e as follows: "Isotopes: An a c c o u n t of t h e Discovery of Isotopic F o r m s of an E l e m e n t ; a S t u d y of t h e Differences i n Properties of Isotopic F o r m s a s Determined b y Experiment and Predicted by T h e o r y ; T h e o r y and Practice of Isotopic S e p a r a t i o n / '
