BOCKS Patterson Up-Dated How d o you go about reviewing a famous book? There is no doubt that Austin Patterson's "French-English Dic tionary for Chemists" is just that. Per haps it is somewhat like introducing a famous speaker. T h e introduction should b e short and to the point. Everybody knows and uses Patter son's dictionaries. ^ But now that the second edition is out, chemists, physi cists, biologists, geologists a n d m a n y others w h o have been using the old edition will want to know if they should buy the new one. The answer is: probably yes. T h e second edition is going to be more use ful in many ways. Most important, it has been substantially augmented both by the addition of n e w terms and b y the introduction of new meanings for terms previously listed. This gives bet ter coverage of the scientific vocabulary. Some common general words have been added also, making it easier than before to read papers without reference to a second, general dictionary. One of the things I have always liked about t h e Patterson dictionaries is that the definitions are in American English, so that you don't have a second trans
i t s * Off the Press:
MODERN PROCESSES Volume 3 by the Editors of Industrial and Engineering
Chemistry in conjunction with the technical staffs of cooperating organizations
This third volume follows the same factual pattern as its predecessors. 23 re cently developed chemical processes, all now in full scale production, are described in the light of all t h e essential details such as their history, design, installation, processing technique, raw materials cost breakdowns, plant investment, personnel, etc. The practicing chemist, chemical en gineer and the advanced student in these fields will find this volume (as well as Vols. 1 and 2 and future volumes to be issued every two years) a reference work of the very latest and most modern pro duction methods in the chemical and process industries. 1954
280 pages
Illustrated
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iation job to do after you have looked up t h e word. All t h e good general dic tionaries are m a d e in England so t h e American has to b e w a r e . T h e French trottoir means sidewalk b u t if you look it u p in t h e "Oxford Concise" or t h e "Shorter Mansion" you find that it is defined b y pavement. This is not an exceptional case. There are certainly hundreds, probably thousands of words where t h e American w o u l d d o better t o rely on Patterson. W e badly need firstrate American dictionaries for French, German, Russian a n d other important foreign languages. A few terms of t h e first edition like ahélite, bactériolysine, tablant, tirante have been omitted. This takes courage; yet it saves space. Many obsolete terms are retained as a n a i d i n reading t h e older literature. Some of the general words could b e defined a little m o r e completely; réaliser o ^ u r s in technical literature in the s
