social security benefits since no one else has that particular identifying number. As indicated previously, chemical nomenclature has some resemblances to names for people. In a particular laboratory, where communication is oral or recorded in a notebook. cmnpounds may be known by names which have many of the characteristics of names used within a family circle. On moving to a new location some years ago, one of us encountered a bottle lahelled "Miner's ketone." Handbooks, lists of trade names. etc.. were of no h e l ~in identifvine the comnound. Later,'an oider memher o i the ~ e ~ a r h eanswered kt the question thus: "Sure, that's dipivaloylethane; I was around when Miner made it. The process is described in this thesis." During the days of the Manhattan District, chemical suhstances were dubbed "postum," "cocoa," "crazy water crystals," etc., deliberately. Within a closed circle, everyone understood, and those outside were supposed to be confused. There are names used within a specific field of endeavor either for an oral report or a prelimin& announcement: oxine, acac, big, EDTA, ticle, etc. These words are short and thoroughly understood by those in the field. Outsiders are often confused even though that is not the intent. Now consider a c o u ~ l eof situations which are not a t all uncommon, especially to one who pioneers in new fields or becomes a memher of a multidisciplinary team. Anyone who suddenly becomes interested in a new field runs headlong into a barrier of terms meanineless to him. vet ~erfectlvfamiliar to those who have been in the field f& a t k e . here is the specialist who feels that his work has significance outside his own field w d wishes to communicate t(;~heseother scientists. How much he is handicapped by the iarron of b ~ field s which means nothing to his n& audiencei his predicament was brought home to one of us during a stay in Egypt. A professor was obviously distraught by the preparation of a talk on chemistry to a lay audience. On questioning, the distress was found to occur because the talk was to be in Arabic. a laneuaee without words for the simple operations performed in a chemical lahoratorv. The words used in the laboratorv were all borrowed from &her languages and unintelligible tb a lay audience. If a person wishes for the ultimate record of his work in a primary journal to be broadly understood, it must be recorded in a standard or systemat~clanguage. This often involves longer terms for which many have aningrained dislike. Nevu
496 / Journal of Chemical Education
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ertheless, they insure that the hearerheader can translate them accurately even if he is not familiar with them. T o circumvent the use of long names many chemists use abbreviations or codes. This practice is perfectly acceptable, provided the full name is given where the shorter symbol is introduced. The index compiler has even further restrictions placed on him. If the compilation is of considerable size, the cost of duplicate entries for a single compound may be prohibitively great. Thus, the nomenclature permitted must not only he systematic but so precise as to lead to one and only one name for a particular compound. Of necessity, index nomenclature is rigid. Incidentally, Chemical Abstracts Service registry numbers bear some relation to Social Security numbers. At Chemical Abstracts Service a given chemical structure has a unique number no matter what name or names have been used-in the primary literature to describe it. I t is essential then that the user of nomenclature keeo in mind at all times the level a t which he is communicating,~d use that nomenclature which insures communication to the particular audience he desires to reach. That which serves adequately in his own laboratory or his own field mav not onlv fail to communicate fully, but often appears as hadhahitso; sloppiness to a wider audience. So perhaps the penalty that all must pay is careful choice of language at all times. Particularly, it is essential that we not impair the precision of systematic nomenclature by using i t imprecisely. Good mot& are: "Watch your language" and "consider your audience."
New Edition of the Green Book A new edition (1973) of "Manual of Symbols and Terminology for Physicochemical Quantities and Units" (I) appeared in 1975. I t contains many items of general interest to teachers and practicing chemists: physical quantities, names and symbols; units and their symbols; numerical values of physical quantities and units; symbols for chemical elements, nuclides, and particles; symbols for spectroscopy; conventions concerning signs of electrode potentials, etc.; values of fundamental constants; and an appendix on the definition of activities and related quantities. Contrary to most revisions, this one is three pages shorter than the previous one. Literature Cited (11 '"Manug)of Symbols and Terminology for Phyaimehemid Quantities and unitr," Butterworths. London, 1913.41 pp.
