MARCH, 1955
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The reviewer admits the validity of this viewpoint, but questions in the light of personal experience the ability of the average elementary student to absorb the more complex details of this section. However, it is valuable to have the material available for future student reference or for the preparation of special reoorts bv students with mare backzround.
activ%y as well as more work on organio compounds. The manual has been prepared thoughtfully. I t contains short questions on the experiments and their applications. The manual, and likewise the text, is relatively free from typographical errors. Slight changes in format have been made in this last edition, which improve the usefulness of the books. HELEN I. MINER
w*we UNIVERSITY DETROIT. MICHIR*N
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NEW FIBRES FROM PROTEINS
Robert Louis Wormell. Academic Press, Inc., New York, 208 pp. 112 figs. 29 tables. 14.5 X 22 cm. 1954. xr $5.80.
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As STATED in the preface, the objectives of this book are (1) "to record an accumulation of facts, experiments, and observations.. ." in the field of new motein fibers and (2) , , to "out forward 'The Corpusoular Theory.' " It is the opinion of this reviewer that the author was more sueoessful in accomplishing the first objective. The discussions of technological problems encountered in the spinning and treatment of protein fibers will interest those concerned with synthetic-fiber research and production. Protein chemists in d l fields will benefit from the descriotions of exooriments dealing with various types of protein. ' ~eference' are numerous and up to date. The author's literary style is unusual in technical writing, in many passages perhaps too casual but interspersed with elucids, tive imagery. This makes the text a delight t o read, but sometimes weakens the argument leading from result t o conclusion. Workers in all phases of fibers and protein technology will glean valuable background from a. perusal of this stimulating book. GEORGE A. RICHTER, JR. R o m & HAASCOMPANY P X I L I D ~ ~ APENNSIWAN~A I*,
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METHODS FOR EMISSION SPECTROCHEMICAL ANALYSIS
Committee E-2 on Emission Spectroscopy, American Smiety
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far Testing Materials, Philadelphia, 1953. vii 309 pp. Many figs. and tables. 14 X 2 3 cm. Cloth bound, $5.15. Paper
bound, $4.50. THISuseful manual is a compilation of tentative and suggested methods of spectrochemical analysis, published by the American Society for Testing Materials under the sponsorship of its Committee 6 2 on Emission Spectroscopy. It represents the effort of the society to promote the standarbation of laboratory practice and procedures in the spectrochemical analy~isof a rather wide variety of alloys and nonmetaUic substances. Four of the prooedures are designated as "tentative" methods, and arts such have the provisional official approval of the A. S.T. M.
More than 50 are "suggested" methods, which have been prepared in the form of standard A. S. T. M. methods by various contributors. These do not have the official approval of the A. S.T. M., but are offered for their general usefulness pending further action by the E-2 committee. I n addition, three suggested practices contributed by other writers deal with the following topics: instdlation and safe operation of the spectrochemical laboratory, photographic processingin spectrochemical analysis, and photographic photometry in spectrochemical analysis. A committee report on suggested nomenclature in applied spectroscopy is particularly noteworthy. This hook is not, in any sense of the ~ o r d a, textbook. Its format is very strictly standardized, as befits a manual of operation. I t s purpose is to direct, not t o explain, and as such it serves the interests of procedural standardization. Each contribution presupposes a thorough working knowledge of emission spectrochemical analysis, and in uniform declaratory terms sets forth six aspects of the suggested method: (1) Scope (elements determined and range of concentration). (2) Outline of method. (3) Apparatus. (4) Procedure (standard samples, sample preparation, elertrade system, excitation: exposure, photography and photometrvl (5j Precision. (6) Accuracy. Practicing spectmrhemists will welcome this addition to their technical literature. NORMAN H. NACHTRIEB Umur;nscw or C a r c ~ o o Carc*oo. Ifi~nrols
INTRODUCTION TO NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
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Richard Stephenson, Consulting Engineer, Lenoir City, Tennessee. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1954. xii 387 pp. 16 X 23.5 cm. 139 figs. 42 tables. $8.
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THISinstructive and useful book is one of the first publications to place before advanced college students a test in this new branch of engineering. Since the start of the plutonium project in 194142, courses of instruction have been given to engineers a t tho various sites involved in work on nuolear chain reactions. Most notable among the courses pertaining to what is now becoming nuclear engineering has been the training program a t the Oak Ridge national laboratory. I n the period of slightly mare than twelve years during which work on nuclear reactors has been under way, the engineering content of the work has increased markedly. At the same time the body of pertinent information whioh is unclessified or declassifiable without harm to national security has also grown. I t is now gratifying that anintroductory text can be placed before all persons who wish t , follow a systematic introduction t o the field. Such open publicstions me essential in order that this field of engineering grow into its proper place of importance. The authors present this new field of engineering by means of the following discussions: a review of nuclear physics, a discussion of nuclear fission, descriptions of nuclear chain reaotors, a presentation of the simple theory describing nuclear reactors, 8. consideration of the shielding against nuclear radiation, statements on msterials of construction, and an outline of the methods and instruments for control and operation of reactors. Topics related to the main subject are contained in thelast three chapters and include the importance of and the methods for separtrating stable isotopes, the chemical processing of reactor fuels and other materials, and special techniques used in handling or working with reactor materials. The treatment of the subject matter throughout is concise, and quantitative relationships are developed and used t o the extent permitted by the level of the book. These relationships are illustrated by numerous problems and are given physical significance in words. Clarity prevails throughout
