APRIL, 19% 0
225
SCHOOL FACILITIES FOR SCIENCE INSTRUCTION
Edited by John S. Richardson. Compiled by a committee of the National Science Teachers Assodation, Washington, D. C., 1954. viii 266 pp. Illustrated. 22 X 28.5 em. $5.50.
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BECA~SE there was no comprehensive and authoritative publication on science teaching facilities available to science teachers and school administrators, the National Science Teachers Association approved a project in 1948 for the preparetion of such a publication. "School Facilities for Science Instruction" is the fullreport of the project. Concerned as i t is with many aspects of science teaching-laboratories, multipurpose science rooms, rooms for developmental soience courses and specialized courses; audio-visual facilities; facilities for elementary schwls; eauinment and sunnlies. storaee and nrenaration: checklists of
sponsible for planning and teaching science. School administrators will welcome such an authoritative report; and architects, science supervisors, school hoards, and state departments of education, as well as those who sell to our schools and colleges, can profitably utilize the information found in this report, brought together by the committee and a large number of contributors from all parts of our country in the puhlio schools and colleges and universities-school plant specialists, members of school hoards and state departments of education, whose names are all listed in Appendix I. A special reviewing committee studied the manuscript with representatives from the National Council of Chief State School Officers, Association of Secondary School Principals, Department of Elementary School Principals, American Institute of Architects, National School Boards Association, National Council of Schoolhouse Construction, and the U. S. Department of Education. I t w profusely illustrated with diagrams and pictures, showing not only the laboratories and olassrooms, but a wide variety of facilities for learning activities. The amount of material aasembled here to show the basic principles concerning facilities for science instruction is amazing. This project of the National Science Teachers represents a tremendous effort to give to those who build the schoolhouses of the nation the facilities for science teaching that can make the lives of our youth more effective through the contributions of effective science teaching. G R E T A OPPE BAG% HIDMSCXDDL GAGYEBTON. T E X ~
The concise style of writing has made it possible to include a large amount of material in each relatively short chapter. Since the book was written by a British subject, the terminology reflects English uswe. Statwtics concerning production and consumption of minerals in Great Britain are given prominence but no more so than those for the United St.ates. I n fact, very Liberal use has been made of publications originating in the Unitedstates in compiling the factual data. The book was written primarily for producers and consumers of mineral materisls. For this reason, much attention is given to the speoifications which mineral materials must meet in order to be marketable. The book is as up to date as is possible in a work of this kind since official statistics are usually a t least a year late in appearing. Although the hook will he of greatest value t o those directly concerned with the mineral industries, it should be a valuable reference for teachers of chemistry, particularly those dealing with heginning courses in secondary schools, colleges, and universities. I n the opinion of this reviewer, it is as much the function of these courses to show the importance of chemistry as a tool of industry as it is to lay a foundation for later courses in chemistry. While the chemistry of processing minerals and canverting them into finished products may lack the glamor of organic syntheses, i t is nonetheless of tremendous importance industrially and deserves more consideration in the general chemistry course. The teacher who holds this point of view could do no better than to use "Minerals for the Chemical and Allied Industries" as a basic reference. The chemical processes used in preparing minerals for use in industry and in converting them into useful products are very well discussed. They provide ercellent examples of the practical importance of chemistry in modern industry.
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NOTIONS EL~MENTAIRES DE CHIME G E N ~ A L E A LA L U M I ~ EDES ~ O R I E MODERNES S
Poul Pascal, Professor, l8$eole Normale, Paris. Masson et Cie, Paris, 1953. mi 550 pp. 243 figs. Tables. 16.5 X 24 Em. 3600 fr. ($10.30). Paper bound.
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THE"Advertissement" states that in a previous 1800-page treatise the author has written a. theoretical and critical exposition of the principal problems of physical chemistry for professional chemists. The present work contains a choice of themes from the preoeding tome, limited to those topics far which the exposition is compatible with mathematical apparatus consisting 0 MINERALS FOR THE CHEMICAL AND ALLIED only of elementary algebra. The text presumes a considerable INDUSTRIES knowledge of analytioal, inorganic, and organic chemistry. 4cSydney I. Johnstone, Ministry of Economic Warfare, London. cording to the reviewer's informant, i t is used by French students John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1954. 692 pp. 174 tables. who have had a n introductory course in these subjects. In subject matter and scope, the book is somewhat more advanced 14.5 X 22 cm. $11.50. than a n American text. for the undergraduate physical chemistry INRECENT yeam, the quantities and varieties of mineral ma- course, but it demands less mathematical howledge from the terials reqnimd by industry have increased greatly. The de- student and, of course, it offers him a less penetrating grasp of pletion of the richest sources af some minerals, coupled with in- the subject. ternational tensions which hsmoer trade. have created severe I n addition to containing an interesting anecdote about N a p prohlrms of alpply. a ,r rowrqwnrv, thew is nwunritlj in- leon, the preface states tho author's belief that French science rerret i n inrlurtriul mitar:,ls. Numrnms artirks, rrports, anrl texts have lagged behind those in Anglo-Saxon countries in preImokr have nppvarrd within thc last few yrars +sling with on^ senting a modern treatment of their subjects. The author hopes or another aspect of mineralmaterials of oommercialimportance. that his text will help to overcome this deficiency, and that, in Mr. Johnstone's "Minerals for the Chemical and Allied In- particular, i t will show the student that the main task of modern dustries" is a noteworthy addition to the growing literature on chemistry is the explanation of the properties of matter in terms the subject. of atomic and molecular structure. This hook hrings together in a single volume data concerning TI.? ynwnl firldi; rrf lurlmr vlo)rie~i u d ihmistry, a w m i v wnl the sources, world production; methods of processing, and uses n~ulwuluritrurturv, chtmit.:cl kinrticr, equililrrium, liquids, n r d of all the major industrial minerals, exclusive of fuels and certain colloid.; d l rrrciw m:rjw trt.;tt!nt.nt.i. The numl,rr snd \.avivry construction materials. There are 71 chapters, each dealing with of particular topics considered is impressively great. It is pleasa single mineral, or a small group of minerals of similar uses. ing to find a brief mention of shock waves, detonetiona, and flamrs ~
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226
JOURNAL O F CHEMICAL EDUCATION
in the section on chemical kinetics. There are many particular criticisms that can be made about the section on molecular structure; for example, the tables of interatomic distances on pages 124-5 are out of date and incorrect in a way that is seriously misleading. Nevertheless, the reviewer believes that the student can get a good general idea of molecular structure and valence from the text. He does not believe that the sections on chemical kinetics and equilibrium give a proper insight into the really importsnt features of these subjects. Neither statistical mechanics nor the statistical theory of reaction rates is treated. Plesumahly, t,he principal purpose of a review of a French text is to provide the readers with some information in =firs JOCRXAI, about chemical education in France rather than to help them d e cide whether or not to purchase the book. Nevertheless, it may be appropriate for the reviewer to express his opinion that students who wish to practice their French can do just as well by rending the original literature as by reading a book such as
step. The binding is excellent. The book is remarkably free from errors; indeed, this reviewer noticed only one trivial ppointthat in the Table of Contents of Volume 11, page 776 should have beenlisted as 779. Dr. Steaeie is indeed to be comdimented on his accomolishmmt 8.f wsm~l,linrblr tlw g:$'i-pltw+kiwtivist~d l 01 t h r e data. Hr yips norrwmlty r A u t r to 11is eolle.tguri who hilw roll:$l,orated with him. The only unfavorable comment which this reviewer can make is one regarding the price, which is such as to keep this monopraph off most individual's bookshelves and thus limits it laraely to ihstitutional or depository libraries WILLIAM E. VAUGHAN SHELL DEVELOPMENT COMP*NY Enrsncwms. C*'monm*
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The language of number and chemical symbols is universsl and even a reviewpr horn and bred in Chicago e m perform, for a French book. the traditional rite of the reviewing - craft of pointing . out a typogrxphicnl error when in s. one-page section on "Lea Bomhes Btomiques" it is stated that UZa5is separated from 1i4aby diffusion of the gas U h . NORMAN
DAYIDSON
CILIIORNIA INSTITUTEOr T E C H N O L O ~ Y
P A ~ A D E NCALIPORNI* A,
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ATOMIC AND FREE RADICAL REACTIONS
E. W. R. Steacie, President, National Research Council of Canada. Second edition. Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York, 1954. American Chemical Society Monograph No. 125. 485 pp. 64 figs. 128 tables. Volume 11, Volume I, x 414 pp. 14 figs. 25 tables. 15 X 2 3 cm. $28.
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ITIS a privilege ta review this monumental monograph which comprises the second edition of Dr. Steaeie's earlier work, which was A. C. S. MonographNo. 102, of 548pp. I t will he noted from the comparative sizes that the present work constitutes a virtual rewrite of the earlie-r effort. The feature of this work which is the most impressive is that it is B critical, not just comprehensive survey of vapor-phase, atomic, and freeradical reactions covering all of the new work to about June of 1953, and dl work in this field in the principal journals to September of 1953. As it is limited to vapor-phase reactions, moat of the polymer chemists and certain of the other free-radical proponents may not find the treatise of great interest. However, it doer;fill a very real need and does this very well. The contents of Volume I are as follows: ( I ) Introduction, pp. 1-11; (11) Experimental Methods, pp. 13-70; (111) Bond Dissociation Energies, pp. 71-98; (IV) Free Radiods and Thermal Reactions, pp. 99-274; (V) Free Radicals and Photochemical Reactions, pp. 275-485. Volume I1 contains the following sections: (VI) Types of Elementary Reactions, pp. 487-510; (VII) Systems Containing Carbon and Hydrogen Only, pp. 511-92; (VIII) Systems Containing Oxygen, pp. 593633; (IX) Systems Containing Nitrogen, pp. 635-55; (X) Systems Containing Chlorine (and Fluorine), pp. 657-99; (XI) Systems Containing Bromine, pp. 701-32; (XII) Systems Containing Iodine, pp. 733-47; (XIII) Systems Containing Sodium, pp. 749-78; (XIV) Systems Containing Other Metals, pp. 779-83; (XV) Systems Containing Sulfur, pp. 785-8; a Bibliography containing 2086 references (!); a. Reaction Index in nhioh all the elementary reactions are eross-indexed hack to the pages on which they are discussed, pp. 839-64; an Author Index in keeping wit,h the magnitude of the Bibliography; and a. comprehensive Subject Index. . The format is particularly impressive, for each of the individual elementary st,epe in bold type, as a heading for the dis. is given eussion which follow, so that it is quite easy to trace any given
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MONOMOLECULAR LAYERS
Edited by Harry Sobotka. American Association for the 207 Advancement of Science, Washington, D. C., 1954. vii pp. Illustrated. 16 X 23.5 cm. $4.25.
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THIS book of twa-hundred add pages is the outgrowth of a symposium at the Philadelphia. meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in December, 1951. In order to make this volume a cross ~ectionof recent progress in monomoleculer layers, a number of workers in the field, not included in the symposium, have been invited to make oontributions. With one exception the work is confined to the ~ P C 1x1 regarded as rep~onnl. I.rtitrd Stnte* and RP n C O ~ W ~ U must Thv opming chayrer givm ,trr adniirsblr thumbnsil s k r r h of thp Iti(torv of the s w n w of iuri:rw films, iollowd by dricril,rinns of an autbmatic dipping machine to make built-up films,. a recordine elli~nometerfor the stud" of solid-liauid surfaces. and ;i rerordin~ tilm bnl,xnrc. These nutomntlr mncl.mrz mnkr. nmrr vatetrsiw aua more dvrbilrd ~ I w n . i t i o npor~ildt.. ~ . I s might l x rsprcrd, inlc,r#,\.t.~rlc,rlta in tcchn~quwaltlw:gr frcquently throughout the volume. For example, a horizontal film balance capable of reproducible results to 0.01 dyne per centimeter is described, and molecular weight determinations for several proteins are reported by mums of it. Radiotracers were made use of by two groups. Bath cationic and anionic surface-active ions were tagged, and evidence of multilayer surface adsorption, in some cases up to thirty layers, was presented. This is the first time that direct measurement of previously postulated mnltilayers has been made. Carbon-14taggcd monolayers of stearic acid were demonstrated to be unique sources of radiation owing to the negligible thickness. Papers on the mechanical properties of surface films and on chemical reactions t a k i n..~place in films complete the book. It . iti 3 gol>dcontr~hurinnro rhr litrraturr in pi re of rhr Iwlntcd d x r i l i i o . A n w n e morki!~gin tlm firld or wklning to Iww n w iniomwd m it will fiud w v ~ p:~per y worlh reading.
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S. S. KISTLER
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QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS AND CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM
T. R. Hogness, Professor of Chemistry, University of Chicago, and Warren C. lohnson, Professor of Chemistry and Chairman of the Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago. Fourth edition. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1954. xiii 621 pp. 58 figs. 5 4 tables. 14 X 21.5 om. $5.
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P n ~ v r o ueditions s of this very successful text and of two abbreviated presentations of its material h a ~ been e reviewed in TEIS JOURNAL (14, 448 (1937); 15, 448 (1938); 19, 48 (1942)). The authors consider the present fourth edition as a first step in the
