book reviews the s~thjeetsgenerally considered t o fall within the realm of molten salt chemistry. The topics treated are, in order, molten salt s t n ~ e t n r e solvent , propert,ies, t.hermodynamics, trnnspart properties, opt,ical propertie3 and spect,m, salt vapow, metnl-molten salt solntions, chemical reactions and renetion kinetics, and electrorhemistry. Throughont the hook there is n heavy emphasis on t h e disc~rssion of experimental met,hods. These sect,ions are exceptionally well written and i l h w trated and should prove enlightening to those int,erested in high ttemperaturemodifications of ordinary physico-chemical lechniql~es. Thc major criticism which can be levied against the book is t h a t in many sections t,he interpretation of experimental r e s u h and tho concomitant discussion of molten salt structure and behavior reflect t h e author's own prejudices t o too great a n extent. and do not, always indicate clearly area3 of current controversy or uncertaint,y. For example, there is a t present considernhle controversy over t h e point at which simple electrostatic, polarization, dispersion force, and non-random mixing models cease to accaont reasonably for the properties of molten salt mixt,nres, so t h a t i t hecomes necessary t o invoke "chemiod farces" and post.ulate t h e formation of complex entilies t o explain the observed facts. Very few scientists will deny tho exist,ence of BF4- in N a F - B h mixtures and very few will snpport the existence of LiCldcJ in LiCl -KC1 mixtures, h ~ the t existence of MgC14-1 as a discrete entity in MgCL -CsCl mixtnres is a t the moment a question not completely settled. Bloom prefers t h e complex ion explanation for these borderline cases and as a cansequence, in this reviewer's opinion, does not give fair heaving or sufficient expositiou t o the other models for pnrtielo-part.icle interactions in molten salt mixtures. In a
dynamic parameters and indeed even discusses and tabulates cnthalpies and entropies of activation for electrical conductance in the same manner as these are tlealed in chemical reaction kinetics. Many recent theories of liquid transport., on t,he other hand, indicate t h a t the absolute ~.eactiotrrate theory can acco~tntat best only partially for t,hc temperature dependence of transport propert,ies and that the Arrhenius activation energy is in reality n eon@Jomernte of s, numher of terms. I n conclusion, this reviewer highly mco m m e ~ ~ Bloom's ds book to persons with an interest in molten snll chemistry, but with the proviso t h a t many of Bloom's conchrr i m s on the mic~mseopicm t u r e of these systems he taken with n grain of (non-moltell) salt. Vely oiteu his views are neither the last inor thc only word on tho suhject. C ~ R N E I AT.U~~I O Y K I H N California Slate College Los Angeles
A562 / Journal of Chemical Education
Basic Physical Chemistry for t h e L i f e Sciences
Virginia R. T4'illian~sand H d e n B. W i l liams, hoth of 1,011irinna State TJniversity. W. IT. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, 1967. viii 382 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.5 X 24 em. Sll.50.
for a one-semesler cmtrsc in physienl ahemist1.y d e s i g ~ ~101. d s l ~ ~ d ~ ni ln ' i the life sciences.
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This textbook is designed for x ow-semester conrse in physical chemistry fot.sl.~tdents whose major interests lio in thc life sciences. There are eight chapters: The Gas Laws (25 pages); The Laws of Thermodynamics and a n Intmdnction t o the Free Energy Concept (45 pages); Chemical Equilibrinm in ITeterogenea~ts and Homogenmus Syslems (52 pages); Solntions of Elect~.olytes(63 p e p s ) ; Electrochemical Cells (23 pages); Kinetics (37 pages); Systems of Largo Particle: Marromolecnlnr Solutions and Colloidel 13spersians (62 pages); The hinciples of Nuclear Chemist,ry and Some Biological Applications (21 pages). The material is developed in a conventiond sequcnce and is clearly present,ed. The sections or, the s t n ~ c t u r eof water and the significance of t,he chemical potential are especially well done a t this level. Tables are freqnently used in an imaginative way to compare and contrast various quantities. With the aid of appropriate figures, the operation of much instromentxtion (e.g., t,he Wnrh~rrgconstant volume manometw aud flaw birefringence npparatus) is well explained. The book is strongly directed to (.he physical chemistry of biological systems. Tho Gihhs-Donnan effect is t,horo~rghlycovered and applied t,o living memhmnes. Bolh the examples worked out and bhe prohlems a t the end of Ihe chapters have a strong binlogienl orientation. The basic fundamentals of atomic and malecular strltctwe ((as i o ~ l n din higher level firs-year textbooks) are not included. The strnctwe of coordination compounds is discussed fmm hobh the valence bond and ligand field viewpoints. The quality of paper and type is excellent. I t is assumed that thc student has had previorrs work in organic chemistry and physics. Thc material is presented using calcnlus (including partial derivatives). For the benefit, of those w i t h o ~ ~a tformal course in c s l c ~ l u s ,a n appendix on mnthemntics 130 pages) is included. I n tho judgment. of this reviewer, i t is B. w n ~ t cof space to attempt to remedy the mathematical deficiencies of stndonts in this manner. It w o ~ ~ bc l d bcller t o eliminate t h e malhcmntical appendix nnd conecntt.atc on the f ~ ~ r t h edevelop r me^^! of physical ehemi~tly. There w e many cxeellcnl pnperhark (some prog~.ammcd)for those s t d c n l s wilhm~l nrleqnntc formal mathcmnticnl pmpnralim. The I W ~ snlt~lion is l o mnkc ma1 hemnl i c lhrot1gh cnlculw n p~wcquinilrfrn nuy holm fidc emll.se in pl~ysienlchcmislty. Somc h n e k g m d in I,irxhemi.il~~yw ~ d dhe hclpful (hul not: it~dispe!lsahle)h e h m slndy of this Icslhank. T11et.c arc n. fcw wenktlcsscs. Witholtl. q~~nlificnlion, the slalemcnl is made (p. 6R) that "ionic eompmnds are v c ~ yu,aler-solnhle." On p. 222, { h e lwiis for B secot~d rmler ].ate eotrslnnt. arc incol.rcclly given as see-I. This texlhank is one of the hest svnilnhlo
Organic Substances of Natural Origin. Volume 1, Oxidative Coupling of Phenols Edited by PI". I. 'l'nylor., CIBA P11nl.m~cent,ical Co., Summil, New Jersey, and A. It. Mnllevsb~j, Ti~~iversity of Liverp o l g a d . M n ~ dlkkker, Im, New Yak, 1907. siv 387 pp. Figs. and tahles. 16 X 2:j.Z cm. ?211.>0.
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There has heel, aver Ihe last twelcly years n rapid increase i l l our insight in1.r) the one electron step oxidalion which starts phenols
