RECENT ROOKS ORGANIC SYNTRESES. Collective Volume 11. A revised edition of annual volunlcs X - X I X . Edited by 21. H. D L l l , Srcrrtary to the Board. Queens College, Flushing, K . Y. John Wilry & Sons, Inc., New York. 1943 xi T 6% pp. 21 fix,. 12 X 23 r m . $6.50. "Organic Syntheses," Collective Volume 11, contains in revised form the material which appeared in the annual volumes X t o XIX, inclusive. I t is a companion t o Collective Volume I and 'inits general plan follows the pattern of the first. I n the prccess of compilation, errors found in the original printings have been corrected; calculations and references have been checked; and modifications and improvements in procedures, which were noted in appendices in the annual volumes, have been incorporated itl the text. Collective Volume I1 includes 11 new and improved checked procedures for the preparation of 2-carbethoxycyclopentanone, 1,2-dibromocyclohuane, ethyl adipate, ethyl methylmalonate, ethyl a-naphthoate, 4-nitrophthalimide, nitrosomethylurea (two procedures), pimelic acid (two procedures), a n d tripbenylmethylsodinm. The section on methods of preparation has been revised to ind u d e those methods of preparative value found in the literature covered hy Chemical Abstracts through Volnme 35, for 1941. There are also included some references to articles published in 1942. but this coverage is not complete. As in Collective Volume 1,when the indexing name in Chemical Abdrads differsa t all from t h e title of the preparation, it is given as a subtitle. Where a compound can he purchased for five dollars or less per kilogram, the directions for its preparation have again been marked with an asterisk. This latest addition t o an already popular and essential series of books is the equal in every respect to previous productions. I t includes and retains all the characteristic and essential features .of Collective Volume I. The same five convenient indexes are incorporated. Binding, typography, appearance, and freedom from error are outstanding. This is the book chemists have been anxiously awaiting since the appearance of the 19th annual volume back in 1939. It is gratifying t o note that ten annual volumes have been included in Collective Volnme 11.rather than the ninc of Collective Volume I. Thc apprarancc of the rccond collective volumc represents a hig step fuwarrl in the rlimirlation of timeand labor for the practicing chemirt and the rexhrr of chcm~
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.GENERAL CHEMISTRY FOR COLLEGES.Herman T. Briscoe, Professor of Chemistry, Indiana University. Third Edition. 918 pp. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 1943. viii 305 figs. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $4.25. The three objectives set forth in the first and second editions (cf. J . Am. Chem. Soc., 58,860-1 (1936)) are retained in the third edition, vie., (1) to provide a basis for an appreciation and understanding of the hi,torical drrelopn~entof chcmistry, ?) to make available to the ~ t u d c n ihr t va5t fund of information on rhestructureof rnattrrand to h e l ~ him touse this itlforn~ationin the interpretatiou of chemical properties and reactions, and (3) to develop the ability t o reason, in terms of chemical principles, about the world, and about the products of nature and industry. The hook is intended for students who are "studying chemistry for the first time." The order of presentation and scope of material, however, is such that the hook is suitable for students who have had chemistry in the preparatory school. The definite aim of the author, to provide the factual background for principles and theories, explains the rather unusual size of the baok (918 pages). The author presumes that not all of the text is t o be covered by the student and that the instructor
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mav. a d a ~the t course to meet s~ecificneeds. The advisabilitv ,of -~ this ~ l r r t i vplan r is. of course, a dcbntnblequeation. 5ome teachers may feel that il is too much toerprct that theaverage student can cover aclequatrly the hi~turiralaspucts.the work on ,he > t r u e tnre of matter, and a t the same time acquire a reasonable knowledge of the chemistry of the nonmetals and metals. There are 45 chapters, of which 25 deal with the descrip&n of the elements and their compounds and 20 are devoted to chemical theory and principles. "Symbols, formulas, and equations" appear as chapter 11, and "Ionization" is presented in chapter 26. A well-balanced list of review exercises and problems, and references for further reading are included a t the end of each chapter. The diagrams are well designed and illustrate clearly the principles to which they refer, for example, Figure 206, "An electric refrigerator." Many of the photographs illustrate new products or processes, especially those in chapters 35, 36, 37, which are devoted t o carbon compounds. The photographs are very well selected. With regard tostatistics on the annual production of important materials, "the author has attempted to provide data for the years immediately preceding the war because such data reflect the more nearly normal conditions of industry." In the equations showing reactions for the preparation of oxygen, potassium chlorate and potassium chloride are written in the molecular form (p. 82) while sodium hydroxide as a product of the reaction of sodium peroxide with water is expressed as separate ions (p. 83). Although a brief introduction ta ions is given on pages 69-70, the decision as to whether t o write a formula in the molecular or the ionic form is likely to be very troublesome t o the student until he has made a more thorough study of ionizstion (chap. 26). Some teachers might prefer to introduce the subject of ionization a t a much earlier stage in the conrse. The methods of balancing oxidation and reduction equations seem to be rather briefly presented, especially in a text of this scope. I t is apparent that the author has achieved the three objectives stated in the preface of the teat. To teachers of general chemistry who have ample time allotted to their course, and whose objectives in teaching correspond t o those of the author, the baok can be well recommended. A. J. CURRIER ~~~~
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Tne Peanenvmr* STATBCDLLBOB ST*=- COLLB~&, P.NNSYLV*NI*
SEMIMICRO QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS(A Brief Course). Arthur R. Middleton, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, Purdue University, and John W. Willard, Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Virginia Military Institute. Prentice-Hall Inc., New York, 1943. x 254pp. 18tables. 7figs. 15 X 23 cm. $2.75. This baok is a reduction of the authors' two-semester course t o a one-semester course havinz a six-hour laboratom oeriod. The authori profess to keep in mind the ncerls of both the students who intend to major in chemistry or rhcmiral exxineering and those who desire only a prctical knuwlcdge of qualirative anslysis. The buok is divided into two part;: Part I, Theory. and Part 11. The Laboratory Work The fir-t chapter in Part I hegins with various definition3 and then proceeds tokxplain in greatest detail the methods for solving several types of problems, such as those involving concentrations, weight relations, and normal solntions. The second chapter deals exclusively with the use of logarithms. Following this is a comprehensive treatment of chemical valency and atomic structure, including much valuable material on complex ions. Then follow chapters on the periodic table, writing and reading of equations, chemical reactions, ionization. and solution of equilibrium problems, until the midpoint of the hook is nearly reached
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