assistance. His personal participation in the work was ended when his eyes failed and he could no longer see the lab& on the hottles. But, he is saying, even when the retired chemist is no longer able to work in the laboratory, there remain other jobs he can do. The author tells of one of his friends who falls down when he a t tempts to go on the street hut is still e d i t ing for Chemical Abstmcts and of another who suffered a stroke in 1949, since which time he has published eighty reviews on the chemotherapy of cancer as well asmany other papers and who covers thirty-two journals for Chemical Abstracts. This reviewer read the entire volume with s. great deal of interest. H e liked particularly the chapter on Research by Undergraduates. This will provide a method of attack and a wealth of ideas to the undergraduate about t o start an Honors Program, a Senior Thesis, Independent Study, or whatever it might be called. But more than this, it provides convincing reasons for the inclusion of student research in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. HARRYF. LEWIS, The Institute qf Paper Chemistry Appleton, Wisconsin
The Story of Alchemy a n d Early Chemistry John Mazson Stillman, Stanford University, Stanford, California. Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1960. xiii + 566 pp. 13.5 X 20.5 em. Paperbound. $2.45. When this book originally appeared under the title "The Story of Early Chemistry," it was given a short review by Edgar 2, 95 (1925). Fshs Smith, THIS JOURNAL, I t never received the attention which i t deserved and, therefore, i t is good to have the book back in print in the form of a paperback edition. Stillman's book, despite a. tediously dull f i t chapter, gives a well-balanced account of the formative period of chemistry, ancient times to Dalton. Most hooks deal with the period as if alchemy was the sole activity out of which chemistry developed. Stillman recognized the p a r d e l stimuli of medicine and technology and gave them proper attention. H e was familiar with the scholarly work in history of chemistry up to 1920 and gave a more reliable account than certain litter historians. Of course, subsequent studies place new light on some of the subjects d~ scribed in the hook. This is particularly true with respect to Arabian alchemy where research published after Stillman's death in 1923 placed a somewhat different interpretation on the works of Jabir than t h s t given in the book. If the reader will keep such instances in mind, this is still s useful history of early chemistry.
Combustion, Flamer, a n d Explorionr of Gases Bernard Lewis and Gkenlher v a Elbe, both of Combustion and Explosives Research, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 2nd ed. Academic Press Inc., New York, 1961. xix 731 pp. 16 X 23.5 em. $22.
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The first edition of this hook in 1951 was the culmination of the authors' long series of research contributions extending into most of the important topics of combustion. The second edition, representing their reappraisal after a 1ap.x of 10 years, is of interest to all specialists in the field. The subject matter is organized as in the first edition according to the major cateplories: Chemistry and kinetics of oxidation reactions (Part I ) ; propagation of combustion waves and detonation waves (Part 11); state of the burned gas (Psrt 111); and problems in technical ccombwtion processes (Part IV). Parts I , 111, itnd IV are essentially unchanged, although there has been some reorganization and some rewriting of introductory passages. Part 11, comprising about half the book, has been largely revised, primarily to accommodate the new concept of flame stretch (that is, the growth of flame surface in divergent propagation). This concept is applied to various problems of flame stability, to the experimental finding of flammability limits, and to ignition by electrastatir sparks. New emphasis also is placed on the stratification of mixture composition arising from different diffusivities of fuel and oxidant. The excess enthalpy concept is de-emphasized. The book remains the most eomprehensive treatment of the basic aspects of combustion. Some useful new informa-
it has not kept pace with &search publications of the past decade. The rewritten sections should improve the effectiveness for the student or for the beginning worker on combustion problems. However this is basically a book for the specialist and is likely to he the first volume on his reference shelf. ks in the first edition, the format is excellent. DAVID BURGESS Buwau of Mines Pitlsburgh, Pennsylvania
Nouveau Tmita d e Chimie Minhrale. Volume 13 (in 2 park.) Paul Pascol, Memhre de L'Institute, Professeur honoraire la Sorbonne. Masson e t Cie. Editeur. Libmires de L'Aesdemie d e ' ~ e d e c i n &Paris, 1960. 2146 pp. Figs. and tables. xxwix 17.5 X 26 cm. Broches 310 NF, Cartonnhs toile 330 NF.
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Volume 13 of Pascal's new treatise has AARONJ. IHDE been divided into two parts and is concerned with oxygen, sulfur, selenium, University qf Wisconsin Madison tellurium, and polonium. The first part
is devoted to oxygen and sulfur, while the second part concludes the material on sulfur and then presents the material on the other three elements. The division into two parts is done for the convenience of binding the 2148 pages into two covers of approximately the same size rather than for -separate presentation of data. A single index appears a t the end of the second part. No significant departure has been made from the general plan of the entire work, itnd the excellent arrangement of bibliographies is retained far convenient reference. The criticism can be made, as i t can for most of the volumes published to date, t h s t many of the bibliographical searches were conducted long hefore the publication date. While one of the best points of the set is the use of modern concepts, i t is felt that the time gap between bibliographical searching and date of publication is often greater than it should be. A long but excellent introduction to the volume is written by Pascal himelf. Oxygen is con side red^ in the next 612 pages, and after presentation of data on the element and its compounds, a discussion of combustion is given. Some 978 pages are devoted t o sulfur and its compounds, 262 on selenium, 128 on tellurium, and 81 on polonium. The index is not as extensive as it might be hut the arrangement of the contents aids to some extent in the location of material. Standards have been maintained a t a generally high level, and t h e volume has the advantage over both Mellor's treatise and Gmelin of the inclusion of more recent data and concepts. The volume's chief value will be that of a reference work, and i t will he s. valuable addition to the works about the elements in this sub-group. ROGER V. KRUMM University of Flwida Gainesville
Probability a n d Experimental Errors in Seianre: An Elementary Survey Lyman G. Pawatt, Cornell University, Ithaea, New York. John Wiley 8: Sons, 255 pp. Inc., New York, 1961. ix Figs. and tables. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $7.25.
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A famous physicist just hefore the turn of the century is reported t o have stated that the future of physics lay in the fifth (or was it the sixth?) decimal place. Unfortunately, Professor Pamatt's book conveys a. parallel sentiment regarding the future of statistics in physics. The hook is almost evenly divided into five chapters dealing with probability, statistical estimates, measurements in functional relstionships, the normal distribution, and the Poisson distribution. About one hundred and fifty problems are included. Although the author attempts t o expand his thinking to "experimental science" generally, i t is plain that he is really writing about physics. And his writing clearlv reflects the eulf that exists hetween applied statistics i n d experimental phyw (Continued on page AS14)
BOOK REVIEWS its. However, with a few exceptions to be noted, this is a good hook for those whose work consists of making repeat measurements and studying their distributions. It is not a good book for anyone who wishes to go further and isolate sources of variation, estimate the importance of extraneous variables, test the significance of the difference between two or several means, or predict a. result based on a.least-squares line. Students m.ho use this text uill be led to expect much less of statistics than they
should. On page 59 it is stated that since the book is for students in experimental science, in which "controlled" conditions obtain, little space will be devoted to the statistical treatments of extraneous factors. "If and mrhen the student needs them, he e m find these treatments in the literature" (itslics supplied). With this st,roke of the m n the author dis~osesof thelast thirty years! At times it is quite evident that the author is writing out of his field. The treatment of correlation contains serious mistakes. The interpretation of the F
table when F is defined to be greater than one is not correot. The discussion of the handling of data suspected of being had is entirely out of date. Chauvenet's rejection criterion, the only one discussed, rejects data a t the 50 per cent level of significance for large sample sizes, and will never reject any measurements, no matter how had they are, for sarnplesizesless than five! The author claims that the chi square test requires mare than about five degrees of freedom to be satisfactory; yet he freely uses the normal approximation to the binomial distribution, and this is algebraically identical to a chi square test with one degree of freedom. There is no need to limit the degrees of freedom of chi square. Throughout the book the author has been careleas about distinguishing between a statistic and a parameter, as on page 124 where both Student's t statistic and the F-ratio statistic are called parameters, and on page 179 where the same symbol is used for both the theoretical and the observed binomial probabilities. But perhaps most serious of all is the way statistical design of experiments is undercut by being described as referring only to how large the experiment must be to give s specified precision. Science, ss is pointed out several times in the book, is "open-ended," i.e., subject to further improvement. So is the applicstion of statiisties of experimental science. Professor Parratt has missed an opportunity to tell this to students. LLOYD5. NELSON General Electric Lamp Division Cleveland. Ohio
Introduction lo Chemical Engineering
L. Bruce Andwsa, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and L e a a d A. Wend, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York, 1961. xii 364 pp. Figs. and tahles. 16 X 23.5 cm.
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$9.50.
This book, designed to serve as an introduction to chemical engineering, enters a field which is crowded. However, though chemical engineering texts are numerous, few are designed aa intrcdurtions, the purpose outlined by the authors of this volume. The choice of text material is rather interesting. A brief description of the functions of a chemical engineer is followed by s. section of useful mathematical methods including a discussion of digital computers. The presentation and correlation of data are items which are not normally given and the authors are to be commended for doing this. Enough physical and chemical principles are given to serve the subsequent sections on material and energy balances. The section on balances is the best part of the book. The last part is devoted to procees industries of the inorganic and organic type. Extensive use is made of problems thus contributing to the quantitative aspect of chemical engineering. (Continued on page AS16)
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Journal o f Chemicol Education
