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NEW BOOKS
NEW BOOKS Physico-Chemical Constants of Pure Organic Compounds. By JEAN TIMMERMANS. Translation of the original French text into English by GEOFFREY MIDDLETON. 15.5 x 23 om.; 693 pp. New York: Elsevier Publishing Company, 1950. Price: $12.50. viii As stated by Prof. Timmermans, “The present work is among the fruits of a quarter of a century’s activity of the International Bureau of Physico-Chemical Standards, and combines the results obtained in their laboratories with those provided by a systematic harvesting of the whole of the chemical literature up to January 1, 1950.” It is noteworthy that, although perhaps a million organic compounds have now been recognized in the patent and academic literature, the subject index of this book contains approximately fifteen hundred entries. This is due to the fact that only “a few thousands of compounds of particular interest have been the subject of numerous and careful determinations; an enormous number must be rejected because so few measurements are satisfactory, both with regard t o the purity of the sample and the accuracy of the method of physical measurement which has been used.” I n the first sixteen pages a basis is laid for an understanding of the numerical data which follow. The object of the work, criteria of purity, rules employed to assess the accuracy and precision of the published values of constants, arrangement of the text, and notes concerning symbols and units are all adequately discussed. Fourteen tables of data make up the body of the text and include data on (1) hydrocarbons, (8) halogenated derivatives, (3) oxygenated derivatives of the aliphatic series, (4) oxygenatedderivatives of the aromatic series, (6)oxygenated derivatives of polymethylenes, (6) heterocyclic oxygen compounds, (7)sugars, (8) mixed oxyhalogenated derivatives, ( 9 ) nitrogen derivatives of the aliphatic series, ( 1 0 ) nitrogen derivatives of the cyclic series, (If) oxy-nitrogen derivatives, (18) mixed halogenated nitrogen derivatives, (13) sulfur derivatives, (14) derivativeswith other elements. I n addition there is to be found a formula index, a carefully compiled list of about thirteen hundred references, and an errata containing seven items. There is probably no other single volume in the chemical literature which contains such a wealth of data of this kind so critically compiled. Results obtained on Project No. 44 (American Petroleum Institute) dealing with spectra of hydrocarbons have not been reproduced in the present work. Professor Timmermans and his colleagues have done chemists the world over a great service in extracting from a gigantic literature these gems of precision and accuracy. Indeed, his own experimental work and critical viewpoint might well serve as a model for others t o follow. Every library associated with an academic or industrial chemical laboratory should possess a copy of this fine book. R. T. ARNOLD.
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Unit Operafions.By G. G . BROWN, A. S. FOUST,D. L. KATZ,R. SCHNEIDEWIND, R . R. WHITE, W. P. WOOD,J . T. BANCHERO, G . M. BROWN, L. E . BROWNELL, J. J. MARTIN, G. B. WILLIAMS,A N D J. L . YORK.8t x 11 in.; double-column pages; 612 pp. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1950. Price: $7.50. It will be pleasure and an exciting adventure for either the student or the professional engineer t o read and study this fir& edition of Unit Operations. Dr. George G . Brown and his associates a t the University of Michigan have presented a clear comprehensive treatment of the subject, dividing the material into four basic groups: I . Solids, 11. Fluids, 111. Separation by Mass Transfer, the Ideal Stage Concept, IV. Energy and Mass Transfer Rates. The type is easily read, the illustrations and diagrams are cleancut and distinctive, and the charts are large enough t o be accurately useful. I n the preface the authors state that “the object of the book is t o build the student’s knowledge and power progressively and continuously until he has a reasonably clear concept of how to approach the problems of design and operation of processing equipment.
