104
JOURNAL O F CHEMICAL EDUCATION MELLOR'S MODERN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
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Tnrs book is designed ss a.text for the first course in chemistry for college students in England. As might be expected, it is at a somewhat higher level and contains more material than most comparable American texts, but interested American freshmen could use it without undue difficulty. As is usual in English textbooks, the literary style and choice of words are excellent. This revision is in reality the tenth edition of a text which has been highly successful and widely used in England and other parts of the world since 1912. In f o m t and appearance it closely resembles the ninth edition (1939), but an examination of the contents shows that considetable change bas been made. In spite of this, the book will seem "old fashioned" to many American readers, for in selection of topics and emphasis upon them it resembles American texts of 20 years ago. The historical approach is used throughout, with the older views often given greater emphasis than the newer; thus, the original Arrhenius theory and the short form of the periodic table are used almost t o the exolusion of more recent theories. While descriptive chemistry is stmsed, a. considerable amount of space is devoted t o classical physical chemistry: e. g., phase rule, catalysis, conductivity, and the order of reactions. Atomic structures sre dis-
"Organic Syntheses" through Volume 28; and (3) "the compound is one whose structure is simple and oontains reactive functional groups which make it useful as an intermediate, or its preparation involves a generally useful type of organic reaction and the directions may be applied to the preparation of related compounds." All of the starting materials meet one of the following criteria: (1)commercial availability at low cost; (2) described in "Organic Syntheses"; or (3) described elsewhere in the book. The oompounds are arranged in alphabetical order and the following information is supplied for each compound: the equation for the reaction. the ~eferenceto the orieinal literature. a ~, c o ~ ~ d r n vrriion ~rd of the original proredure, n r d , in Romp c:l.irb, spccinl pr~mutionato be ohserved in carrying our the p r o ~ e d u r ~ . i n d n , ryl,cuf-reaction irdrx, l'lwre is also a ~tlolrrlrl~r-formula and general index. The procedures were chosen by searching the literature for all the methods available, and then, after a careful and critical examination of these, selecting the one which in the author's opinion has a higb probability of giving the indicated results. As Professor Shirley also states, difficulty is sometimes experienced in attempting to reproduce experimental procedures taken from the original literature. Unlike the procedures in "Organic Syntheses," the ones in this book have not been checked by independent investigators. Also, no references are given to any alternative procedures which may be available. In the reviewer's opinion, these two features seriously limit the usefulnem of the
Mn.t,t,er)in all in fine orint.
tomed to in Wiley publications.
Revised and edited by G. D. Parkes, Fellow of Keble College, Oxford, and University Demonstrator and L e c h e r in Chemistry. Fourth edition. Longmans Green and Co., New York, 1951. nd 967 pp. nlushated. 73 tables. 22.5 X 15 cm. $5.
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~ u m k r o u sexamples can be cited to indicate that this book has not been adequately brought up to date; of the transuranium elements only neptunium and plutonium are mentioned; the discussion of element 87 ends with the Naddaeks in 1925; the possible existence of a second "rare earth" series is not discussed; the silicone resins are omitted; sodium polymetsphosphrtte is described as the hexametaphosphate. The statement (page 289) that "nan-metals for the moat part do not react with water" is quite erroneous, tLa such reaction is obaracteristio of all of the nonmetals except oxygen, nitrogen, and the noble gttses. The statement that lead exhibits trivalency (page 749) is also incorrect; X-ray studies have shown that the oxide Pb20acontains equal numbers of Pb(I1) and Pb(1V) atoms. Baker's work an intensive drying, which most chemists have now rejected, is mentioned repeatedly. On the other hand, the chapters on the metals and on the structure of silicates are excellent, as is the discussion of chemical equilibrium and velocity of reactions. Mellor's approach to inorganic chemistry is so different from that commonly used in America that few teaohem in this cauntry will a~ishto adopt his book as a text. The fact that the point of view is different, however, gives the hook some value as s reference text, for the teacher and the student. UN~VEB 0s~ILLINOIB T~ Unama. I L ~ N O I B
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JOHN C. BAILAR. JR.
PREPARATION OF ORGANIC INTEFIMEDIATES
David Allen Shirley, h d a t e hofessor of Chemistry, Tulane University of Louisiana. John Wiley 8 Sons, Inc., New York, 328 pp. 15 X 24 cm. $6. 1951. x
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T m purpose of the book is to provide the laboratory worker with specific preparative directions for relatively simple compounds which are unavailable commercially, or are expensive enough to justify their preparation by the worker. The author states in the preface that the usefulnear OY the book will depend primarily on the compounds selected for inclusion. The more than 5M) compounds were chosen on the following basis: (1) not available commercially, or, if available, relatively expensive; (2) t,he compound has not been described in
H l R O L D R. NACE
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RADIATION MONITORING IN ATOMIC DEFENSE
Dwight E. Gray, Chief, Navy Research Sedian, Library of Congress, and John H. Martens, Technical Information Service, Atomic Energy Commission. D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., New York, 1951. iv 122 pp. 20 figs. 14 X 21 em. $2.
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THE task of training civil defense workers has been made more complex than it was during World War I1 by the intraduction of "atomic" warfare with its associated hazard of nuclear radiation. Recognizing the need far a text dealing with this new hazard, the authors of this book have presented for the general reader, as well as the civil defense worker, a discussion princirrles of the . . and practices of radiation detection and monitoring. The seven chapters in the first part of the hook are devoted to background information. This includes the following topics: nature of chemical elements and isotopes, nuclear energy, properties and detection of nuclear radiation, fission, nuclem eexplosions, radiation hazards associated with nuclear explosions, and protective measures. In the reviewer's opinion, two of the specific topics covered as background information should have been discussed in greater detail with illustrations. These are the half-life of a radioactive substance and the roentgen as s.unit of radiation dosage. In the eight chapters of the second part of the book instruments and equipment far radiological monitoring are described. Specific instructions are given far the operation, calibration, use, and maintenance of several commercially available survey meters. Ionization-type pocket chambers and dosimeters and film badge dosimeters are also described. As pointed out by the authors, new instruments are being developed and may redace those which are considered in detail in the text. I t is iikely, however, that new instruments will differ in siee and cost rather than principle of operation. There me two appendixes. The first is devoted to a descrip tion of standard sources of radiation for calibration of equip-
