BOOK REVIEWS Probability and Statistics for Engineers
Irwin Miller, Arthur D. Little, Inc., and John E. F r e u d , Arizona State 432 pp. University, Tempe. x Figs. and tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $16.
as a text (the authors' objective), but will not serve the experimenter very well either as a self-atudy or reference work. LLOYD S. NELSON Genwal Electric Lamp Dividon Cleveland. Ohio
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The chemist or chemical engineer who is striving to learn something about the methods of statistics will not 6nd this book designed for his needs. The coverage is wide: probability; statistical d i e tributions; operations research; inferences concerning means, variances, and proportions; short-cut methods; curve fitting; analysis of variance; experimental design; quality control; and reliability. The depth is necessarily shallow. The authors follow the classical pattern in introducing their subject. Indeed, it might be said that this book hsa been written several times previously by different authors. The practicing experimenter will wish to know eertt~indetails that the autlnm ~ U V ~P i o lllud the 8 p w 1~ ) s~urler#t is u, read a number of books o ~ st single topic at a time, preferably one related to his experimental work. A fairly large number of exercises (answers to the odd-numbered ones given) are provided and, 8s is the usual practice, many of these introduce additional ideas. Inshort, this book could be used effectively
A548
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Journal o f Chemical Education
Speetroseopic Problems in Organic Chemistry. Volume 1
T. Cairns, University of Glasgow, Scotland. Heyden and Son, Ltd., Landon, 1964. 60 problems. Figures. 21.5 X 28 cm. $3. In the past two years several books have been published to provide prohlems in the field of structure determinations of organic compounds. "Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy," by Nakanishi (THIS JOURNAL, 40, 616 [November, 1963]), gives a d e tailed discussion of infrared structure assignments (85 examples to illustrate the use of infrared data in structure determinations). The other book, "Spectrometric Identification of Organic Com41, A806 [Ocpounds," (THISJOURNAL, tober, 1964]), gives infrared, NMR, UV, and mass spectra for a given compound in order to allow the student to solve the riddle of structure determinations. (There are only 20 problems but the brief discussion of each type of spectra allows its use as a textbook.) The problem manual here reviewed
differs slightly from the two previously mentioned books. Each page gives the NMR, IR, and UV spectra, often with the molecular formula or molecular weight. There are 60 such problems of varying difficulty presented. The correct structures (answers) are not provided but may be obtained free of charge by writing the publishers. These problems should prove useful in giving students further practice in the spectral determinstion of structure. The content of this manual does not duplicate to any great extent that of the previously published texts.
T. R. WILLIAMS College of wooster Wmster, Ohio
Combustion Theory: The Fundamental Theory of Chemically Reacting Flow Systems
F o m A . Wzlliam, University of California, Siln Diega. AddisanWesley Publishing Co., Inc., Reading, 447 pp. Xassachusetts, 1965. xvi Figs. and tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $15.
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This book is designed as a reference or a graduate test. It presents a systematic development of modern combustion theory, including the general RankineHugoniot equations, reactions in nozale flow and in sound waves, laminar flame theory, and reactions in boundary layers. The coverage of types of combustion
