feels t h a t collections of this type are becoming increasingly important. Everyone interested in inorganic chemistry should havearcess t o these collected works. The first artirle by R. A. Laudiee is entitled Hydrothermal Synthesis of Single Crystals. Experimental methods are outlined together with eonsiderations of the advantages and disadvantages of hydrothermal crystallization. Factors of impwrame in c\,rrying w t h t h crp1allv8lions nud s\.nrlaesir rlre diwor;svd. ~ n r l u J i l w ~ h m eauililria. r eolt~h~.ttir*.the kineties of crystallization, and the results of adding impurities. Finally, a. compilation of crystals whieh have been grown by this technique is given, together with autlines of experimental conditions. . A. W. Searcy discusses High Temperature Inorganic Chemistry. This subject seems particularly pertinent, since t o the non-specialist the field of high temperature chemistry may seem, as the author points out, "to provide only an uninviting jumble of disconnected data"; yet theimportance of the field in modern research and teehnology cean hardly he denied. The author attempts t o systematize and generalize the subject and describes some of the patAn Introduction to the Chemistry of t,erns of behavior t h a t can be found for sysComplex Compounds tems a t high temperatures. I n particular the effects of temperature and entropy Aleksander Ahramovieh Grinberg, Lenchanges on crystsllogrsphic transitions savet Institute of Technology, Leninand on reaction equilibria are discussed. grad, USSR. Translated from the The principles are then applied to a n 2nd ed. by J . Rovtar Leach. Edited by analysis of the relative stabilities of hinD. If. B I L S COhio ~ , State University, ary solids, t o the reactions of gaseous hyColumbus, and R. F. Trimble, Jr., drides with solids, and t o the use of reSouthern Illinois Univenity, Carbonducing agents whose oxidation products dale. Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., are gaseous. The remainder of the reh e . , Reading, Massachusetts, 1962. view discusses homogeneous gas reactions xxi 363 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X and the structure and bonding af these 24cm. $15. molecules a t high temperature. The third article by D. Seyferth is an According t o the editors' preface, this translation of the second edition of Grinexhaustive and critical review of Vinyl Compounds of Metals. The subject is berg's "Vvedenie v Khimiyu Kompleksn,vkh Soedinenii" is designed t o acquaint introduced by a discussion of the addition chemists with Russian work in coordinaand elea.vagge rreaetions of vinyl-metal comtion chemistry and also t o serve as a n pounds. This is followed by a discussion intermediate textbook. It is questionof the chemistry of individual metals. R. STUARTTOBIAS able whet,her i t is really sat,isfartory for Metals considered are: alkali metals, llniriersity of Minnesota lithium, sodium, and potassium; group either purpose. Minneandis IIA, magnesium; group IIB, zinc, cadThe book was published originally in mium, and mercury; group 111, boron, 1945, and the serond Russian edition appeared in 1951; so i t contains no inforaluminum, gallium, and thallium; group mation on Soviet research in inorganic IV, silicon, germanium, tin, and lead; and chemi8tr.y during the last decade. Well group V, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, over half of the referenres are t o work puhand lead. lished prior t o 1940. The emphasis an A. D. Liehr presents a theoretical disProgress in Inorganic Chemistry. earl," theories and the descriptive ehemcussion of The Coupling of Vibrational and Volume 3 istry of coordination compounds toElectronic Motions in Degenerate Electron States of Inorganic Complexes. Part gether with the lack of any modern disEdited by I.'. Albe~tCotton, Massaehucussion of bonding or experimental techI. States of Double Degeneracy. The setts Institute of Technology, Camniques makes this hook virtually a hispresentation is semi-quantitative and bridge. Interscience Publishers ( a divitor,\, of coordination chemistry. The should be readily appreciated by one sion of John Wiley and Sons, Inc.), New serond chapter, entitled Coordin&ion familiar with the fundamentals of quanYork, 1962. 551 pp. I 6 X 23.5 rm. Theory, is primarily a. discussion of 19thtum mechanics. Octahedral and tetra$15. century ideas and ends with Werner's hedral complexes are discussed together The third volume in this excellent series eontrihutions which were first present,ed in with the experimental consequences of consists of five articles. As in previous 1893 Isomerism of six and four roordiJohn-Teller motions which produce disvolumes, the subjects range in scope from nnte complexes is treated in detail with tortions in the ideal configurations of instrictly theoretical presentations t o esnumerous examples from the compounds organic complexes. sentially descriptive summaries, although of rhrominm, cobalt, and platinum. The I n the final article, T. R. P. Gibbs, Jr. even here the application of theory is not edit,ors hsve added footnotes t o corrert discusses the Primary Solid Hydrides. neglected where i t may be applied. All some of the most outdated material, and The properties of binary salt-like and methev have also s u ~ n l i e da useful s u.~ tallic hydrides are considered from a the. ~ l e - subjects are of current interest t o the inorganic chemist and will be helpful in keepmentnry hihliograph? to rerent works in oretical-chemical point of view rather ing him abreast of modern developEnglish. than from purely their chemical and physiments in areas in which he may have only K o discussion of bonding in roordinaa cursory acquaintance. This reviewer tion rompoonds is given until page 174.
isotopes of any kind. I t is of interest t o note the classification of these 12 experiments according t o the nature of the principles which they are intended t o demonstrate or illustrate: r a d i u a c t i v e 4 ; biological-2; and chemical-6. I n the latter group are t,he fallowing experiments: Uranyl Oxalate Actinometer; Liquid-Liquid Extraction Separation; Cop~ecipitation Experiment; Ion Exchange Separation; Iktermination of the Solubility of Silver Iodide; and Experiment on Isotopic Exchange. Only the last three of these experiments involve radioactive tracers. All six of these experiments have merit and could be helpful t o teachers; the actinometer experiment, whieh is not generally described in elementary texts, could be useful t o both high school and college t,earhers.
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There a chapter entitled The Nature of the Force of Complex Formation hegins with a. discussion of the simple electrostatic calculations of coordination number and the energy of complexes which have been used extensively by Soviet inorganic chemists. Electronic configurations of atoms are then considered for the first time, and a brief discussion of hyb"dimtion involving d orbitals is given. Students who hsve not read the artirle in J. CHEM. E I ~ c . 29, , 2 (1952) may he amused by the comments on the censoring of resonance theory by the chemical soriety of the USSR. Experimental evidence for the trans effect is discussed with many examples from the reactions of Pt(I1) complexes. Solution equilibria are treated, and the book is concluded with a survey based on the periodic tahle of the ability of the elements t o form complexes. As an example of the approach, hexavdent sulfur, tungsten, and uranium are all treated tagether in Group VI, so i t is rather difficult t o provide a. coherent discussion of the chemistry of the compounds involved. I t would be difficult t o recommend this hook for use a8 a text a t any level. Although much interesting descriptive ehemistry is presented, this must be separated from all of the obsolete theories, incorrect structures, and improper interpretations of experiments which date from inorganic chemistry prior t o the 1940's. For the student interested in descriptive chemistry, Bailar's "The Chemistry of the Coordination Compounds" would seem t o be a much better buy even a t $18.50 than this book is a t $15. On the other hand, the advanced student interested in transition metal compounds may find i t interesting t o read about the early work in the field and its development in the USSR much as the reviewer did when he originally read the almost identieel German translation, "Einfuhrung in die Chemie der Komplexverhindungen," VEB Verlag Teehnik, Berlin, 1955.
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BOOK REVIEWS ral properties. The artirle is rornprehsnsive and is n small monograph in itself (104 pp.), and should prove an invaluable source nf inforrnatiun t o those active in the ficld.
H.CHARI.ESEYERS I:nit:ersil!, qf Pcnns&nnia F'h
