Themaelectricity is truly a "melting pot" science and ha6 borrowed extensively from the techniques and results of more oonventionsl disciplines. The chemist, physicist, and metallurgiet all play roles in thermoelectricity but the individual may not he aware of the contributions and problems in the other fields. There is elways a.need for a. book like this which correhtes scattered information and relates it to the central problem. The book should do much to spur increased research in the thermoelectric properties of materials and is highly recommended as a reference. I t should be read by anyone interested in this new field who is looking for problems to investigate. Rrcnhnn C. CARISTON CllLmman Aircraft Engimering Cwpomtion Bethpage, L. I . , N . Y .
Kinetics and Mechanism
A. A. Fmsi and R. G. Pearson, both of Northwestern University, Evsnston, IUinoir. 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons, 405 pp. Inc., New York, 1961. ix Figs. and tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. 511.
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The revisions in this second edition are largely due to Dr. Pearson and are chiefly in the areas of elementary reactions in the gaseous phase and in the study of very rapid chemical reactions. The extra material adds 62 pages to the first edition. The authors are especidly concerned with the study of the mechanisms of chemical reactions. In each case they go as far as they e m in establishing just what elementary processes are involved and the nature of the corresponding aotivated complex. The hook is carefully written and, while not exhaustive, includes many illustrative examples. I t is well suited to graduate courses in chemical kinetics of intermediate scope. The modern statistical mechanics approach is developed and discussed; the authors provide a. useful point of departure in this important field. HENRYEYRINa University of Utah S d t Lake City
Viruses and the Nature of Life
Wendell of . . ~ -M~. Stanbu. ", TTniversitv California, ~ e i k e l e y , and ~ u a & G. Valens. E. P . Dutton & Co., Inc., New York, 1961. 224 pp. Illustrated. ~~
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This book is an excellent elementary introduction to 8ome.fundamental aspects of biology today. I t is an outgrowth of a series of eight half-hour films which were broadcast on an educational television station in Sen Francisco, in coopers,tion with the University of Cdifornia. The
conversion of these broadcasts into the form of a book is, in my opinion, highly suocessful. Professor Stanley and Mr. Valens were primarily responsible lor the television programs and the organization of the book, but thereare vdulusble chapters by six of Stanley's associates in the Department of Virology of the University of California-R. C. Williams, G. S. Stent, A. B. Pardee, Harry Rubin, C. A. Knight, and H. L. Fraenkel-Conrat. The general presentation is clear and should be understandable and interesting to the educated layman. The emphasis is naturally on viruses, as molecules, as organisms, and as disease producing agents. However, studies on viruses have furnished a large part of the great recent advances in biochemical genetics, and the discussion here is carried on in a broad biological perspective. The numerous excellent photographs me carefully coordinated with the text. Occasionally the reader might wish for specific captions attached to the photographs, rather than having to reed through the adjoining text in order to make the correlation. Some of the chapters will be harder reading than others, for the laymen. For instance, the section on "The Virus as a Molecule" by R. C.Williams, although excellently presented, involves an elementary discussion of ultracentrifuge and x-ray diffraction data. and its im~licationswill by their very nature he most understandable to readers who already have a fundamental background in physics and chemistry. This is largely true also of the discussions by Knight and by FrrtenkelConrat on "The Chemicals of Life" whioh deal with some of the funditmental pmblems involved in unraveling the biochemical mechanism of inheritance, and the nueleic acid code which presumably determines the specificity of protein biosynthesis. In other parts of the hook the reader is introduced to some of the great discoveries in modern biology, suoh as transduction, with highly suggestive remarks concerning their possible significance in disease. The relation of viruses to the omsation of cancer is thoughtfully explored. As is natural, there is a strong emphasis on the achievements of the Virology D a psrtment s t the University of California, which is certainly one of the great centem for such work in the world todsy. Although work in many other places is referred to, the reader unfamiliar with the field may not fully realize from this book how broadly international the whole development of modern virology has been. The authors are experts who are also enthusiasts about their subject, and they have striven to be clear and aeourate as well as interesting. The book should serve as valuable supplementary reading for many students, in conjunction with fundamentd courses in chemistry and biology. It should a1.w appeal strongly to many general readers who are eager to learn something of the great advances that are taking place in the borderland between chemistry and biology today.
JOHN T. ED~ALL Harvard UniverPity Cambridge, Massachwdts
Scianfiflc Russian
James W . Perry, University of Arizona, Tucson. 2nd ed. Interscience Publishers, Inc., New Yorli, 1961. xxvi 565 pp. Tables. 16 X 23.5 em. $9.50.
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Widespread intendieation of interest in the Russian language in the postSputnik era will increase the demand for this new edition of Professor Perry's guide to Russian scientific literature, hut the merits of the presentation would well justify even greater interest.
A particularly helpful feature, given a strategic position early in the book, is a systematic discussion, illustrated with tabulated glossaries, of ways in which Russian terminology adaptpts borrowed technical terms to the language. These terms are often but not always ohvioua equivalents of the transliterated counterparts, and theae aids to their detection are useful. More attention to the considerable Greek and Latin influence in native Slavic words would have been helpful to an earlier generation of Englishspeaking scientists, but so few now study Greek or Latin that this omission will scarcely be missed. The attention given to pronunciation, grammar, and sentence structure is judiciously arranged to suit the declared purpose of aiding students to read, while leaving instruction in speakimg Russian to other more personal) sources; it includes recognition of the aid to understanding often contributed by an approximate idea of the pronunciation of a word. Transliteration, a thorny question when 32 lettera must be compressed into 26,
gives preference to the system employed by Chemical Abstracts but recognizes other systems too. Facility in translation ia given an assist every now and then, often by way of polite but firm prodding toward smooth renderings and away from the common tendency to translate too literally. This calls for frequent references to i d i o h t i c differences between the ways followed by equivalent English and Russian expressions. Fortunately for American students, Professor Perry is an American and anglicisms, though occasionally recognized, are not allowed to cloud the issues. Reading exercises, taken from Russian literature and illumined by notes, are well selected for practice in reading and translation, and become more involved as the lessons progress. Translation exercises also progress toward more difficult selections. Abbreviations receive attention through the text and are discussed in a. short appendix with glossary. The new edition is an improvement over the first one of a decade ago, both as to text and as a bookmaking job. Binding, paper, typography, and accuracy are fully acceptable.
JWLIAN F. SMITH Lenoir-Rhyne College Hickmy, Nwth Carolina
Volume 38, Number 10, Odober 196 1
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