book reviews
could easily tailor the course as he sees fit. I t would also he useful as a review source. The price seems rather high. Robert M. Mam
Department of Chemistry and Insthte of Thewetical Science Univenity of Oregon E"pm,97403
Statistical Mechanics and Properties of Matter, Theory and Appllcatlons
E. S. R. Gopol, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Halsted Press (John Wiley and Sons), New York, 1974. avi 302 pp. Figs. and tahles. 16 X 24 cm. $27.50.
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This book is a teat, a t the level of a first year graduate student with a good physical chemistry course behind him, and a good mathematics hackground. The topics treated include both fundamental concepts and a wide variety of applications, varying from solid state physics to hiopolymers; there is something for everyone here. A welcome inclusion is a set of four chapters on nonequilibium problems, covering selected topics ranging from elementary free-path kinetic theory t o the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Such topics are not usually discussed in books a t this level, and I hope that this volume will help to introduce some of the ideas in this field t o non-spe&lists. Another welcome feature is a collection of 92 problems, with solutions (not just answers) given a t the end of the book. The writing style of the author is lucid, and pleasant to read. There are clear and helpful diagrams, and, as a bonus, several pages of photographs of great contributors to statistical mechanics, from Boltzmann to Onsager. The main drawback to the volume, in my opinion, is that the author has tried to cover too much in the space which he has allotted himself, This leads t o a rather brief treatment of many topics, partly eompensated for by the clarity of the text. The author indicates for many of the topics, advanced applications of the theory, or the direction of current research in a phrase or two; this is all t o the good. But, too often, he neglects to give references to where the reader can follow up these remarks. Were I a student coming to the subject for the first time, I think I would find this rather frustrating. It may he useful to compare this hook with the recent edition of "Eouilihrium S t n t ~ r t ~ c hlrrhnnws" al by F. C. Andrew*, a h w k c,t'roughly the rnmc level. Andrews is somewhat less demanding on background, slightly shorter, and does not contain anything about non-equilibrium phenomena. Gopal gives less space t o ensemble theory than Andrews, and more to applications. Andrews is slanted more towards chemists, Gopal, to a wider audience. A student wishing to study statistical mechanics by himself would he well advised to choose a thicker hook, such as Davidson, Hill, or MeQuarrie, as his source. The volume under review could well be used, though, as a text in a lecture course of one semester or quarter, if the teacher is willing t o devote some of his lectures to expansion of the material. The applications are diverse enough so that the teacher A564 I Journal of Chemical Education
Science and Civlllzatlon In China. Vol. 5 Chemistry and Technology. Part 2. Spagyrlcai Discovery and invenilon: Maglsterles of Gold and lmmortalny Joseph Needhorn, Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and Lu Gwei-Djen, Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1974. xxvii + 510 pp. Figs. and tables. 19 X 25.5 cm. $35. This hook is the first of six parts planned for Volume 5 of Needham's monumental treatise on the history of science and technology in premodern Chins. The text (300 pages) is divided into (1) sources, (2) concepts, terminology, and definitions, (3) metallurgical-chemical background, (4) physiological background. However, the contents are not limited to China, because the underlying theme of this work is t o present Chinese science and technology against a world background. Consequently, there are extensive and incisive eomparisons of an intercultural nature involving European, Arab, Indian, and other civilizations. The main primary sources are the hundreds of alchemical hooks in the Taoist canonical Literature, supplemented by chemical archaeology and inherited technical skills. As for secondary sources, Needham castigates some eminent historians of chemistry for ignoring the East, hut pays tribute t o those of the last 20 years who have recognized Chinese contributions. Alchemy is defined as a combination of the transmutation of base metal to gold with the belief that elixirs can confer bodily health and perpetual incorruptihility. On this definition, the roots of Chinese alehemy began in the 4th or 3rd century B.C. and their unification is discernible in the 1st A.D. Moreover, Needham contends that alchemy thus formulated could have arisen only in China because of the unique belief in a physical, material immortality in the natural world, which is obviously different from Indian, Iranian, and European spiritual immortalities. Briefly, if base metals can he transformed into change resisting gold, there is no reason why drugs properly prepared and used cannot render the human body impervious to change. In pursuit of this goal there was much experimentation of a metallurgical nature. This included the necessity for distinguishing hetween imitation gold made by a variety of alloying and coloring practices from "true" gold made by transmutation. Also, alchemists had t o justify the debililating preliminary physiological effects of many poisonous elixir ingredients before immortality was reached. The text is supplemented by copious footnotes a t the bottom of almost every page. An exhaustive bibliography, a de-
tailed index, and twenty plates (20 pages) constitute s treasure of ancillary twls. Of special interest to chemists is an extensive table (pp. 162-187) equating the names of minerals and chemicals in Chinese characters, romanized transliteration, modem English, and Latin, including formulas, synonyms, explanations, and references. Needham is a controversial figure among historians and philosophers of science. But enough reviewers and commentators have been so effusive in their acclaim of previous volumes that in same quarters this treatise is reckoned as an intellectual aecomplishment of the first magnitude. Regardless of one's views on this point, and not necessarily agreeing with every interpretation, explanation, and hypothesis, this present book must he evaluated as a landmark in the history of early chemistry and alchemy. The author has sifted a vast array of inchoate data and ideas, much of i t couched in deliberately confounding alchemical language, and has produced a work of systematic clarity. I t will serve as a study of unprecedented breadth for the subjects eovered and as a oreoaration for oroiected . . pnrtz of this volume uhieh include appnrat w , theory and practice oi elixir alchrmy. and phgriulogiral alchemy.
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Mel Oorman univen#y of San Francisco San Francisco. California 941 17
Techniques and Appllcatlons of Plasma Chemistry Edited by John R. Hollohon, Tegal Corporation, Richmond, California, and Alexis T Bell, University of California, Berkeley. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1974. viii 403 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 24 cm. $22.50.
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This volume is basically a survey of current applications of the chemical reactivity of low temperature plasmas in various branches of science and technology. The ten chapters by nine authors provide good and up-to-date coverage (some references as recent as 1974) of the specific areas chasen and will he of considerable interest to anyone working in those fields. The book begins with a lengthy and quite mathematical treatment of the theory involved and a detailed (34 reaction) discussion of the elementary reactions taking place in an oxygen discharge. This is followed by chapters on the aoolication of olasmas to oreanie chemistry, to thr treatment of rulids-par. ticulnrly urface property modilicnticm of polymers and metals-and to the treatment of natural materials, such as the shrink proofing of wool. The use of plasmas for production of polymer films is discussed and a short chapter devoted to the production and properties of semipermeable membranes far hyperfiltration. A substantial amount of space, aver 25% of the hook, is devoted to the chapters on epplicatians to chemical and physical analysis and the preparation of specimens for microseopy. The final chapters deal with processes in semiconductor device fabrication and the eneineerine and economic asmcts of plasma chemistry. There is a brief appendix on considerations involved in the design of equipment used to sustain electrical
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