JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION 0
PROTECTIVE COATINGS FOR METALS
R. M.Burns and W. W. Bradley, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. Second edition. A. C. S. Monograph No. 129. Reinhold Publishing Corp.. New York, 1955. xiv 643 pp. 129 figs. Tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $12.
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Auraouoa this volume is listed as a second +tion, it is essentially a new book. Burns and Schuh of the first edition are now Burns and Bradley, and the size of the book has been increased from 407 pages to 643 pages. Principles of corrosion are discussed briefly in the &st chapter to give background to the succeeding discussion, followed by a chapter on the preparation of the surface to receive the coating. Metallic coatings receive the main attention, with nine chapters devoted to the various metals used for surface coatings and the methods by which the ooatings can be applied. Sprayed metal ooatings have become so important that there iz a chapter devoted to metals applied in thia way. Otherwise coatings are discussed according to the metal, rather than method of application. A chapter gives standard test methods for metallic eoatings. Whereas the earlier volume discussed only paints, this volume takes up the fundamental chemistry and composition of organic coatings in general, their application, and use, as well as performance and evaluation. This extensive addition is important in view of the many new polymers used in the formulation of paints and surfaces coetings. A change in composition of the surface by anodizing or similar treatment represents one general protective method disscussd in a separate chapter. Ceramic coatings have been made a portion of a chapter an special-purpose coatings, which include temporary and stripable costingetbe "cocoon" typo of pmtections. Certainly advances in the field of ceramic ooatings will justify mare space in s. future edition. A new chapter briefly discusses corrosion inhibitors in water systems, airconditioning equipment, acid pickling, and the petroleum and natural gas industries. Metallic eorraaion represents an annual loss of over five billion dollars in the United States alone; no one concerned with minimking this laas can afford t,o be without this book. KENNETH A. KOBE
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THE CHEMISTRY OF LIPIDS OF BIOCHEMICAL SIGNIFICANCE
I. A. Lovem. 132 pp.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York. 1955. xiii 2 figs. 4 tables. 10.5 X 17 cm. $1.75.
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s lectures presented in the department of biological A s ~ m of chemistry of the University of Aberdeen was the starting material for this book. The author bas amplified the material in the lectures to make the b w k more self-contained. This monograph may be used by different chemists for different purposes. The first chapter presents a clsnsification of lipids with a discussion of the structure of the various types and gives a concise picture of different lipids which are recognized today. This chapter would be useful to anyone who wanted to get a general knowledge of the chemistry of lipids. The second chapter deals with the p r e p aration and analysis of various lipids and would appear to be most useful to those people who might consider working in the field of lipid isolation. The chapter presents, in some detail, methods of preparation of different lipid fractions and the analysis of these fractions to ascertt~intheir composition and purity. In the third chapter the subject of the existence of lipids in various tissues iz presented. Considerable didiscussion of the association of lipids with proteins and means of breaking these complexes is given. In the fourth chapter the author discusses the dynamic state of lipids in the tissues. Particular attention is paid to the experimental technique of using isotopic tracers in studying lipid biosynthesis and turnover. The final chapter deals with the biological function of lipids. Actually, for many lipids the exact
function is unknown, and therefore much of the chapter is of a speculative nature. All in dl, the book presents a clear picture of lipid chemistry and goes a long way toward integrating the whole complex subject. R. U. BYERRUM
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STATISTICAL MECHANICS OF IRREVERSIBLE CHANGE
Richard T. Cox, Professor of Physics, Johns Hopldns University. The Johns Hopkns Press, Baltimore, 1955. viii 130 pp. Figs. 16 X 23.5 cm. $5.
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ONE approach to the study of irreversible processes ia on the phenomenological level of irreversible thermodynamics, as exemplified by the recent books of de Groot, Prigogine, and Denbigh. A second approach is on the molecular level of irreversible statistical mechanics, as in the work of Kirkwoad and others. The present book adopts a middle course leading, however, to a treatment which in its formality resembles irreversible thermodynamics much more than it does irreversible statistioal mechanics. This is probably inevitable in any theory which does not go all the way to a completely molecular approach. From this point of view, the title seems somewhat inappropriate, but perhaps a. more accurate title would not be easy to come by. The middle course mentioned above is described in the suthor'a own words as follows: "A thermodynamic system has microscopic detail in structure and its processes have microscopic detail in time. The method of molecular kinetic theory takes account of both kinds of detail, while the phenomeuologicd method, like the classicd thermodynamics of which it is the extension, ignores them both. B e tween these methods there is a third, which ignores the molecular details of structure but takes account of the microscopic det& of change. This is the statistioal method employed by Gibbs, in which an entire thermodynamic system is taken as the statistical unit and the statistical ensemble is 8. collection of like systems. I t is this method which will be followed here. I t leads to a theory independent of struoture, like thermodynamics, but it is not wholly concerned, as thermodynamics is, with observable quantities. The microscopic details of processes are no more observable than those of structure, but it is in terms of them that macroscopic processes will be described." The four chapters of the book are entitled: The Statistical Theory of Thermodynamic Equilibrium; Viscous Forcea and Brownian Motion; Transport Phenomena; and The Constrained Approach to Equilibrium. This book is certainly a welcome addition to those of de Groot, Prigogine, and Denbigh. To complete the group, we now need a book an the molecular level-but the time is perhaps not yet ripe for this. TERRELL L. HILL
NAVALMEDICAL R ~ s m n Ic ~~ s ~ r r n ~ e Bmneeo*, M*nr~*wo 0
MATHEMATICS AND MEASUREMENTS
Merrill Rossweiler, Associate hofessor of Physical Science and Mathematics, and I. Merle Harris, Assistant Professor of Natural Sciences, University of Minnesota. Row. Peterson and Campany, Evanston, 1llincis. 1955. ix 351 p;. Figs. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $4.50.
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A c c o n ~ r ~toa the preface, tbis books attempts to close the gap between theoretical mathematics and its practical use. It is intended for people who expect to use mathematics for working with measurements. The various chapters deal with such matters as formulas, equations, gr~ph8,the slide rule, ca1culatiou with measurements, and the strategy of problem solving. Many examples and prohlems are included, to make practical discussions even ,mare practical.
