RECENT BOOKS THE DISCOVERY OR THE ELEMENTS. Collected reprints of a series of articles published in the JOURNALOF CHEMICAL EDUCATION.Mary Elyira Weeks, Assistant Professor of Chemistry a t The University of Kansas. Illustrations colThe TTniverlected by F. B. Dains. Professor of Chemistrv ~-~-, at ~~. --. sity of &mas. ~ a c Printing k Company, Easton, Pa., 1933. iii 363 pp. 15.2 X 23 cm. Paper-bound $1.50, dothbound $2.00.
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A copy of this hook was allowed t o circulate in the reviewer's class in the history of chemistry. At the end of the hour a n u ber of students asked its price and inquired where i t could be purchased. Several graduate students (specializing in organic chemistry as i t happened) saw the book, bought it, and have reported that they read i t in the evening as they would read a novel. They have also been seen reading i t while eating their lunch or during the gaps and periods of waiting which occur while research is in progress. That is the kind of book that it is. And these were students who had already passed their examinations. This book ought t o be in the hands of every teacher of general chemistry and in every high-school library or other library which is designed to promote an interest in science. It is up t o date, containing accounts of the discoveries of the newest elements and of the methods by which they have been made. It is profusely illustrated with portraits, many of them new, of contemporary chemists, with pictures of places and of apparatus, with facsimiles of title pages, letters, etc., and with ornamental reproductions of old cuts a t the ends of the chapters. It is a pleasant book to handle. The excellent index makes i t possible quickly t o find the discussion of a particular subject. The Chronology. pp. 34-55. is more than a mere list of dates; i t is a cross-section of the history of inorganic chemistry from January 25, 1627 (birth of Robert Boyle), to October. 1931 (Papish and Wainer obtain spectroscopic evidence of element 87). The book will be of interest and of service to students of the history of culture. We are,grateful to the publishers for bringing Miss Weeks's essays together in a manner to increase their accessibility and usefulness.
T m CONDUCTIVITY OP SOLUTIONS. Cecil W. Dauies, D.Sc. (Wales), Senior Lecturer in Physical Chemistry, Battersea Polytechnic. Second edition, revised and enlarged. John 281 pp. 32 Wiley & Sons, Inc.. New York City, 1933. x Figs. 14 X 21.5 cm. $4.00.
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The wide interest and prolific activity in the field of solutions is attested by the demand for a second edition of this book within a period of three years. T o bring the book up to date without adding unduly t o its length has required a rearrangement of much of the material in the first edition. The author devotes the first 37 pages t o a concise review of the essentials of the conductivity theory of Anhenius, the anomaly of strong electrolytes, the activity treatment, and an elementary hut clear presentation of the Debye-Hiickel picture of inter-ionic attraction before tackling the main purpose of t h e book (Part 11); namely, a description of the experimental methods and the results of conductivity measurements in aqueous and non-aqueous media in the light of recent developments. The practical questions which conductivity measurements can answer are treated in detail in Part 111. They comprise: the strengths of acids and bases discussed from Br@nsted'sgeneralized point of view; solvolysis; complex ion formation; a modern treatment of amphoteric electrolytes; ionic mobilities; conductivity titrations and numerous miscellaneous applications. The author makes no pretense of treating the detailed mathematical developments of the Debye-Hiickel theory, which can
be read with profit only by the expert. The mathematical treatment is restricted throughout t o the elementary Limiting forms. Nevertheless developments such as Onsager's revision of the conductivity equation and the Gronwall-La Mer solution of the higher term problem are cansidered and their important a u e n c e upon the interpretation of experimental results is clearly stated. The theoretical aspects of conductivity dispersion, viscosity corrections, and the Wien effect are also mentioned but the restricted mathematical viewpoint permits only a qualitative treatment. The first edition was marred by the acceptance of values (pp. 89. 93) of the Debye-Hiickel universal constant, derived from certain experimental investigations which were approximately 20% lower than the theoretical value. I n the second edition, the author is more critical (pp. 107-8) of the conclusions drawn from these data and accepts the theoretical value. The discussion of the strong and weak points of the physical and chemical theories of the degree of dissociation of electrolytes (Chap. 18) is much improved and is well worth reading. The reviewer would question whether all the bi-bivalent sulfates listed on page 110 are as incompletely dissaciated as t h e author thinks. It appears that the Onsager equation has been employed for solutions too concentrated for exact calculation of the deeree of dissaciation. ~hcook a l l l not appeal to thc CXprrt searching for a detailed analysis of the mu,t rcccot devrloprnmt>. On the other hand, it can 1.r hcaruly rtcum~nendrdfur the teacher nnd fa the rtudent who desires a useful. lucid, and fairly comprehensive survey, n o t only of conductivity. but of the general field of solutions. K. LA MER VIC~OR C~~rnael,. U~~saslrv Nsw Year C ~ Y
MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES OB TBE UNITEDSTATES. INCLUDING CONSULTING RESEARCRLABORATORIES. Fifth edition. Compiled by Clarence I. West and Callie Hull. Bulletin of the National Research Council, No. 91. Washington, D. C., 1933. 223 pp. 16.5 X 24.7 cm. $2.00. "As in previous editions of this bulletin, the material as presented was furnished by the directors of the laboratories, and may be considered correct as of January 1. 1933. "The present edition contains information regarding 1575 industrial and consulting laboratories as compared with 1625 in the fourth edition. Of the laboratories listed in the previous bulletin, about 110 reported that research work had been temporarily or permanently discontinued. 25 reported that they had been combined with other existing laboratories, while 90 failed to respond t o three requests for a revision of the published information regarding their research activities. About 170 laboratories have been included for the first time, although this does not mean that these laboratories have heen established since the last bulletin was published." Pfdta b Bauer, Inc., 300 Pearl Street, New York City, announce that they are now ready t o distribute new catalogs and literature an scientific instruments manufactured by C. Reichert, Vienna. Austria. The instruments described are: microscopes (research, biological, dissecting, petrographical, metallurgical, fluorescence); apparatus (microphotographic, proiection. drawine. obiectives (achromatic. -. hlood-testine): -, . fluoride, spochromatic); eye pieces (Huyghenian, compensating, planatic); binocular stero-attachments; dark-field and other condensers; saccharimeters; hemoglobinometers; spectroscopes; polarizers; mechanical stages and other microscopic accessories. The literature will be gladly furnished on request.
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