The Laboratory Recorder (Ewing, Galen W.; Ashworth, Harry A.)

Gnlen W. Eming and Harry A. Ash- worth, Seton Hall University. Plenum. Publishing Company, New York, 1974. vii + 129 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 X 23.5...
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book reviews ing interviews for the manuscript. As such, the product has an extensive bibliography (51 pages) and scholarly approach. Though heavy a t times, the clarity of style should make it enjoyable reading for the established scientist, those new t o science, or those only peripherally interested in science. There are a number of minor mistakes that are distracting. These include typographical errors, misspellings, inaccurate references, and other anomalies in the text. Another incongruity is that of the 26 plates found in the book, 19 are X-ray diagrams! Ivan I. Kaiser university of Wyoming Laramb. 82071

The History of Quantum Theory

Friedrich Hund, and translated by Gordon Reece. I m ~ e r i a lColleee. London. Barnes and ~ o d l eBooks (&;per Row), New York, 1914. 260 pp. 20.3 X 13.5 em.

We study history because we want to know how our current situation came about, in order to understand it better. This is the author's stated purpose for this volume, and it is admirably accomplished. He distinguishes between history of polities, whieh tells us how "time" has rejected countless possibilities and allowed just one t o become reality, and history of science, which shows us haw "time" has gradually caused truth to he refined. The scenario in the birth of quantum theory reveals interplay of chance, necessity, and t o a large extent the possibility of experimental verification a t any point in time. This particular history book is unique in that it frequently pauses to ask how this new physics might have developed under different circumstances, for example, if "Planek had decided to become a musician, or Bohr a lawyer." Most chemists will recognize Friedrich Hund for his famous Hund's rules (the first of whieh, you may recall, states that the lowest energy orbital configuration is the one highest multiplicity). His boak will probably be of interest only to those chemists who are also serious students of quantum mechanics. There is a short chapter on applications, which details developments of quantum theory relating t o atomic structure, the London model of spin valence (whieh Hund neglects to identify with atoms-in-molecules theory of recent years), the Heitler-London approach (whieh Hund does relate to current valence-bond theory), the single electron approximation (whieh Hund does relate to modern molecular orbital theory), and electrons in metals. One must truly enjoy quantum mechanics to enjoy this book, hut if you do enjoy quantum mechanics, you will undoubtedly enjoy and benefit from this history. I read the book quickly, almost like a n intriguing mystery thriller. I particularly A560 1 Journal of Chemical Education

enjoyed the way the author documented events according t o precise location and time. Hund was in the midst of this history, and he frequently relates personal events which gives the reader a "you are there" impression: Pauli remarks that we could look a t the world with a p eye or with a q eye, but if we tried both we would go crosseyed; Heisenberg states that in the assertion "if we know the present we can predict the future" it is not the deduction hut the premise which is false; Otto Stern remarks that in 1914 he and Max von Laue promised each other that they would give up physics if there was "anything in this nonsense of Bohr's." The book is extremely well-written, finely documented, scientifically sound, and very readable; some of the credit undauhtedly must go t o the translator Gordon Reece. A previous review of this same boak [Foreman, P., Science, 186, 917 (1974)l is highly critical of the translation, indicating "infelicities and inexactitudes" and "roughly one falsehood or nonsense statement in every two pages." I have not seen the German edition; in this English translation, I have not detected any statements that are scientifically wrong or nonsense. There are two interesting photographs, one of them on the jacket, showing participants in the Solvay Conferences of 1911 and 1927. An outline of quantum mechanics occupies a 32-page Appendix. A second six-page Appendix surveys the ten main centers of research and the researchers who were there during the great and exciting years 1900-1927. Frank 0. Ellison University of PmSburgh Pinsburgh. Pennsyiwn$ 15260

The Laboratory Recorder

Gnlen W . Eming and Harry A. Ashworth, Seton Hall University. Plenum Publishing Company, New York, 1974. vii 129 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 X 23.5 em. $18.50.

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The analog recorder is undoubtedly the most widely used laboratory instrument. In recent years, there has been a myriad of recorders made available to the scientist with the result that he has a wide range of options to solve his particular problem. But a t the same time, it becomes increasingly difficult to make an intelligent decision on uses or purchases without a sound understanding of the basic differences of various recorders and their capabilities. This small hook should give same help. The book is apparently the first of what is to he a series of volumes on Laboratory Instrumentstion and Techniques, edited by Professor Ewing. The objectives are to present the principles on which recorders are based and to describe the implementation of these principles. The types of recorders covered include deflection recorders, servo recorders, X-Y recorders, and oscillographic recorders. Some hssie electronics is assumed. But one can obtain most information with only a limited knowledge of electronics. This is because the descriptions are generally more

qualitative in nature than quantitative. Such an approach is about the only one possible in a book of this size, and with so many recorders having their own variations. A chapter on shielding and grounding is a bit more technical and quantitative in its coverage, which is good because this is one area where the experimenter can exercise some control over noise problems. Most aspects of recorders are discussed, including reference voltage sources, slidewires, amplifiers, motors, and multichannel recorders. There is s separate chapter on paper feed and writing mechanisms. A short chapter on troubleshooting a few common nuisances and one on recorder aecessories, such as integrators and event markers, are added a t the end. A chapter defining common recorder specification terminology is helpful. An appendix lists the names and addresses of some 43 recorder manufacturers and tabulates the types of recorders each markets. I t is unfortunate that the description and use of the cathode ray oscilloscope is not given, for this is a n extremely versatile recording device. The book is practically error free with few technical mistatements. On page 72, a statement is made that the paper of a strip chart recorder is always driven by means of sprocket teeth engaged in perforations alone the edees of the naoer (excent in hieh

use friction drive with rollers. One annoyance is the placing of the figures. Most are placed on the other side of the page on which they are being described, making it inconvenient to refer to them. There are a n ample number of figures, however, whieh is helpful to the reader. Most are full page figures, and even halfpage figures take up a whale page. Many could have been reduced in size t o minimize costs. I t appears the figures may have been used as "padding" by the publisher to increase the sales price of the hook. It is quite apparent from the high price that the book is intended as a reference for libraries and laboratories, rather than as a text. Nevertheless, this is s hook that chemistry libraries ought to place on reserve for access to students and researchers alike. I t is a readable book that can easily he read in one afternoon (58 text owes and instrumental analysis course. Gary D. Christian

Univemitv ofWashington Seank. Washington 98195

Hydrogen Bonding

Meluin D. Joesten, and L. J Sehaod, Vanderbilt University. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, 1974. vi 622 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $45.

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"Hydrogen Bonding" by M. D. Joesten and L. J. Schaad is a book written with the intention of updating the literature survey on hydrogen bonding started by Pimentel

and McClellan ["Hydrogen Bonding," Freeman and Co., 19591. The authors have succeeded well a t their self-assigned task. The book is'written on a level for the well trained graduate student or specialist in the field. For the undergraduate or nonspecialist who wants an introduction to hydrogen bonding the textbook of Vinogradov and Linnell [Hydrogen Bonding, van Nastrand-Reinhold. 19711 may be a better starting point than the present hook. Professor Schaad is responsible for chapter 2 on the theory of the hydrogen bond. Professor Joesten is responsible for the other four chapters on detectipn of hydrogen bonds (only spectroscopic methods are discussed), thermodynamics and kinetics of hydrogen banding, correlations (frequency shift, linear free energy, nmr chemical shift, A H and integrated band intensity, and AH-AS correlations), and intramolecular and homo-intermolecular hydrogen bonds. The literature appears to have been very thoroughly covered. Over 3200 references are listed, the majority of whieh have appeared between 1960 and January 1974. With each reference there is a brief title and a key word describing the principal method(4 used for the hydrogen bond study. The cross indexing of the bibliography with the text, the author index, and the subject index is exceptionally complete and remarkably error free. Table 4-16 was erroneously credited to reference 1676 instead of 1201. Pimentel and McClellan state they covered the hydrogen bonding literature thoroughly through 1956 with some references of 1957-59 papers. Thus papers published in 1957, 1958, and 1959 mav have been sliehted. but an insneetion of the present bibiiography does not show omissions of this time period to be a serious problem. Much of the information on hydrogen banding and hydrogen banding correlations is summarized in figures and tables. The authors have redrawn most of the figures they use from the literature. Although the redrawn figure is sometimes an improvement over the original figure, there are cases in which the redrawmg has resulted in an information loss, either hecause of a compressed coordinate scale, or because the compounds the points represent are no longer identified. Some of the tables summarize information from several sources but more often the table is taken directly from a single reference. Again information is occasionally lost in that not all columns of the original table are reproduced. The above comments are not intended as a serious criticism of the book, the authors have accomplished a monumental task in organizing the literature on hydrogen bonding, but it is s reminder t o the reader of the importance of consulting the origmal reference before using the data or citing it in his own work. Two of the tables, whieh are extensive summaries of the available literature, deserve special comment. Table 2-4 lists the theoretical studies made since 1960 on hydrogen bonding in monomers, dimers, homogeneous polymers, and heterogeneous polymers. The thermodynamic data for hydrogen bonded adduets is an 88 page noncritical, but useful, compilation in the ap-

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(Continued on page A562) Volume 52, Number 12, December 1975 1 A561