‘Earthquakes”; “ W h t 11:ikes tlie \Tenther?”; “Esploring the . i t o m ” ; “htoniic Energy or 1lilit:try Purposes”; ..The Discovery of R a d i u m ” ; “Space, Time, and Einstein”; “Conilustion”; ‘.Order a n d Clinos i n t h e World of ?itonis”; “Bouncing 1Ioleculcs”; “Periodic ’1:issific:ition of t h c Elemerits”. S.C. T , t s i ) . I’hysic.s. B y 11. E. LiiIr . \ X I J 11. I,. .ISI)RI.;W+. 4S7 pp. Sen- Y ( J Y ~ : Prentice-Hall, I n c . , 101h. Price: $6.00. Tiie present testbook of iiuele:tr physics is tlie outgrowth of n i l ear,lier in:Liiual \vitliin t h e Iil i t :i ry Est :i lili shnie ii t , first e 11tit led Xud io \ oy iccc I S u j e t y a rid 1ate r 120 rf iolog icu 1 11e,fptz s o . 111 eighteen cliapteix t h e iiuthors develop t h e subject from the elenirritnry principles f iw1i:itioR ;riitl rnt1io:tctivity through the vitriolis intermediate stages t o fission, t h e nul e x ch:iin re:ictioii. :ind t h e 1,;idio:ictive trticcr techniques. T h e fiii:il c h : ~ p t e ris devoted ) ”tie:iirh physics.” The h o k is dedicateti t o Dr. Louis Slotin. .i foren,ord ti?, .I.11. rimptoi! stresses t h e iiii~)i~i~t:irice of t h e suhject :tiit1 tlie timeliness of t h e test. That T I I P book is iritcride(1 :is :I test book o f iiistruction :tnd iriforni:ttioii r:ithcr tli:iii :L ,e:itiw rcplcte w i t h nuclcur, t l i w r y :ind discussion is evitleiit t h r o u g h o u t . Each c1i:ipt~r oses w i t h :I list of 1)roblems or questions. Kliile the work is prinxirily for, t h e ne\vconicr I t h e ~ i i ~ c i e : field, ir i t iievertlieless corituins much in convenient furni f o r the innre es~i~icitceti \ v i r k e r , :IS, foi, cs:iinp~e.diaglwns of the fission elenlent yields for I’u 239. t-235. t t l U 233 o i l :I single p l o t :iffcrding ready conipnrison. :L list of piles arid their characteristics i \ v cxiatcnt i n various countries (except Russi:i!, :t list of comp:tnies producing various s t r u n ~ e is~ ior i use iii detecting, measuring, : t i i d h:tndling radioactive innterials; :i list of e cc~mmoiilyused rstlioisotopes :tiid their ch:trxteristics; a list of all ludioisotopes :~ricl eir ~ ~ ~ ~ ( ~ p eItegrettahly, i ~ i i c ~ . the field of r:tdi:Ltion cliemistrg rrceives no a t t e n t i o n . .In :t:i~ tior \I-tio will uiiilrrt:Lke a text i n this rapidly cleveloping field where ol~solescciice 11 : i i i ~ I:>f:eii docs arrive ovcimight renders :I i ~ : i sei,vic-e l t o science. Tiie :iuthors arc t o he n g i , : i t i : ! : i r d 011 producing :t ti,uly useful t e s t i i i this niost active :ind iniport:int field.
, - [ t c l ~ ( i rRadiation
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Pi.cpni.(/ii‘o/i, Pr(ipei,ticjs, C‘hr iiiicnl Behacior, a n d Iileiitijcntion oj’ OrgaiLic Chlorine C’otiiO I L JSelected C‘oinpoiinds os Order I I I . By ERSESTH.UILIS [T-STRE~:S. xsv 141:3 p p . h-ew T o r k : J o h n Wiley a n d Sons, Inc,, 1948. T,ondon: ‘hapni:in :md Hall. Lttl.. 1048. P r i c e : S27.30. ‘his hook is a continuation of t h e work begun with t h e 1:Lte Samuel Parsons 1Iulliken, oiitida. l i i t h Il‘ab1e.r oJ Ikitri
+
Idenlijkxfz’on of Pure O/,gnrficC‘ompouuds, of which one volume, thnt covering compouncls o f Order I [C and H , or c‘. €I, a n d 0)has already :~ppe:ii~ecl.T h e ~ C T Tvolunie covers the coiiipouilds of Order 111 (C :11id C1, or C,, 0) and Cl>or C’, €I, 0 , and Cl), sild roiiiprisca &it:% on 1:’120 iildivir1u:il s u b s t m i r c ~selected , on t h e hiisis of their grneral interest anti ini1)wt:mcc. ‘l’lie aspect of itlentification is not t h e only one emphnsizerl, f o r t h e d a t x include tils0 tlic pi~ep:ir:itioii,properties, generiil chcmical beh;tvior, :mtl industrial importanct:. I?efei~eiicrs t o Ueilstein :ire included, but, t h e :iuth(ir 6t:ttes iii tlic pref:iw t h a t 26.7 per w i l t of [ l i e compounds discussed 1i:ivc bceii prcp:ire(l so 1,ccciitly t h a t they do n o t appear i n i lie 4th ctlition of Beilstein. T h e literature has heen thorcuglily covered; 47 per r e l i t ( * i ihc. i,eierences represent pub1ic:itions airicc 1020. T h e compounds :we :irraiiged in a n :irbitr:iry ortlci,, tlepending upon t h e rueit in:: points and/or t h e boiling points. -4s these dntn, t a k e n directlh- from t h e l i t e r a t u r e , i m y iiot lie concordant,, :dl t h e valucs are included arid t h e nrrarigenient is supplemented 1)y five indexes, according t o : empirical formulas; percciitnge of chlorine; molecular weights; chemical types; alphabetical order. T h e descriptive d a t a for each coiiipouiid include n:inics(s I , structure; nio1ecul:ir iorniulu, Beilstein number :tnd reference, a11 rensomble literature values for nielting points, boiling points, densities! reiractivr iritlicesj suniniiiries of’ methods of preparation. often \Yith critical evaluntioii, summaries of behnvior toward other substances, pre1imin:ir.J- tests, suggested derivatives, a n d references t o t h e literature. T h e book is impressive a n d scholarly; one of t h e most valuable “intaiigitilee,” often neglected in books, is the illelusion of “negative references”-statements t h n t no information has been found concerning :L reaction t h a t might reasonably h e expected, or t h a t n substance reasonably expected t o be formed from a certain compound is not 30 formed Some 22,000 individual references a r e cited. T h e book nxtking, printing, paper, and binding w e excellent. .Although the p1,ic.e i i high as measured in t e r m s of accession for an individual’s private library, :rctuully, coli sidering the scope of t h e work a n d in coniparison with other 110oks of similar size :iiid scope t h e price is very reasonable. LE:E I R V I X SjJIITti.