June 20, 1962
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“Irradiation Effects in Uranium Dioxide”-is a lengthy films could be expected to derive much instruction or inspiration from reading this portion of the book. Difficulty (220 pages) and comprehensive review of this subject. The bibliographies following each chapter are extensive in sustaining interest in Part I is still evident not only as a result of the authors’ repeated emphasis on the difficulties and include a great deal of the recent literature. The and obscurities of the subject, but also because of the au- book includes a large number of diagrams, photographs, and thors’ tendency to present ideas in involved sentences electron micrographs, and the printing is of good quality. requiring several readings and t o add numerous and some- Because of the paper binding, the volume may have a times lengthy footnotes. Nearly all of the footnotes of the rather short “half-life”; however, the resultant low price first edition are still retained. Despite the obvious un- of $2.50 should make this book available to anyone even balanced presentation in Part I and, a t times, the unin- remotely interested in the field. In general, this book will be of interest chiefly to nuclear teresting writing style used, a diligent reader will h d some rewarding sections, such as excellent discussions of aqueous engineers, but may well be a worthwhile investment for micelles, solubilization, flocculation, deflocculation, pre- chemists interested in uranium. cipitation, nucleation, foaming and defoaming. DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY Part I1 ( “Technical Applications of Synthetic Surfacc- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNI-4 ROGERIDE -1ctive Agents”) represents an expansion of about 38 pages. Los ASGELES24, CALIF. W, F. LIBBY In the added material will be found discussions of the effect of intensive mixing on the dispersions of solids in liquid media, on detergent builders, fluorescent brightening agents, public health aspects of the use of synthetic detergents, Chemistry in Non-Aqueous Solvents. By HARRY H. SISLER,Head Professor of Chemistry, University of brief comments on the flotation of ores, effect of surfaceFlorida. Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 430 Park active agents on the mass transfer a t interfaces (including Avenue, Sew York 22, S . T. 1961. vii f 119 pp. the effect on the evaporation of water), and briefer discus12.5 X 18.5cm. Price, $1.95. sions of applications to metallurgy, geophysics, engineering construction and fire fighting. On the whole, Part I1 is This book is one of a new series called “Selected Topics in authoritative, interesting and up to date. Portions which Modern Chemistry.” An attractively designed paper-back, deserve particular attention are the excellent reviews on the book is a well-written treatment of its subject. I t water proofing, emulsification and demulsification, disper- “is intended to present to the undergraduate chemistry sion of solids in liquid media, bactericides and emulsion student some of the basic concepts which relate the chemical polymerization. and physical characteristics of a solvent to the chemical Although Part I11 (“The Chemical Constitution of processes which may be carried out in that solvent, and Synthetic Surface-Active Agents”) exhibits an expansion of which determine the usefulness of a given liquid as a solonly 20 pages, it represents various improvements with vent. ’ ’ respect to coverage over the first edition. Much effort has After an excellent introductory chapter, “The Role of the been made to make the literature and patent references up Solvent in Chemical Reactions,” four solvents are considered t o date, and new material has been added on topics such as in some detail: liquid ammonia, 1007, sulfuric acid, liquid non-ionic agents, aliphatic sulfonates, periluoro compounds dinitrogen tetroxide, and liquid sulfur dioxide. The final and their surface activity, sequestering agents, and the chapter briefly discusses many other non-aqueous solvents. water-soluble surface-active polymers such as polyvinyl Each chapter concludes with a concise summary and a brief pyrrolidone. list of Selected Readings. Like the first edition, the revised book is not suitable for DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY teaching or for newcomers to the field. It is d valuable SORTHEASTERN USIVERSITY L\‘. F. LUDER reference for speci ilists and especially for chemists interested BOSTON 15, MASSACHUSETTS in applications of surface-active agents. The new edition should be a useful addition to any technical library concerned with applied chemistry. The Radiation Chemistry of Water and Aqueous Solutions. CHEMISTRY DIVISION By AUGUSTINE 0. ALLES, Ph.D., Senior Chemist, BrookU.S. NAVALRESEARCH LABORATORY W. A ZISMAN haven National Laboratory. D. Van Sostrand ComWASHINGTON 25, D. C. pany, Inc., 120 Alexander Street, Princeton, New Jersey. 1961. xi 204 pp. 16 X 23.5 cm. Price, $6.00. Energy absorption from incident ionizing radiation by the Uranium Dioxide : Properties and Nuclear Applications. Edited by J . BELLE. Superintendent of Documents, various components of a mixture is determined largely by U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. the electron fraction which each contributes. Consequently, the understanding of the radiation chemistry of a 1961. siii 726 pp, 15 X 23 cm. Price, 62.50. dilute holutioii requires a kiiowlcdgc of the number, nature This hook is one of a series of books sponsored hy the and spatial distribution of the entities produced by tlic SAval Reactors group of the Atomic Energy Commission as action of the radiation on the solvent. This fact aiid tlir “a comprehensive compilation of the more significant aspects large aqueous component in living cells a i d many inaniriiatc nf reactnr technology developed in the Saval Reactor Prosystems, which are, or could he, irradiated, endow t l i c . gram and the Shippingport Pressurized Water Reactor subject of this book with special importance. Surprising11 , Project.” h s might be expected, then, this book is not a in view of the fact that many of the reactions in this book comprehensive discussion of all areas of knowledge concern- have been known for many decades, a reasonably full undering uranium dioxide, but rather deals with those properties standing of their nature has only very recently beeii of uranium dioxide which affect its use as a reactor fuel. achieved. This monograph by one who has played a major The contents of the book are perhaps best indicated by a role in this development over almost two decades is therefore listing of the nine chapter titles: Uranium Dioxide and its especially welcome, and its perusal is both rewarding and .\pplication to Nuclear Power Reactors; Preparation of pleasurable. Iyranium Dioxide; Characterization of Uranium Dioxide; The arrangement is much as would be expected, bcing Fabrication of Uranium Oxide; Physical Properties of dictated by the logic of the subject. The author first 7 -ranimi Dioxide; Phase Relationships in the Uranium dcscribes briefly thc mechanism of energy deposition. Then Oxygen and Binary Oxide Systems; Solid State Reactions after a hint as to methods of experimentation launclics into i d I‘ranium Dioxide; Oxidation and Corrosion of Uranium the free radical theory and the diffusion inoriel \vhich noiv Dioxide; and Irradiation Effects in Uranium Dioxide. provide the intellectual framework for niuch of the researcli Because of the orientation of this book toward reactor in this field. Wisely, Dr. Allen marshals the evidence iii applications, certain topics receive rather cursory treatment, support of this model and discusses the dependence of while other topics of no greater interest to chemists are molecular and radical yields on experimental variables such treated in painstaking detail. For example, Chapter as p H , LET, temperature, dose-rate, etc., before describing Two-“Preparation of Uranium Dioxide”-fills fLfty pages features of interest in individual systems. This has the with descriptions of various mechanical details involved in advantage that after studying the first six chapters the large scale production of uranium dioxide, while the topic reader is then adequately prepared to appreciate the diseus“Chemical Characteristics of Uranium Dioxide” is given sion of any oiic of thc particulnr s!‘stetn, the descriptioii of x v c n gages a t the end of Chapter Three. Chapter Xiiie-I\ hich occupies roughly the sccond half oI’ the book.
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VOl. 84
The amount of work published and in progress in this book by Goodman and Gilman, although the arrangement is subject is prodigious and increasing so rapidly that the considerably different. Each chapter contains a summary problem of selection and compression to produce this rela- of all the drugs having the specified end effect irrespective of tively short book is difficult. Each knowledgeable reader mode of action, whereas Goodman and Gilman list the drugs will have his regrets a t omissions. Solid and gaseous acting on specific centers so that the same drug may be menaqueous systems receive no mention, the origin of the radi- tioned in various chapters, while drugs having similar medicicals is mentioned only briefly, one gains the impression that nal effects may be dealt with in different parts of the book G(Fe’+) for a-particles of initial LET equal to 9 eV/A. is because their mode of action is different. The present arsecurely established around 5.5 and so on. In my opinion rangement gives a concentrated summary of the literature these criticisms are trifling in comparison with the great with good bibliographies up to the middle of 1960 a t the merit of the book, namely, that the newcomer to the field end of each chapter. American chemists will envy their who reads it will gain a unique synoptic view of a fascinating British colleagues when Dr. Smith records that a pharmaarea of physical chemistry which is approaching maturity. cologist carries out 22 tests with 200 mg. of material, most Indeed, in some ways, the personal and testamentary nature of which is used in the toxicity tests. The adoption of in adds to the interest. Moreover the author’s prose style is vitro tests is to some extent necessitated by British vivisecextremely agreeable and makes the book a pleasure to read, tion laws which make it extremely difficult to get permits for and a “must” for chemists and biologists interested in the experiments on dogs. In the U. S. a single experiment on a effects of ionizing radiations. The occasional slip, as for dog can, by automatic registration of blood pressure, respiraexample in the middle formula on page 11 and the expression tion, EEG, EGG, etc., indicate most of the in vitro effects for the dimensionless parameter on page 69, reminds us, described in Dr. Smith’s chapter. At the end of the chapter perhaps reassuringly, of how even the expert may falter. a summary of the costs of each test calculated by assuming a technician is continually carrying it out on a series of cornDEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY pounds shows that u. s. costs per animal are about twice THEUNIVERSITY F. S. DAXNTONthose in England and salaries are considerably lower. Most LEEDS2, ENGLAND subsequent chapters contain experimental procedures used for determining the particular action studied, including a few unpublished observations, e.g., blood pressure recording Potenciometrie. BY DOC. DR. .JAROSLAV EfHALtK, kan- (page 42) or the blocking action of chlorpromazine (page 62). didat chemickgch v&d. Nakladatelstvi &skoslovensk6 Drugs are discussed from the research rather than the pracakademie v6d. N o d MPsto, Vodirkova 40, Praha 1, tical point of view, with no indication of which drugs are Czechoslovakia. 1961. 770 pp. 18 X 24.5 cm. Price, most widely used, although their disadvantages are also reKfs. 86.50. corded. The relative importance of drugs in Britain and the This Czech book on potentiometry gives a rather complete U. S. would not be the same, but many agents lauded in description of the use of this physical chemical technique in pharmacological publications have never appeared on the analytical chemistry. The only serious omission is the use market. The list of proprietary and non-proprietary names ?f non:aqueous solvents; this technique is mentioned only given by Dr. W e n contains many which are unfamiliar in the U. S., but structural formulas are clearly given throughin passing. out the book. In his review of the different classes of tranThe book is divided into a theoretical part and a practical quilizers, Parkes critically evaluates the methods of studying part. The theory is given for acidimetry, alkalimetry and for titrations involving the formation of insoluble precipi- effects in animals and the hypotheses used to “explain” the tates, slightly dissociated and complex compounds and oxi- mode of action of different types of tranquilizers. The less dation-reduction reactions. The discussion is not as com- important drugs in the diphenylmethane series, as well as tetrabenazine and benactazine are discussed. A discussion plete in some instances as that which appears in English of blind tests with placebos or dummies having a different texts. In the practical part the description of apparatus and pharmacological effect is to the point. The chapter on diuretics contains an 8-page discussion of the causes of electrodes is followed by application of the various titrations to analytical chemistry. For each of these applications edema and the renal mechanisms affected. Mercurials, specific determinations are discussed. The references in xanthines, pyrimidines and triazines are summarized and this part cover the literature through the early part of 1961 the work on carbonic anhydrase inhibitors finally leading up to the Diuril series is followed by a description of aldosand would be the only part useful to a person not acquainted with the Czech language. The names of the anion or cation terone antagonists and inhibitors, drugs which act as oslisted as headings of each section resemble rather closely motic diuretics and finally the plasma expanders. Dr. the English names in most cases and could be recognized Slater’s chapter appropriately devotes most space to the consideration of the sulfonylureas and their metabolism, easily by the English reader, duration and mode of action, side-actions and historical deDEPARTMENT O F CHEMISTRY velopment. The diguanides and biguanides are included STATEUNIVERSITY OF IOWA STANLEY WAWZOXEK and the limitations of all classes summarized. The final IOWACIru. IOWA chapter starts with a description of superficial and systemic fungal infections and then contains a list of quaternary ammonium compounds, phenols, including hydroxyquinolines Progress in Medicinal Chemistry. Volume 1. Edited by and salicylamides, diamidines and mercury compounds, G. P. ELLIS, B.Sc., Ph.D., F.R.I.C., Research Depart- aralkyl alcohols and glycols and their ethers, undecylenic ment, Benger Laboratories Limited, Holmes Chapel, acid, and antihistamines having antifungal activity. The Cheshire, and G. B. WEST,B.Pharm., D.Sc., Ph.D., School use of sulfonamide therapy and broad-spectrum antibiotics of Pharmacy, University of London. Butterworth, Inc., as well as specific ones against candida and histoplasmosis, 7235 Wisconsin Ave., Washington 14, D. C. 1961. emphasizing Amphotericin B, Nystatin, and oral use of Griseofulvin and the limited use of estrogens and work on ix 4-262 pp. 16 X 25.5 cm. Price, $11.25. immunity is summarized, leading to the conclusion This excellent book consists of six chapters of about forty artificial new oral agents are urgently needed. pages each : “Pharmacological Screening Tests,” W. G. that In spite of the chapters being written by different authors, Smith, Sunderland Technical College; “Hypotensive they are equally well and interestingly written; full acAgents,” R . Wien, May and Baker; “Tranquilizers,” M. W. knowledgment is given to American work, references to Parkes, Roche Products Ltd. ; “Diuretic Drugs,” H.,CIeller, which predominate in the bibliographies. University of Bristol; “Oral Hypoglycemic Drugs, J. D. H. Slater, Postgraduate Medical School, London ; “Anti- VICE PRESIDENT IN CHARGE OF RESEARCH fungal Agents,” E. P. Taylor and D. F. D’Arcy, Allen and HOFFMANN-LA J. A. AESCHLIMANN ROCHE,INC. Hanburys Ltd. I t invites comparison with the much larger NUTLEY 10,N. J.
