1976
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
AUGUST,1930
major industry is a monumental task; its successful completion a real service. Congratulations to the authors, the puhlishers, and the Aluminum Company of America. JAMESC. M c C a ~ o u o n
should he realized with little difficulty. I n the concluding chapter Professor Dcming writes: "No great prophetic gift is needed t o foresee that the chemical progress of the immediate future will compel progress in chemical education. I t will OBBBUN COWECE he realized that scientific instruction is OBERLIN.O H ~ O not a hit more scientific when dry as dust. On the contrary, it will he understood In the Realm of Carbon. The Story of that the teacher who presents scientific Organic Chemistry. H o m c e G. DEMfacts without any attempt t o relate them ING, Professor of Chemistry, University t o the philosophy of science or to human of Nebraska; recently 'in charge of the life is one who has failed t o think about Department of Information of Arthur them. He gives only facts because he D. Little, Inc. John Wiley and Sans, has only facts to give. . Chemistry as a 365 science will constantly become more Inc., New York City, 1930. x PP. 15 figures. 15 X 23 cm. 8.M). mathematical, technical, and forbidding; yet chemistry as a cultural subject will In the preface the author states: "This book is intended for the general reader who ever he more attractively presented, mare would like to know something of the man- useful as a part of a general education, ner in which organic chemistry grew and and more intimately related to other developed, and something of its contribu- things worth while." The reviewer r e c tions t o the comforts and conveniences of ommends most heartily "In the Realm of Carbon" as a reference work for a course modern life. When supplemented by lectures in which general principles are in pandemic chemistry. treated more fully than has here been JOHN R. SAMPRY HOWARD COLLHCB possible, it is also intended to serve as an B I B ~ ~ N O A AALABAMA II, introductory textbook of organic chemistry for students not specializing in The Structure of Line Spectra. LINUS chemistry." PAULINO,Associate Professor of TheoThe hook is divided into three parts: retical Chemistry, California Institute Part I. How the Foundations Were GOUDSMIT, of Technology, and SAMUEL Laid; Part 11. The Organic Chemical Associate Professor of Theoretical PhyIndustries; Part 111. The Chemical Acsics, University of Michigan. Third tivities of Living Cells. volume in the I&rnalind Series in Part I is written in a manner somewhat Physics, F. K . RICHTMEYER, editor. heavier than that which the late Dr. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New Edwin E. Slosson employed when dealing 263 pp. 15 X York City, 1930. x with theoretical matter. The two chap23 cm. $3.50. ters dealing with empirical and structural
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formulas doubtless will prove too heavy for many a "general reader." The task of holding the reader's attention when writing a t length about even an absorbing subject like the stow of organic chemistrv has been made mast difficult, because the modern mamzine contributor has developed to such a high art the ability of maintaining the reader's interest through every sentence of the few brief paragraphs. The second intention of the author
From almost all points of view, the most outstanding achievement of the quantum theory has been its success in solving the problems of line spectra. Perhaps never in history has science been presented with so many apparently closely related facts in such a puzzling and complex array, and it has been a remarkable intellectual triumph t o order these data by relating them t o the structure of the atom, a t the same time securing a most
VOL.7. NO. 8
RECENT BOOKS
profound knowledge of the nature of the atom itself. The present volume gives the picture of these relations as they are found today, while we are rounding out the results of this first great success in interpreting the structure of the atom. As explained in the preface the hook has been written primarily as a textbook qf spectroscopy, and as such leaves nothing to he desired. However, it is hound to have a much broader usefulness than that. For exnmple, it ought to s w e chemists particularly well both as an introduction to this field and as a reference book. The first author, by the way, is a chemist especially respected for his knowledge of physics and the second a physicist noted among his associates for his knowledge of chemistry. As one might hope, they have maintained a point of view emphasizing the importance of physical facts rather than mathematical forms, an attitude which the chemist should find particularly pleasing. In fact, i t almost seems that one could read the hook skipping all the mathematical equations and formulas and still get a very cl-ar picture of the relation of line spectra to the structure of the atom. However, warning must he given that this is in no sense an elementary text and that for its intelligent reading one must have a fair knowledge of the modem physical meaning of such terms as quantum, electron, electron orbit, and wave number. After a brief but lucid introduction on atomic theories and atomic models, the fundamental principles are discussed as applied to hydrogen and alkali-like atoms We are then introduced to the concept of the spinning electron and are shown the application of the vector model to a number of cases. These are followed by chapters on special topics, such as intensity and polarization of spectral lines, the Pauli exclusion principle and the periodic system of elements, X-ray spectra, and magnetic phenomena. The chapter on X-ray spectra is particularly good in that i t summarizes briefly all the fundamentals of spectra. As may he guessed from this
1970
list of topics, the hook is far from being a royal road t o the understanding of this phase of the structure of the atom, but it is a sure road and one full of pleasure to those who enjoy intellectual discovery. DONALD H. A m n ~ w s T ~ JOXNE B HOPKXNI UNIVERSITY HOMEWOOD. BALTIYORB,
MD.
Physiology and Biochemistry in Modern M.B., Medicine. J. J. R. MACLEOD, I.L.D., D S c , F.R.S., Regius Professor of Physiology in the University of Aherdeen, Scotland. Sixth edition, The C. V. Moshy Company, St. Louis. 1930. xxnii f 1074 pp. 295 illustrations. 16 X 24 cm. $11.00. This is the sixth and somewhat enlarged edition of a well-known book. The 103 chapters are divided into the following ten parts: I . The physi~chemicalbasis of physiological processes. 11. The hlood and lymph. 111. The newomuscular system. IV. The special senses. V Circulation of the blood. VI. Respiration. VII. Digestion. VIII. The excretion of urine. IX. Metabolism. X. The endocrine organs, or ductless glands. Wherever it is appropriate, anatomical. physiological, biochemical, and pathological contributions have been combined. The ohject of this hook, as stated in the preface to the first edition, is t o correlate the more pertinent advances of the fundamental medical sciences and t o place them in perspective for the ben-fit of the clinician. I n the preface to the sixth edition it is stated: "Steady increase in general knowledge, rather than discovery, has been the feature of the advances in physlology during the last three years, so that changes in the present edition are spread throughout the volume." I n attempting t o accomplish his purpose Macleod returns from time t o time t o discuss fundaments1 principles and this he does in a descriptive manner admirably suited t o the more usual mental habit of a student of descriptive sciences. What has heen gained is fairly good exposition of the skeletons of principles. What has
