BOOK REVIEWS Ever since the discovery of thc rxtremely toxic nature of Hnoro.ze~ticacid there has been agreat deal of wo1.k drvotrd t o this compound and to the organic fluorides as a whole. It was Roan found t h a t monoHooro aliphatic compormds n w e either violently toxic also, or almost, completely nontoria. Further study showed that any compound which could he converted in the body into Huoroacntin acid belonged to the toxir group. Thus a. large nnmher of organic Huovides are potentially violent poisons. In view of the increasing use of t,hese compounds in modern industry, i t is well to have t h ~ present book svailable. Even such nontoxic substances as Teflon can give rise t o toxic compounds by p,vrolysis. An," worker in fluorine chemist~yshoi~lrlkeep this reference handy. The reason for the toxicity of flnot.oactic acid is now oonsidezwl to be its ready reaction with caensyme A to form the fluoroacetyl coenzyme, which blocks fur.t h w rcaction in the Krebs cycle and results in the accumulation of flnororitric acid. This reaction has supplied a new and extremely versatile tool for the inveatigation of the metabolic yeartions of s l m o ~ t m y elam of aliphat,ie campannds int,o which a fl~rorineatom can be inttmlnced. As a. result, our ~zndwstsndingof the rrsctions of a large number of sobstances in the body is now well nnderstaod. Thc present hook covers this material in dr-
A682
/
Journol of Chemical Education
tail, and is thus a n essential w f w m r r for almost any biochemist. In addition, far the laborstory WOI.~PI., there we full drtails for. the pt.epamtion of t,he important compounds, and repol.ts of their pl.opcrtics and toxicities. 131tensive roverage of the litemture, a good indcx, and eorrvenient form (t,he hook is s paperback) make for easy usage. This hook is highly recommended. HENRYhP. LEICESTER College of Physicians and Surgeons 9 n n Pmnrisco, Col~~fornin
Thermodynamic Principles for Chemical Engineers
Roge~. Gil~nonl, Palytochnie Inst,itnte of Brooklyn and Manostat Corparat,ion, Xew York. I'vent,ire-Hall, Ine., Ihglemood Cliffs, S e w Jersey, 1950. sxv 339 pp. Figs. and tnhlrs. Ili X 2.'3.5 rm. 188.25.
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Most readers may have thc same fedirig this rmiener when he firat saw the title of this hook, "R'hnt, another chemienl enginewing thermodjnamica boak?" After thumbing thlangh this boak the first time, the n d n . will feel that this book stwssrs the llnsic principles more! than t h ~ usual books on thc szme sobjert. ESPPcidly those intercstcd in phase r q ~ ~ i l i h ~ . i ~ ~ m as
(Conlin~redon page A684)
BOOK REVIEWS a n d phase transition r i l l frd that Prafessor Gilmont slanted this book in their direction even bhough he makes no claim t o do this. His method of appmaeh and his method of presentation sepm murh clearer and, although most e a p ~ r thermot dynamneists will claim that this is so because tho book is so elementavy, you will find t h a t P~&ssor Gilmont achieves the same cnd result as some of the more complex treatments. Readers \ d l like the wction on Bihliogmphy for Supp1emental.y Rending for each chapter in the hook. HP leaves some detail discnssion and ~ x p l a n s t o ~ . ydiscussion to the sir appendinrs covering 33 pages: Ideal Gas Law, Mathematical Relations Used in Thrl~rnodmamies, Graphical Calculus, Partial Qoantities, Taylor's Series Expansion, and Detuminants. The chapter titles arr 1. 1ntl.otluctinn ( 5 pages), 2, Thormody~nmirOhs~rvables (18 pages), 3, Firat Lam- (7 pages), 4, First Law Applications (14 pages). 5, Seeond Law (15 pages), 0. Frw energy (9 pages), 10, Generalized Types of Thwmodynamic Functions (2-1 pagcs), I I, Introduction t o Chcmicnl Thcrmodynsmirs (17 pages), 12, Homogeneous Equilihrium of Chemical Reartions (15 pages), 13, Het,erogcneow Equilih~.ium( 2 2 pages), 14, Thc Phase Rulr (IF pages), 15, Experimental Determination of Chemical Potential (30 pages), IF, Application of Equilibrium (31 pages), and 17. An Introduction t o Irrevrrsihle Thwmad?; nxmics (22 pages). I n the few pages (Chaptrr 17) on Ir~.eversihle Thormodynnmirs, the author diseussrs thc Onssger ~.rlntionships ss a law rethrr than estnhlishing thc principle by a statistical mrrhanieal pl.oof 1,nred on microscopic reversihility. Ht.:~lsorovers in this rhaptev thr hwir eqllations for t,hermoelectiicit,y, the gmertrliard lhasic rtmations. ~, , and the aooliention of these 1,asir equations to thrrmomolrcr~lar flaw of gases as wcll as t h sppliratiou ~ to ehcmiral reaction rates. A unique method is nsrd in thr pt.esPntat,ion of the prohlcms. Kot only are all the problems g l m ~ p ~ together d in onc plare and arranged arcording to chapter number, but some RIP marked \!-ith n single or double nfitcrisk to signify sperial pt.ohlems. Thone marked with s single asterisk are of the individual selcrtion typc in which the stodcnt is given the option of ~elerting his system 01. data from the literature. At the disrretion of the instructor, specific systpms or data may be assigned t o some or all of the students. Those marked with a double nrterisli are of a group partiripation type. Most of the readers who arc not especially familiar with the ficld of rhemiral vngincering thermodynamics, at. those ryho have had a, roulw in this suhjett somr time ago, will gain grrstly from a prlxa:il of this text. ~
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JOHN J. MCI~ETTA The L'nfwsiti, qf Tezezas A aslin A684 / Journal of Chemical Education
