problems of all kinds met by freshmen in chemistry are solved, usually by substitution in appropriate formulas. Chemical equations are given to illustrate each principle or process as it is stated or described. I n most features the review is more nearly up-to-date than the freshman texts. For instance, under Artificial Radioactivity, twenty artificially radioactive elements are named. Some incongruities must necessarily be included if review material for twenty-one texts is to be furnished. The classical definitions for acid and base appear, but Hs+O also is mentioned; "Complete Ionization (Debye and Hiickel)" and "Degree of Ionization of an Electrolyte". are adjacent paragraphs, and the calculations are for strong electrolytes. Nearly all equations are molecular equations. Some misstatements have slipped in. On page 1 appears, " B o i l i i point is the transition point of liquid to gas" and on page 3 "Displacement is when.. These and the other similar unavoidable errors which creep into first printings will undoubtedly be corrected in the next printing. The appendix includes useful tables and a glossary of more than two hundred chemical terms frequently misunderstood by freshmen. I n the opinion of the reviewer this hook will be an aid to mod students for organization and review and -~~a temptation toiazy students to lea; groups of words which they hope will serve as a substitute for knowledge a t examinations.
.."
~
row& S r m s C o ~ m a e A r s s , low*
CHEMICALSPECTROSCOPY. Wallnce R. Brode, Professor of Chemistry in the Ohio State University. John Wiley and Sons. Inc., New York City, 1939. xi 495 pp. 293 figs. 15 X 23 cm. $5.00. ~h~ purpose of the book as stated by the author in duction is "to supply spectroscopic information to chemical workers, as well as to serve as a textbook for a course in chemical spectroscopy,u It would seem from an of the volume that the author has attempted to prepare a book which would refer to all of the spectroscopic information of interest to a chemist and would contain a workine " manual with directinn for carrying out a number of spectroscopic procedures useful to chemical analysts. Methods for qualitative and quantitative analyses by emission and by absorption spectra are described. Tables of the wave-lengths of the principal spectral lines of the elements and spectrum charts are included in the book, and these are extensive enough to be adequate for much oP the analytical work that a chemist would likely be interested in do$g. I n addition, the book contains directions for twelve laboratory experiments designed for the training of students in spectroscopic technic and analytical procedures. A brief chapter on the theory and description of color is included and, finally, a discussion of the theory and practice of photography and suggestions for the arrangement and equipment of a spectrographic laboratory. Because of the rapid increase during recent years in the use by chemists, chemical engineers, metallurgists, and mannfacturers of spectroscopic methods and data in research, analytical, and developmental work and in the control of the production of chemicals, metallic alloys, and other products, the appearance of this book is timely. I t will he a valuable aid to those who wish to enter the field of applied spectroscopy as a profession and t o those who want to learn what can he done by spectroscopic methods and how spectroscopic data may be interpreted. The wide range of applicability of spectroscopy t o problems in chemistry is indicated and the attempt is made in brief discussions of the theories of atomic and molecular structure and atomic and molecular spectra t o show how one may obtain from spectroscopic data such important information as the constitution of a sample of material, the structure and dimensions of molecules, the strengths of bonds between atoms and atomic groups in molecules, the heats of dissociation of molecules, and so forth. The number of topics discussed or mentioned in the book is
+
ihe
~~~~
~~
~
~
very large, and the reader becomes conscious of a conflict between the desirability of making the book a complete compendium of spectroscopic information and the necessity t o limit its size. As a result, some of the topics are treated so briefly as t o make their appreciation and understanding from a study of this book alone quite impossible. Some suhjects as. for example, the structure of the atom, are discussed in such elementary terms in order to save space that the ideas are hardly in conformity witb the present views of experts in the field. Even the directions for analytical procedures, particularly those for quantitative analysis by emission spectra, are briefer than one could wish, and the correlation between the fundamental theories and the analytical procedures is weak because of the limitations imposed by the size of the book. It will be necessary both for the student and the analyst to consult other works and original papers to get a full understanding of the subjects discussed and to get detailed working directions for analyses. An adequate bibliography is given in the book for this purpose. The book is profusely illustrated, and the illustrations will be found to be valuable as aids to an understanding of the subjects discussed and as guides for work along similar lines. The pictures of instruments available for spectroscopic work and the references to them and to their manufacturers will he helpful to those who wish to purchase such equipment. The listing on the spectrum charts of the principal lines of many elements in their approximate positions in the spectrum will be found to be a great convenience to spectroscopic analysts. 0.S. DUFPENDACK UNIVBRSITY OP MICHIGAN ANN Aaaoa, M ~ A T O A N
THIRDDIOESTOF INVESTIGATIONS IN THE TEACHINO OF SCIENCE. Francis D. Curtis, Ph.D.. Professor of Secondary Education and of the Teaching of Science, University of ~ i c h i ~ a nP. . Blakiston'sSon&Co.,Philadelphia, 1939. xviii 419pp. 14 .. .--
''
Cm.
--
+
88.30.
AS the title implies, this is the third volume in a series. The first was published in 1926, the second in 1931. The current volume together with the prec;$ing ones furnish a record of the efforts of science teachers to use research methods in the study of their teaching problems. The record as given in these three volumes may be regarded as practically complete through 1937. As in the Second Digest, the members of the National Associetion for Research in Science Teaching codperated with the author in selecting the investigations to be digested. The technics employed allowed the inclusion of some few highly opinionated reports which might not have been included as investigations by a more rigid criterion. However, the merits of the method aployed in making the selection outweigh its demerits. The grouping of investigations, together with the number of digested studies in each group, will indicate something of the scope of the work and possibly give a hint as to the extent of professional activity on the part of teachers. There are five dealing witb teaching science in the elementary school; ten witb teachidg general science; seven with teaching biology; eleven with teaching physics; six with teaching chemistry; forty with science teaching in secondary schools, without reference to a particular subject; and fifteen dealing with some phase of college teaching, mostly with survey courses and with problems of teacher education. The book reviews ninety-four investigations. Of these t h i r t y - 6 ~are dissertations offered for degrees of Doctor of Philosophy in fifteen universities. I t is the intention of the author and publisher "to issue afourth volume a few years hence, bringing the presentation of important research work in this field of education again up-to-date." Professor Curtis is doing a valued service for students of science teaching and of secondary education. He may be assured that his fourth and succeeding volumes in this series will be eagerly welcomed. S. R. Powsns T&ACBBI(S COLLBGB NEW YORIC'TY
