SEMIXICRO QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. (THE BARBERPRESSURE BULBMETHOD.) Heruey H. Berber, Ph.D., Associate Professor, and T . Ivan Taylor, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Chemistry, University of Minnesota. Harper and Brothers, New York City and London, 1942. xvi 446 pp. 2 plates, 54 figs. 15.4 X 23.5 cm. 53.50. Thi* tevt for students beginning qualitativr analysis 1s divided into Part Orre, Theory, pages 1 to 194: Part Two. Experimental Direction, pages 195 to 378; and Part Thrcr., Rrf~rcnceTables, etc., pages 379 to422. The theoretical part of this text is well organized, well written, and adequate. Both the Dehye-Hiickel and Br$nsted-Lowry theories are used. Teachers who like a complete exposition of the physical chemistry of the nature of electrolytes and their behavior in water solutions will like the theory part of this book. On the other hand teachers with limited time for the course may be unable t o cover all of the theoretical material presented. A minor fault is the use, in spats, of the words "base" and "basic" in both the Arrhenius and Br0nsted senses. In the experimental part of the text the authors have made a new and distinctive contribution to the mechanics of semimicro qualitative analysis without the use of centrifuges. To separate precipitates from filtrates the "Barber Pressure Bulb Methad" [Ind. Eng. Chem., Anal. Ed., 12.58 (1940)l is employed. In this method a pear-shaped rubber medical syringe is used to produce either suction or pressure filtration. The reviewer has tried these filtering expedients and testifies that they are entirely practical. Whether the filtration methods just described are superior t o centrifuges or other small scale filtering devices is a question involving many facton and is one which the reviewer leaves t o the attrition of time and experience t o answer. The number of solutions and reagents required is noteworthy, Pages 210, 211, and 213 list a total of 95 items which includes 41 inorganic reagents, 25 organic reagents, 5 indicators, and 24 test solutions. Figures 50. 51. and 52. presumably pictures of the required solution bottles and racks, contain the pictures of 119 bottles. The typography and binding of the book are excellent. J A M B CORNOC STAT= UNIVBPSXTY OR IOWA ,ow* CITY. I O W A
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EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY.W. G. Palmer, M.A., Sc.D., D.Sc., Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, University Lecturer in Chemistry in the University of Cambridge. First Edition. University Press, Cambridge; The Macmillan Company, New York City, 1941. xii 321 pp. 80 figs. 13 X 21 cm. $2.75. This volume presents material for a laboratory course in the conventional fields of physical chemistry with the addition of chapters on the properties of w s t a l s and on surface chemistry in which more recent developments are empharized. Each chapter includes (a) a brief set of notes introducing the subject under consideration, (b) detailed directions for conducting the experiments, and (c) completely worked examples of nearly all the experiments. The author states in the preface that the introductory notes are not intended, "to replace the use of adequate text books on the theory of the subject," hut rather t o offer to the students ready access to principles whiieat work on anexperimental problem. Regardimg the detailed instructions the author takes the following position, "I venture to counter the criticism that the ~racticalinstructions are so detailed as to imouen the . students' initiative, hy remnrking that if a beginner spends the greater part of his litmtcd laboratory imiud in mercly prospecting an experiment, with no satisfying result, discouragement will commonly overshadow all that he may well have learnt in manipulation." A noteworthy feature of the hook is "the choice and nature of the experiments, necessitating the simplicity of homemade apparatus and sometimes the substitution of rough and readv means of observation for less direct methods. which would overtax both the timcand erpcrienrr of the beginner." In the opinion bf the rrviewvr, thr alwrc 01,~trt~ves haw h e n rrachrd moil iucwrifnAy 'l'hr thmretical discwsions, while of
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necessity brief, appear to he consistently sound and pertinent. The laboratory directions are carefully stated in detail and one receives the impression that the student who uses them should not go far wrong. I n general, a number of experiments are presented in each field, thus making i t possible t o make a selection or to use the manual for courses in which n r y i n g amounts of time are available for laboratory work. The reviewer was frequently impressed by the ingenuity of the "rough and ready" methods mentioned by the author. This book is remarkably free from misstatements of fact or typographical errors. The job of printing and binding is excellent. The reviewer does not hesitate to recommend this book t o teachers who prefer a laboratory course in physical chemistry with simplified technic. It should be especially useful in wartime when mare complex apparatus may well become prohibitively expensive if indeed obtainable at all. RALPHA. BEEBE A r ~ s a s COLLBQ~ r Amaeasr, M*ss*urusmrs THIS CHEMICAL AGE. Williams Haynes. First Edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York City, 1942. x 385 xxii pp. 18figs. 2 charts. 15 X 23 cm. 83.50. THISCHEMICAL AGE comes nearer t o being a textbook for a laymen's course in modern industrial chemicals than any so far published. With the presentation of a few formulas by the instructor, it might well be used for that purpose. The book is written in popular vein t o keep the public from being scared away, but the chemistry is presented also, for those who willlook for it. The author is trying t o perform a service to chemistry such as Paul de Kruif has done for the biological sciences, and he has succeeded in large measure. The contents are hidden in chapter headings such as "In Vitro: I n Vivo," "The Elastic Eldorado," and "The Skeleton in the Vegetable Closet." Behind these titles are the fascinating stories of research men and the industrial development of the new fabrics, synthetic rubber, plastics, resins. "sulfa" drugs, dyes, synthetic camphor, and perfumes. This hook deserves a place on high-school and college science library shelves as well as on popular non-fiction lists. LGALLYN B. CLAPP Baowlr U~~veasmv
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HANDBOOK OF CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS.A READY-REFERENCE BOOKOF CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL DATA. Charles D. H d g man, M.S., Associate Professor of Physics, Case School of Applied Science, Editar-in-Chief; and Harry N. Holmes, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, Oberlin College. Associate Editor. Twenty-Fifth Edition. Chemical Rubber Publishing Company. Cleveland, 1911. sviii 2503 pp. 11.9 X 18.2 cm. $3.50. This is the usual standard handbook of reference material. with new and revised material bringing it up to date. A table of natural secants and cosecants has been added to the mathematical section; tables covering an ample range of values for the direct conversion of pressure in inches or centimeters of mercury t o millibars have been included; abbreviations and symbols have been completely revised in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee of the American Association of PhvsicsTeachers: material on the amino acids, isotopes, photographic plate and film speeds, and vitamins has been revised.
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PORTR~ITS OF FAMOUSPHYSICISTS.With Biographical Accounts. Henry Crm. Scripta Mathematics, New York City, 1942. 64 pp. 26 figs. 25.6 X 35.1 em. $3.75. Portraits, suitable for framing, of the following famous physicists: Galileo. Huygens, Newton. Amp&. Fresnel, Faraday, Toule..~ Clausius. Maxwell.. Gibbs. Hertz. and Rowland. The brief biographical .kelrhr- are good and tg, thr point. cmphasi~inythe work of each man. Pen awl ink : ~ C ~ C ~and C I fariimile, of d o r w ments also illnstrete the tevt.
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