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operation, Chapter 6 reviews the science of furnace construetion-the testing and properties of refractories, the construction principles for wall and crown. The last chapter summariaes the application of the scientific method to furnaces. This is given uider three main topics: diagno~isof a given single furnace, ~tatisticdstudy of a furnace type, and modification of an existing tvne. Acknowledement is made to the fact that the comulexities of furnace design and operation make it necessary for science to work in prtrtner~hipwith "art" or "know-how." A table of conversion factors and an index conclude the book; most chapters are followed by individual summaries. It is to be hoped that this book will become widely distributed throughout industry, research institutions, and engineering schools.
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complex applications), coatings and films (protective and decorative ooatings, preservation of stone and other porous materials, sizing and impregnation), banded surfaces (adhesive films, conjunctive cements, consolidated masses, stabilization of soils), sols, gels, and polymers (fluid sols, coagulation, dry gels, eatalysts), and physiological behavior (internal effects, external effects, pharmaceuticals). The thousands of entries in the author index and the 45 pages of subject index make it easy to look up a certain topic, but your reviewer was constantly distracted by the neighboring accounts of such things as the use of silicates on the aforementioned Malayan roads, in paper boxes in which gasoline may be burned, in the arc outting of metal under water, in drawing bolts, in making television tubes, in de-inking paper,
GUENTHER YON ELBE
U. S. BUREAOOP MLNES PIITBBURWI. PENNBII.VANIA
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SOLUBLE SILICATES: THEIR PROPERTIES ANJJ USES (2 VOLUMES)
The late Jomes G.Vail, Director, and John H. Wills, Research Supemisor of Patents, Phikdelphia Quartz Co. A. C. S. Monograph No. 116. Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York, 1952. 337 pp. Illustrated. 15.5 X Volume 1 ("Chemistry"): xii 23.5cm. $9. Volume 2 ("Technology"): xri 668pp. Illustrated. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $15.
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THISwork, which replaces Dr. Vail's long-oubof-print A. C. S. Monograph No. 46 on "Soluble Silicates in Industry," is described on the jacket as "the only complete treatment in any language." No one will argue with this appraisal, biased as it may be, becautuse the amount of material covered by its 931 pages of text, its 2300 references, and its 90 pages of index can only be described as staggering. If you would like to develop photographs, huild rubber roads in Malaya, study the phase relationships in the quaternary system Na20-Ca0--SiOpH20, grow large crystals of qua&, or do anything else in which soluble silicates will be useful, this is your book. Volume 1 makes a great effort to collect all the theoretical and physicoehemical information on soluble silicates in one place, classified in five chapters concerning history, present practices in preparation, homogeneous systems, heterogeneous systems, and complex systems. The impressive amount of information obtained at the Geophysical Laboratory of tho Carnegie Foundation is incorporated through the active cooperation of Dr. George W. Morey, and similar souroes well known to Dr. Vail have been enlisted to great advantage. This factual information on the silicate systems would be an indigestible mass of data wereit not for the almost complete translation into graphical form. The authors and the staff of Philadelphia Quartz Co. have gone to a great deal of trouble to present a critical survey in a readable form, and the numerous figures and tables are a. great help. reviewer noted Just as nersonsl imnressions of Volume 1., vaur " with particular interest the discussions of the conservation of proteins, starch, and scarce phosphates by the substitution of sodium silicates, the analytical procedures given in full, the complete treatment given to surface tension and viscosity of solutions, the crystallographic and petrographic data, and the striking photomicrographs. Despite the separation of chemistry from technology in this volume, the utilitarian aspects are always pointed out (as in the discussion of water softening in Chapter 5). This is a very practical book. Volume 2 presents, in the words of Dr. Wills, "some theoretical statements designed as a guide to practical use of soluble silicates in particular applications but, in.the main, describes where and how the soluble silicates have been found valuable in the past, especially in the more recent years since the publication of the original monograph." The information is divided into chapters on interfaces modified by silicate solutions (detergents and detergent mixtures, effects on metal and other inorganic surfaces, effects on textile fibers and other organic surfaces, dispersion and
date. Dr. Vail has long been appreciated by chemists the world over, hut even if he had not been, his name would henceforth he blessed by the thousands of chemists who find they need to know something about the theory or practice of soluble silioates and are saved many hours of digging in the original literature by this really expert work. E. G. ROCHOW H ~ n v ~ nUom v e n s ~ ~ r CAUBRIDYE. MABBACRUBET-TB
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION Lewis R. Koller, Research Associate, General Electric Research Laboratory. John Wileg & Sons, Inc., New York, 1952. ix 270 pp. Illustrated. 15 X 23 om. $6.50.
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sources is given, with many illustrations, spectral distrihution curves, and tables of operational characteristics. The remainder of the hook is concerned mainly with discussion of selected topics. which are: solar radiation and its ultraviolet content, the trans: mission and reflection of materials, methods of detection of ultraviolet radiation. No attempt is made to treat all applications comprehensively. The technical descriptions are clear and well written. This reviewer found the information on are characteristics most valuable, and recommends the book to others who use sources of ultraviolet radiation. A. B. F. DUNCAN U ~ w e n s l ~OPr ROCAESTER ROC~~ST New B ~ Yonr .
INK ANJJ PAPER IN THE PRINTING PROCESS Andries Voet, Director of Ink Research, I. M. Huber Corporation, Barger, Texas. Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York, 1952. xii 213 pp. 8 0 figs. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $5.90.
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THE author of this book came as a guest to this country in 1935; he returned in 1939 to stay, attain citizenship, and become a. leading scientist in the printing ink industry. Called upon to lecture on ink technology at New York University, he found that recent reports of scientific investigations in the field (including a number conducted in his own laboratory) were not readily accessible to students. The book is offered, therefore, rts an introduction to the physics and chemistry of ink and its interaction with paper. I t is intended for somewhat advanced students of the graphic arts who should have a basic understanding of scientific principles, and who are presumed to be familiar with general formulstion and technology, color, gloss, and dispersion.
