RECENT BOOKS BIBLIOORAPHY OP SOLID ADSORBENTS.Vidor R. Deite. Research Associate for the U. S. Cane Sugar Refiners a t the National Bureau of Standards. A Contribution from the U. S. Cane Sugar Refiners and Bone Char Manufacturers and the National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C., 1944. hxxi 877 pp. 17.5 X 25.5 cm. $12. This volume is the outcome of a literature survey undertaken in connection with a broad research program on the nature and uses of boneblack and other adsorbents. This investigation is sponsored by the United States sugar refiners and bone char manufacturers and is being carried out a t the National Bureau of Standards in accordance with its Research Associate Plan, under the supervision of Frederick Bates and the immediate leadership of the author. I n an introductory text of 73 pages the theories concerning the nature of adsorption are b r i d y reviewed and the history of adsorbents and their applications is traced. from the earliest recorded use of boneblack as a pigment in Egypt in the year 2650 B.C. to the present day. Special attention is paid t o bone char and vegetable carbons and to the part they have played in the development of sugar refining. The use of carbons for other purposes, such as gas or vapor adsorption, water purification, and solvent recovery, is also discussed, likewise the nature and uses of bleaching clays, diatomaceous earth, silica gel, ion exchangers, and adsorbents used in chromatograpby. Finally, brief descriptions of the sources and characteristics of domestic and foreign carbons and of other commercial adsorbents are presented in the alphabetical order of trade names. This introductory chapter makes very interesting reading, not only because of the scholarly treatment of the scientific and technical aspects of the subject but atso because the human side has not been neglected by the author. There are some delightful life sketches of the chemists and engineers who have played a prominent part in the development of the sugar-refining industry in the United States during the past hundred years or so. The bibliography proper, comprising 805 pages, contains 6002 carefully prepared abstracts of scientific and technical articles on solid adsorbents which have appeared in the literature from 1900 through 1942. I t is divided into seven chapters. each headed by a brief introduction defining the arrangement and scope of the material considered in it. Chapter I (196 pages, 1386 abstracts) deals with the adsorption of gases and vapors on carbons, metals, inorganic compounds including zeolites, glass, quartz, silica gel, other porous oxides, clays, and soils; adsorption on textiles and organic materials in general is not considered unless the paper is of unusual interest. Chapter I1 (pages 197-348, 1105 abstracts), on adsorption from solutions, is subdivided according t o solvents, whether inorganic or organic, and according to adsorbents, whether carbon or noncarbon. Papers on ion exchangers and on chromatographic adsorption are also included in this chapter. Chapter 111 (pages 349-373. 176 abstracts) takes up heats of adsorption and heats of wetting. Articles on the various theories of adsorption are abstracted in chapter IV (pages 375431,456 abstracts). Chapter V (psges 433-688, 1985 abstracts) takes up the uses of carbons and of miscellaneous adsorbents in the sugar and other industries, in medicine. pharmacy, and agriculture. Papers on carbon catalysts are also placed in this chapter. Reviews, general papers, and articles on the chemical and physical properties of solid adsorbents and their determination are abstracted in chapter VI (pages 689-767, 624 abstracts). Chapter VII (pages 769-805, 270 abstracts) deals with methods of preparation of carbons from animal, mineral, and vegetable sources. Complete author and subject indexes, with abundant cross references in the latter, greatly facilitate the practical use of the book, which provides the investigator in the field of adsorption and adsorbents with a gold mine of readily available information. The author makes no claim for completeness. Many articles
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that are only of secondary or collateral interest have been omitted t o save space. It is unfortunate that the patent literature had t o he left out entirely, and it is hoped that the author will a t some future date compile a cornpan& volume of patent abstracts. Only a small number of typographical m r s , usually in the spelling of foreign words, have been noticed. Paper, typography, and binding are first class. The b w k is warmly recommended not only t o those who are directly interested in the industries where solid adsarhents are used, but t o researchers in this and allied fields. A need for it has been felt for a long time. F. W. ZERBAN NBW YOEX SUGARTRADE LIQORATOPY, IAC. Nsw Y O ~ C.TY K
VALENCY:CLASSICAL IWD MODERN. W. G. Palmer. Pellaw of St. John's College, Cambridge; University Lectu~erin Chemistry. The University Press, Cambridge, England, 1944. ix 242 pp. 59 figs. 43 tables. 13.5 X 21.5 cm. 8 . 5 0 . The aim of this book on valence is set forth on its iacket: "The fir51 four chapters present a compact elementary accounc of cla.sical nnd modern conceptions of valency, suitable for the general render and for studcnts preparing for university ernminations. The concluding chapters are more advanced; chapter five shows how the electronic theory is applied t o the heavier elements and their principal compounds; and the last chapter is devoted to current developments, and theories still in their early stages." The hook is well organized and well written. The fist chapter is a very interesting historical introduction. I n some histories of chemistry, one gets the impression that the long delay in accepting Avogadro's hypothesis (1811 t o 1858) was due largely t o ignorance. According t o this book, it was due primarily to the opposition of Dalton and Berzelius. In spite of such eminent opposition, Dumas had accepted the hypothesis as early as 1827, and Prout by 1834 regarded it as proved! His rather unusual method of treating the subject is set forth by the author in these words: "It is intended in this Section t o take the elucidation of structure as far as modern experimental methods will permit, but t o defer presenting the solutions of the numerous problems so raised until after the discussion of the electronic theory in the later chapters. It is hoped that this separation will more clearly define both the problem and the current explanation, and by emphasizing the permanent insistence of the former and the power (and defects) of the latter lead t o the clrarer understandina of both." This h o ~ eseems t o be justified by the finished product. I t is one of the best books in its field. The author's attemot t o exolain auantum numbers and atomic orbitals- without mine into mathematical detail renre-~~~ -~~~ z-sents a real advance in chemical education. His illustrafions and examples are good. This one is particularly a p t : "To the nonmathematical the conception of resonance hybrids is a difficult one, especially as there is no obvious manner of pictorial representation. A very simple but crude analogy may prove helpful. Suppose a printer is asked t o produce a handbill in green color, a t short notice. He discovers t o his consternation that he has exhausted his green ink but is well supplied with blue and yellow. He. therefore. carefullv over-mints a blue bill with the vellow ink, am1 will, if his 'repistration' ii r k c cno~rpl~. not raise a n y d o h s in his rllstnmu that the normnl printing it, green ink has been carried out." This review provides an opportunity t o register a protest against the habit the "English schwl" has of writing coordinate or dative bonds as if each atom involved were an ion. Professor Palmer even calls such covalent bonds by a new name, the "co-ionic" bond! The habitual writine of coordinate bonds with charges attached is cumbersome, misleading, and unnecessary. It is not helpful t o the expert and is most certainly confusing to students.
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The only fault this reviewer could find is not in the book itself, but in the statement on its jacket. "General readers" do not have sufficient background to read even the first four chapters. Seniors majoring in chemistry should have-in fact, the book might very well be used for part of a course in "advanced chemistry" t o he given during the senior year. In the opinion of this reviewer the discussion of the heavier elements could have been a little more clear-cut if the author had not refused t o abandon the Mendeleeff form of the periodic table for one based directly upon atomic structure [see THISJOURNAL, 20,21 (194311. On theother hand. it was good t o see an unequivocal discussion of the following covalent compmnds which the reviewer has used for some time to disillusion students with regard t o the sacredness of the octet theory: BeCI., BCla, CC1,. PFs, SFe, IF,, 04F8. The classical formulas for HpSOaand are also supported, i . c., twelve valence electrons around the sulfur atom rather than eight. Every chemist (especially every teacher of chemistry) should buy this hook, not only to read from cover t o cover, but tomake i t part of his personal reference library. I t is well worth its modest price. W. F. L u n m
methods and ideas presented here have been developed and used over a period of two decades in commercial testing." The subject matter is divided into 39 chapters. Much of the print is small, so that actually the wealth of material is greater than appears from the number of pages. There is profuse cross reference, and generally to specific portions of the text rather than t o general paragraphs or chapters. The reader will find here not only what he has a right t o expect, namely discussion of the methods of examining waters, alloys, paints, cements, paper, soaps, gases, pigments, rubber, rotenone, etc., etc., hut also modern methods for analyzing substances of recent impprtance, suchassynthetic plastics and synthetic elastomers. There is an excellent chapter on the preparation of indicators and reagent solutions, and the standardization of t h e titrimetric solutions. The index is unusually complete. This is no cookbook. hut rather a real euide and counsellor t l m makrs w r y inrerrstiq and profitahle reading lr is OIK of the 1mnk.i the rrvivwer would like to take wirh him if he were destined to he ctrandtrl in hts lalwratory.
NO)ITABIST&PN UNIYBI(SITI BOSTON, MASSACHVSBITS
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICALMETHODSROR ENGINEERINGSTUDENTS. 0.M. Smith and L. F. Shemar, Professors of Chemical Engineering, Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc , New York, 1944. viii COMMERCIAL METHODSOF ANALYSIS. Forter Dee Sndl and 118pp. 22 figs. 21 X 28 cm. $2.50. Frank M . Biffen. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1944. vii 753 pp. 152 figs. 44 tables. 13 X 21 The authors indicate in the preface t h a t this laboratory manual cm. $6.00. was written for a laboratory course for engineering students who This book fills a long-felt need. The senior author's extensive have completed the freshman year of chemistry. They state that experience as a teacher and director of a commercial laboratory "some of the aims of the book are: (1) To teach through the doing of a task which the student knows t o be practical and in was precisely t h e right combination t o produce a hook t h a t will serve as a guide for students and also as an authoritative reference which he is interested and finds enjoyment. (2) To teach techwork for the practicing analyst. The authors have done their niques in t h e use of the chemist's tools, such as the analytical balaqce, volumetric equipment, and standardized solutions. work well and the hook can be recommended t o both novice and The* skills are developed in the exercises t h a t deal with the experienced analysts. Any serious student will make this textanalyses of fuels and water. (3) To add experiences and t o assist book a part of his permanent library. The preface tells the objective and method of the book. t h e student t o acquire skill in testing and analyzing those ma*'Many meritorious and deservedly well-known textbooks have teriak which all engineers, regardless of branch, will be using in been published on theoretical analytical chemistry. This book theirjprofessional work, which include the examination of fuels, has another nuroos-to show the method of a o ~ r o a c hto analvsis gases, lubricants, metals, and alloys, and the corrosion resistance . tenals. (4) To conduct experiments t h a t illustrate and o i ihc i~murncrsblcconrplcx cummercinl prallrcts &>ling on t h r market today. lluny of thrsc arc colloids, some arc cmulrionq sup ement the theoretical portions of a study of the chemistry that may ror~tainhalf a down ingwditnts hcstdcs water and oil, of erigineering materials." The manual contains a section on detailed instructions for a majority contain organic as well as inorganic ingredients, and writing the reports, followed by a section entitled "An Introducas unknown samples most of them would present problems extion to Chemical Literature." The first exercise is a series of tremely difficult of solution b y the inexperienced chemist. Standard methods have, in many cases, been introduced, though assignments which necessitate the use of the literature of chemoften not in t h e exact words of these methods. . Simplifications istry and engineering. The succeeding exercises are, in order: "Use of the Analytical Balance"; "Analysis of Water"; "Proxihave been adooted in some Darts. and. what is more imoortant. explanations of strps, the reasurn for w h i ~ ~ish not swrlicicntlg mate Analysis of Coal"; "Determination of the Heating Value of Coal, Oxygen Bomb"; "Determination of the Heating Value of clear, hare LP+IIgiven. . . . f'articular care has bcen taken ro set forth i u logical sequence the preliminary steps that nec~sranly Coal, Peroxide Bomb"; "Gas Analysis"; "Distillation of Gasoline and Similar Products"; "Flash and Fire Points"; "Viscosity precede the actual analysis of samples of unknown composition. Both in this and in subsequent procedure, an endeavor is made of Oils"; "The Alloys of Lead and Tin"; "Microscopical Examit o clarify the meaning of each step and often t o give the reason nation of Iron and Steel"; and "Conosian of Metals." Diafor it. This is t o develop the inexperienced analyst into an ex- grams of apparatus are given where necessary and duplicate perienced one by logical methods. . Methods are as simple and data sheets are included after each experiment. The writing is direct as Dossible. com~atiblewith accuracv. Where data are clear and the printing excellent. The reviewer found the experiments interesting, but doubts available. limits of accuracv are discussed as t o what is desirable whether thev much material which is not alreadv cav* reoresent . ered in approved chemical engineering curricula. Such courses commercial laboratory has been emphasized by methods t h a t aim usually include a course on library use as well as technical analysis. a t general economy of time and materials without sacrificing Some of the experiments are also covered in the usual physical reliability of results. A feature of the hook is a n attempt to set chemistry courses. The situation in other engineering courses is forth succinctly, frequently b y stating the reactions involved, quite different. If time can be found in such courses of study to include the material of this hook, such time would he very well the methods of calculating t h e results of determinations in order t o show reason for the formula eiven. . . . Soecial methods have spent. ARTEURA. VKRNON
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