book reviews account of his career. Some may find it too detailed but certainly it provides a picture almost withortt parallel of the life and actions of a great man of science. The name Lawrence will be kept alive not only by the record of his accomplishments but also by the deserved honor bestowed orb him when element 103 was discovered in 1961 aud named lawrencium.
Universily of Cincinnali Cineinnali, Ohio
The Fundamenfolr of Theoretical Chernirtry-Wave Mechmirr Applied lo the Study of Alomr and Molecules
Ilaymond Daydcl, Professor a t the Sorbonne. T~.anslated by K. E. Walls. Pe'ergnmou Press, Ltd., New York, 1968. xx 211 pp. Figs. and tables. 14.5 X 22cm. $10.
+
This is a. translation of a French text book wit,h the somewhat over generalized title "Les Fundements de la Chimie Theoretiqne" published by Gsothier- villa^ in 1956. I t has probably been a useful text for t,he French speaking student of quantum chemistry. It is doubtful whether the English speaking sbndeut will find it eqttally t~sefitl. Any merit which can he funnd in the bnok stems fmm the fact that bccanse the a ~ t t h ais . a n active contrihnLo~.
to the development of quantom chemistry, his occasional assessments and criticisms add color to the material. Furthermore some unconventional topics (such as "Loges") are found here and not in other standard ttexta. Though their usefulness is still debatable, some readem may find American these concepts appealing. chemists are currently exposed to material of this depth rtt the senior or graduate level. I t is perhapa worth noting that the text contains no problems for the student,, a n inadequate index, and no references to work after 1954. The author assumes a familiarity with standard wave mechanics of one particle systems, and some understanding of matrices and Hilbert space. Ire then begins by stating, without proof and only occasional references to French texts, equations governing angular momentum quantiaation. It would be impossible for the reader to follow the author without a rigorous introductory Course. Even then the reader is frustrated by s n unconvent i a n d notation. The translation editor justifies some of this by pointing out that he is thus "enabling the reader in most eases to refer hack quickly to the French edition." I t is difficult to imagine many readers benefiting from this "advantage." Some of the ~~nconventionnl notation is probably the author's. Fur example, it is doubt,ful whether there is any merit in \!sing the symbols o, n, 6, et,c. for atomic orbitals as proposed on page 23. The diagrams in this sectiun d m , leave something t o he desired, namely accuracy, labeling, and i:aptions. The remaining part of the "Atoms" sectiun deals competently with many electron at,oms with
.
particular emphasis on the concept of "shells" and "loges" which are the invent,ion of Professor Dslldel and may be of some pedagogical value. The section on molecules covers the standard methods of calculating electronic and nuclear wave functions, and then deals a t some leneth with the "low" canceot as
provide the more fundamental derivations and explanations, the reader may find other annoyiug featores. The literary style is rather tortured. I t is written almost entirely in one sentence paragraphs. The construction is often strange and cnmbersome. Take for example thia sentence whieh is found on page 111. "We meet a t the beginning of the study of molecules a theorem which recalla that of the separation of the electron and nuclear terms in the case of the atom and has, in fact, the same origin: the much greater mass of the nucleus with respect to the electron." A justification for this translation by J. M. Wilson and R. E. Watta lies in the recent translation by Professor Daudel of his text: "The Electronic Structnre of Molecules" (Pergamon 1966). Since this more advanced text continnally refers to secbions in the earlier one, the two books form a unit which serious students of the Horbonne School will wish to own. However, there exist much more readable introdnctions t,o the fundamentals of quantum chemistry. E. A. OGRYZLO Uniuwsilv of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada
Volume 45, Number 10, October 1968
/
A847
