SEMIXICRO QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. (THE BARBER PRESSURE BULB METHOD.) 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~rcnce Tables, 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 to 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 prac- tical. Whether the filtration methods just described are su- perior to centrifuges or other small scale filtering devices is a question involving many facton and is one which the reviewer leaves to the attrition of time and experience to answer. The number of solutions and reagents required is noteworthy, Pages 210, 211, and 213 list a total of 95 items which includes 41 inor- ganic reagents, 25 organic reagents, 5 indicators, and 24 test solu- tions. Figures 50. 51. and 52. presumably pictures of the re- quired solution bottles and racks, contain the pictures of 119 bottles.

The typography and binding of the book are excellent. JAMB CORNOC

STAT= UNIVBPSXTY OR IOWA ,ow* CITY. IOWA

EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. W. G. Palmer, M.A., Sc.D., D.Sc., Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, Uni- versity Lecturer in Chemistry in the University of Cam- bridge. 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 ws t a l s and on surface chemistry in which more recent developments are empharized. Each chap- ter includes (a) a brief set of notes introducing the subject under consideration, (b) detailed directions for conducting the experi- ments, and (c) completely worked examples of nearly all the ex- periments. The author states in the preface that the introduc- tory notes are not intended, "to replace the use of adequate text books on the theory of the subject," hut rather to offer to the students ready access to principles whiieat work on anexperimen- tal problem. Regardimg the detailed instructions the author takes the following position, "I venture to counter the criticism that the ~ractical instructions 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 manip- ulation." A noteworthy feature of the hook is "the choice and nature of the experiments, necessitating the simplicity of home- made apparatus and sometimes the substitution of rough and readv means of observation for less direct methods. which would

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. In general, a number of experiments are presented in each field, thus making i t possible to make a selection or to use the manual for courses in which nry ing 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 print- ing and binding is excellent.

The reviewer does not hesitate to recommend this book to 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 ex- pensive if indeed obtainable at all.

RALPH A. BEEBE Ar~sasr COLLBQ~

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. THIS CHEMICAL AGE comes nearer to 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 in- structor, it might well be used for that purpose. The book is written in popular vein to keep the public from being scared away, but the chemistry is presented also, for those who willlook for it. The author is trying to perform a service to chem- istry 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

PBOV~DENCB. R ~ O D B ISLAND

HANDBOOK OF CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS. A READY-REFERENCE BOOK OF CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL DATA. Charles D. Hdg- man, M.S., Associate Professor of Physics, Case School of Ap- plied Science, Editar-in-Chief; and Harry N. Holmes, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, Oberlin College. Associate Editor. Twenty-Fifth Edition. Chemical Rubber Publishing Com- pany. 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 to milli- bars 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.

PORTR~ITS OF FAMOUS PHYSICISTS. With Biographical Ac- counts. 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 physi-

cists: Galileo. Huygens, Newton. Amp&. Fresnel, Faraday, Toule. Clausius. Maxwell. Gibbs. Hertz. and Rowland. The brief

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

. .~ . ~ ~ ~

biographical .kelrhr- are good and tg, thr point. cmphasi~iny the work of each man. Pen awl ink : ~ C ~ C ~ C I and fariimile, of dorw ments also illnstrete the tevt.