OCTOBER, 1954

endless succession of vaguely related topics about which they remember little.

An attempt has heen made to..."+egrate" the aliphatic and aromatic series of compounds. In the case of hydrocarbons and alcohols and phenols, the aromatic compounds are discussed in the chapter following their aliphatic counterparts. In the case of aliphatic halides and carhonyl and carh~xyl compounds, from one to four chapters intervene before the corresponding aromatic compounds are discussed. In the case of nitrogen derivatives, aliphatic and aromatic compounds are discussed in the same chapter, although they are treated in separate sections. The student may find this arrangement confusing rather than en- lizhknine. ~ n .,

T1.r fmnxt of the buuk ia trmlitional. So q,:arial rqmwnllr 1iou.i ur plrotogmpl.~ are uml. Tlrc questi~mr $Ire g m J ku.l in IMa? caws arc thought-provucativ~~. The uw of cross rcfcrcnrrr within the text is a helpful feature which should he more widely adopted.

WILLIAM B. COOK

GENERAL CHEMISTRY: A TOPICAL INTRODUCTION

Eugene G. Rochow and M. Kent Wilson, Department of Chem- istry, Harvard University. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York. 1954. xiii + 602 pp. Many figs. 15.5 X 23.5 om. $6.

THIS unumd text for college freshmen makes no attempt to cover the entire field of general chemistry. The authors believe most current texts include more material than is necessary, and so they have carefully selected certain topics which they think are adequate for a sound fundamental training in general chemis- trv. Chemical ~rincioles are stressed thronehout. and are re-

Macromolecules, and Our Resources, are not only of general in- twest, but also provide excellent illustrations of chemical prin- ciples.

A number of mathematical derivations, not commonly given in general chemistry texts, are included. The authors do not ex- pect the student to he able to reproduce these, hut introduce the derivations as a means of illustrating how certain generalizations are reached.

The illustrations by Maryellin Reinecke are smell, hut for the most part excellently done. However, only four photographs are included in the text.

The exercises given a t the ends of all but two of the chapters are good, hut are relatively few in numher. The reviews of chemical arithmetic, mathematical concepts, and operatiow given in Appendixes I1 and 111 are so brief and condensed that many students win need to use a. hook of chemical calculations along with the text. References to such a book are given. Answers to the numerical problems are given in Appendix 111.

The authors only occasionally use the historical method of introducing a topic. Their experience has led them to believe that a mare direct approar.h, utiliaing personal experience and modern evidence, is better. However, a short, well written his- tory of the development of the ideas of chemistry is given in Ap- pendix I.

Typographical errors are few, but in common with most texts, a few inaccuracies and inconsistencies appear. The International Union of Chemistry (page 10) is now called the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. The values for the heats of formation of the gaseous hydrogen halides, given on page 195, are in error, as is the value of the K, for Al(OH), (page 222). The K, value given for AgS in the same table is evidently intended for Ag,S. The authors recommend the use of partial ionic equations (page 751, yet use the molecular forms of N&CO.. NaHCO.. and NaCIHIOl in the hvdrolvsis eauations

The entm text, although highly condensed in parts, is well written and ctndeots will find many parts extremely interesting. The book can be recommended to those instructors who teach serious, capable students, and who find that the topics included will meet the requirement- of their course.

MORRIS F. STUBRS NEW MEXICO INBTITDTE OP M C N I N ~ AND TECHNO~(IT

SOCORRO, NEW MLXKO

THE NATURE OF LIGHT AND COLOUR IN THE OPEN AIR

M. Minnoert. Translated by H. M. Kremer-Priest. Revised by K. E. Brian Joy. Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1954. xi + 362 pp. 160 figs. 42 plates. 13.5 X 20.5 cm. Paper, $1.95. Cloth, $3.95.

IT IS refreshing indeed in this age of "flying saucers," when 83

many natural phenomena are given a supernatural or unearthly explanation, to review this hook by Prof. M. Minnsert of the University of Utrecht. Here are the subjects of environmental optics and physiological optics in popular form, written so that anyone who cares to look and think can observe and understand the curious, the beautiful, the bizarre, and the spectacular phenomena that occur almost daily in our lives.

"The Nature of Light and Colour in the Open Air" should be especially popular amone; boys who are interested in naturnl science.

0 ORGANIC COATING TECHNOLOGY. VOLUME I: o n s , RESINS, VARNISHES ANE POLYMERS

Henry F. Payne, Technical Editor, American Cyanamid Com- pany, and Adjunct Professor, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. John Wiley h Sons, Inc., New York, 1954. vi i + 674 pp. Ilius- trated. 16 X 23.5 cm. $10.

IT IS seldom that one with a broad background in an industry is able to prepare an integrated series of books on the industry with- out the aid of collaborators for thevarious chapters. In this case, the author is not only skilled in the art hut also is presenting the material to students in college course work. The combinstion cannot fail to producean outstanding pair of hooks.

Although in his preface the author states that the hook is in- tended for students in paint courses and for new employees in the oil, resin, pigment, and paint industries, it is far more applicahlc than these erouus would indicate. I t Dresents the fuudamentsls and their ;ppli%ation to a variety o? chemicals whose use is broader than the organic coating industry. The initial chapter on the fundamentals of film formation gives the essentials of functionality and polymerizstion, the basis of the organic coating. The second chapter is an extensive description of the vegctahle and marine drying oils that are used for film formation, their com- position and treatment for use in coatings, and finally the merhe- nismof drying for film formation. Four chapters discuss other raw mzterials, volatile solvents, driers, varnish resins, and plastici- zers. Varnish manufacture and utilization are treated in a short chapter.

Seven chapters discuss the various types of synthetic resins used in coatings: Alkyd, ure* and melamine-formaldehyde, rub- ber, cellulosic, vmyl, acrylic ester, and silicone resins. Each chapter is an excellent discussion of the fundamental chemistry of the class of resins, the method of manufacture, and the particular types used in organic coatings. Obviously the discussion of a resin cannot he comnlete with infonmtion on moldine resins and - -. . ~. " .

given on page 168. technique. A find chapter on test methods of the coiting indus-