472 JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION

It seems to the reviewer that the student should be introduced to the Nernst equation by writing the logarithmic term of that equation as an expression for the equilibrium constant for the reaction concerned. The authors, in common with many other authors of textbooks on quantitative analysis, write half-cell reac- tions as reductions, e. g.,

Fe+++ + e = Fe++

and then write the Nernst equstion (p. 324fas

E = E" + 0.0591 log volts n I red 1

While this expression is mathematically correct, it would be preferable to write the logarithmic term a9

0.0591 ['edl -- . n 10x1

in order to emphasize the significance of the term, especially when (p. 325) the right-hand part of the term is called "the equilibrium constant expression for the reaction." Further- more, it should be indicated that the numerical part of the term, 0.0591, is temperature-dependent and is a simple expression in- volving temperature, two physical constants familar to the students, and a conversion factor from natural to decimal logs.

Physically, the book is attractive, being well printed on good paper and well bound. However, the book is, unfortunately, printed in small t,ype with the further serious defect of having the actual laboratory procedures printed in yet smaller type. Since laboratory procedures artre usually read at distances exceeding that of normal vision, they should be printed in moderately large type. Furthermore, the rather common error is made of using long solid paragraphs for the procedures; such blocks of type are a definite hmdioap to the student in the laboratory. The appendixes include 16 pages on the arithmetic and algebra

useful in quantitative analysis cdculations, four pages on standardizing weights, five Fsge8 on st,atisticsl treatment of data, and fourteen psges on tables of equilibrium constants, prepam tion of indicator solutions, etc. There is no table of logar~thms. The two psges of the inside rear cover are devoted to a reproduc- tion of the interesting and useful Eastman Kodak chart of the pH intervals of color change far neutralization indicators.

The book would adequately provide the lecture and labor* tory basis for either a one-semester or two-semester course in quantitative chemical analysis.

PHILIP I. ELVING Tnz PEXN~YWANIA STATE C O ~ E U E

STATE COGIE(I%, PENNBTGYANIA

0 HARDENABILITY AND STEEL SELECTION

Walter Crofts, Chief Metallurgist, andJohn L. Lomont, Research Metallurgist, Union Carbide and Carbon Research Laboratories, Inc. Pitman Publishing Corp., New York and London, 1949. xiii + 279 pp. 148 figs. 55 tables. 15 X 23 em. $5.50.

Tars book, according to the authors, wasprepared to eonsolidete and summarize into a ooordimated pattern the theories and cal- culations of hardenability of steel. The term "hardenability" is employed in a broader sense than is usual, and the book devotes chapters to such topics as formation and transformation of austenite, quenching of steel, tempering after hardening, and mechanical properties of steel. I t constitutes, in fact, an attempt to present to the practical metdlurgist the developments of the Isst fifteen years as they concern the selection of steel to be heat treated and the hezt treatment itself. The presentation is, on the whole, most readable and straight-

forward. Little that would be of practical use to the metallurgist concerned with heaetreated steel is lacking, with one major ex- ception. This concerns the treatment of mechanical properties, whioh is not up to the standard of the rest of the book. For ex- ample, the vital concept of temperature of transition from tough

to brittle behavior is given only two sentences. As a result, the authors are forced into various vague and repetitive statements as to the need for ductility in steel, and seem unable to justify temoerine itself. . ..

Ir is i~rrrrwing that .\Ie.<srr. Crafts and Laruont haw beer) able, irr m.my iurtnnree, to pn.rrnt altcntarive .idlrmw for edrry- ing through n v r p in tl.cs~.lrrrion of ntcvl, without n:tvrifirr of thr simplicity which characterizes the book. Many of these schemes are based upon the authors' own investigations.

"Hardenability and Steel Selection" might be used to ad- vantage in s. senior course in ferrous physical metallurgy designed for the training of men for work in industry. I t is less suitable for a graduate school text, as in aiming at utility antl simplicity the mthors have found i t desirable to limit discussion of the underlying theory, and to omit consideration of the questions that remain to be settled by further research.

LEONARD D. JAFFE WATERTOWN ARSENAL

WATEETOWN. M ~ a a * o a a s m

0 SCIENCE AND CrVILIZATION

Robert C. Stouffer, Editor. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin, 1949. xiii + 212 pp. 13 X 21 om. $2.50.

SPECIALIZED scientific research needs interpretation, not only of its technical aspects but also of its general implioations. .4s a part of the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the University of Wisconsin, the History of Science group a t the university, under the ohaimanship of the editor of thii volume, invited a number of scholars to take part in a sym- posium on the relztions between science and civilization. This book is a collection of tho contributions of the principal speakers. Its nature can best be explained by listing the titles and authors of the eight essays i t contains: (1) Aristotle and the Origins of Science in the West, Riohard P. MoKeon, Professor of Philosophy, University of Chicago; (2) Some Unfamiliar Aspects of Medieval Science, Lynn Thorndike, Professor of History, Columbia University; (3) The Definition of Scientific Method, Max Blaek, Professor of Philosophy, Cornell University; (4) The Meaning of Reduotion in the Natural Sciences, Ernest Nagel, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University; (5) Physics as a Cultural Force, Philip E. Le Corbeiller, Lecturer on Applied Physios, Harvard University; (6) Science as a Social Influenoe, Farring- ton Daniels, Professor of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin; (7) Metaphors of Human Biology, Owsei Temkin, Professor of the History of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University; (8) Science and Society, William F. Ogburn, Professor of Socioloev. -. University of chicago.

These eight essays deal with a variety of topics, ranging from the nature of Aristotle's oontributions to science to whether an ostrieh can swallow live coals, from the place of physics in the common culture of mankind to the techniques and cautions re- quired in the application of science to the social field. The common thread, which binds them all together is an attempt to answer the question, "What has been, or could be, the influence of science on our present civiliaation"? To answer this question one must first understand the terms to he used and some of the essays are concerned with clarifying the meaning of the wards and phrases necessary to the discussion. In the nature of things success is not complete. "For sheer complexity of texture and incident, science is like life itself and as little to be reduced to formula" (page 79). Assuming, however, that one knows what he means by "the scientific method" the next step is to apply the method to the problem of civilization. We have an mcumula- tion of knowledge about society, and have clsssified this knowl- edge to a certain extent. But when we attempt to make generali~ations, we fLnd that there are so many variables that our generali~ations are never universally applicable. We recogni~e some of the variables and would like to conduct experiments in which is sought the effeot of one variable on another, but find that the remaining variables cannot be held constant. For