278 Book reviews

might be expected. For example, liquid crystalline polymers find mention as high modulus polymers. The useful text cannot be taken as comprehensive, and omissions here and there must be accepted. High modulus polymers do not take account of rolling or ‘rolltrusion’ as a technique for enhancing modulus through developing multi-axial orientation. Indeed, manufacturing methods d o not receive the attention which one might expect under the general title of the volume. Equally, the text contains far more than would be the case with a purpose-written ‘Sourcebook of Engineering Properties.’

The value of the book is its handy size and much lower cost then the full Encyclopedia; as such it should find a market additional to that achieved by the original publication, which is doubtless the objective of the publishers. In the subject areas which are exhibiting rapid technological growth readers will need to supplement the text by reference to more recent literature from academic and industrial sources.

G. E. J. Reynolds

The basis of technical communicating B. E. Cain, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1988. pp. xiii + 198, price $29.95 (USA & Canada) $35.95 (rest of world). ISBN 0-8412- 145 1-4

This book, in the ACS Professional Reference Book series, is an elementary introduction to scientific communication. It is best considered as a first book, and certainly not a final text, on this necessary skill. The title tells something of the standard: any author who writes about such a topic should be aware that the noun (‘communication’) is preferable to the gerund (‘communicating’por, worse, perhaps he meant it!

With this general limitation, the book will be useful to chemists and other scientific workers learning to communicate their work in a lucid and understandable fashion. It will be read with value by, for example, research students with an uncertain command of the English language setting out to write their first dissertation. It also discusses, briefly, with examples from American practice, the production of letters, CVs, and technical articles in general.

The value of the book is slender, but may be a lifeline to a harassed supervisor who needs to guide a research student with a submission deadline to meet: beyond this, experienced workers will find too much of the contents too trivial.

C. A. Finch

Polymers for high technology: electronics and photonics Edited by M. J. Bowden and S. R. Turner, ACS Symposium Services No. 346, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1987. pp. x + 628, price $109.95 (USA & Canada), $131.95 (rest of world). ISBN 0-8412-1406-9

This book is a collection of fifty papers which summarize the state of the art in the development of polymers for electronics and photonics as presented at a conference in Anaheim, California in September 1986.

Over the last ten years a series of symposia have dealt with progress in the development of electron and photo resists for use in the semi-conductor industry. Synthetic chemistry has made an important contribution in the production of the special

monomers required for the development of new high resolu- tion plasma etchable resists. Attention has to some extent been redirected to the development of materials for nonlinear optics, molecular electronics and conducting polymers.

Consistent with the broader spectrum of topics, the first five chapters in this volume review the fundamentals of radiation chemistry in polymers. These reviews cover the effects of high energy radiation, photo-chemistry and the interaction of electron and excimer laser radiation with polymers, providing useful introductions and overviews of the topics grouped in the subsequent sections.

The first section deals with resist materials for electron and X-ray lithography-in particular, the incorporation of silicone into negative resists and acid catalyzed thermolytic depoly- merization. Nine papers describe recent developments in the synthesis and processing of optical resists: some consider the problem of obtaining resists which can be used with excimer lasers a t 248 mm and below. In this context, a paper on soluble polysilanes is worthy of specific mention: these resists appear to combine high sensitivity, low optical absorbance with high plasma etch resistance. The topic of plasma etch resistance is specifically discussed in four papers.

The interaction of light with polymers is discussed in papers which cover nonlinear phenomena, integrated optics and optical fibre coatings. High temperature polymers are still required for planarization and dielectric applications, and interest still continues in the properties of polyimides and polyamic acid methacrylate esters. The development of cheap electronic packaging and interconnection continues to be of interest and five papers discuss this topic. The final section deals with conducting polymers.

R. A. Pethrick

Carbohydrates Edited by P. M. Collins, Chapman and Hall, London, 1987. pp. xi-720, price E95.00. ISBN 0412269600.

Carbohydrates, particularly polysaccharides, are the world’s most important class of organic compounds in terms of the volume produced. They are essential components 3f all diets, and their chemical and enzymatic transformations provide routes to many of the most important commercial organic compounds. This is a reference volume in the Chapman and Hall Source book series, produced in response to the current scientific interest in carbohydrates as industrial feedstocks, pharma- ceutical agents, chiral templates for synthetic reactions-all valuable materials.

Several thousand individual carbohydrates are listed al- phabetically by name. To facilitate location of a particular entry, there are over 200 pages of indexes divided into a Name Index which lists every compound name, synonym and trivial name; a Molecular Formula Index which lists all molecular formulae, including those of derivatives, in Hill convention order; a CAS Registry Number Index in serial order; and a Type of Compound Index.

This work represents a mammoth undertaking which will be a valuable reference work to all involved in the study and use of carbohydrates-academics and industrialists alike, and should be regarded as the major reference work on structure and properties of carbohydrates. We hope that there are plans for periodic updating appendix volumes. Although the price puts

BRITISH POLYMER JOURNAL VOL. 21, NO. 3,1989