Book Reviews

Substoichiometry in Radiochemical Analysis. By J. RzIcKA and J. STARY. InternationalSeries of Monographs in Analytical Chemistry. (Pergamon Press.) [Pp. ix+151.]Price £2 15s. Od.

A substoichiometric method of analysis is one in which a species in solution is determinedby adding to it a reagent which will form an extractable complex in an amount smallerthan that required to convert all of that species to the complex. The method eliminatesthe need for determining chemical yield and increases the selectivity of the chemicalseparation. It is particularly useful for the simplification of radiochemical procedures,and it has been applied as the method of separation in both neutron-activation and isotope-dilution analysis.

This book is not only an authoritative review of the method by two of the most activeworkers in the field; it also includes details of the procedures for substoichiometricdetermination of twenty-three elements. There is a particularly useful chapter on theautomation of the method.

It is exceptionally well produced, with clear diagrams and tables. The proof-readinghas been well done; very few errors were noticed.

The book should stimulate further interest in radiochemical analysis because it pointsthe way to considerable simplification of the methods of separation. It will be welcomedby all who are interested in trace analysis. R. B. HESLOP

Biological Effects of Transmtnutation and Decay of Incorporated Radioisotopes. (Vienna:I.A.E.A., 1968.) [Pp. 244.] Price £2 s. 8d.

THE scientific panels of the International Atomic Energy Agency have a growing reputation.The organizers go to great lengths to select the dozen-or-so people best suited to considera chosen area of science. It might be a useful exercise for organizers of learned societysymposia to ponder why results of such panels are, despite barriers of language, often somuch better than their own symposia. Is it really the informality of a few experts rounda table that produces the stimulating and penetrating discussion? Or could it perhaps bethe abundance of time (approximately double what one might normally expect) which notonly allows speakers to develop their themes logically and with sufficient backgrounddetail but also permits listeners to absorb fully the speaker's concepts and formulate theirown critical response?

The proceedings (anonymously edited) of this particular panel contain papers dealingwith the roles of the three principal factors in the decay of incorporated radioisotopes,namely chemical transition, recoil energy and disintegration radiation. The relativeimportance of these is shown to differ greatly for the three isotopes chiefly considered, H,32p and "4C, when incorporated in vital macromolecules. Cellular responses to such decaysare shown to be many, including the production of mutations and chromosome aberrationsand the determination of the fate of macromolecular lesions capable of leading to eitherdeath or survival.

One of the many interesting topics discussed in detail is the first example of aradioisotope transmutation at a specific site producing a specific base alteration in DNA(Person and collaborators). A further unexpected observation is that lethality caused by32

p (apparently due to chemical transmutation and not recoil energy or the emitted particle) shows an oxygen effect and a cysteamine protective effect reminiscent of x-rayinactivation (Apelgot). Obviously 32p decay is by no means 100 per cent efficient as alethal event under all conditions.

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