Isomerization of P u r e Hydrocarbons . A. C. S. Monograph 88. Gvslav Egloff, George HuUa9 and V. I. Komarewsky. 499 pages. Reinhold Publishing Corp., 330 West 42nd St., Ν. Υ . Oity, 1942. Price, $9.00.

1 HIS monograph gives a literature survey of the field of hydrocarbon isomerization. The results are presented twice. The isomerization reactions are given in the text of the first 200 pages. Classified tables follow showing the compound and isomer, the catalyst, reaction conditions, and by-products, with references. These tables occupy approximately the second 200 pages. The work is thus of service as a handbook for the petroleum industry or others who may be interested i n the isomerization of any of a large number of hydrocarbon compounds.

There is a short description of a com­mercial isomerization plant in an "ap­plied isomerization" section. This is fol­lowed by a list of U. S. and foreign patents on the subject and their classification in terms of products and catalysts used. A digest of some of these patents is also given.

Theoretical considerations of isomeriza­tion reactions are not presented t o the extent which might be expected, even in an industrial handbook. The recent thermodynamic data on the isomeriza­tion equlibria of paraffin hydrocarbons, however, are given. No general survey of the kinetics of isomerization i s pre­sented.

The volume serves, as no doubt the authors intended, simply as a ready hand­book for those engaged in the technical application of hydrocarbon isomerization.

JOHN R. B A T E S

Science Remakes Our World. James Siokley. 298 pages. Ives Washburn, Inc., 27 to 29 West 57th St., Ν. Υ. City, 1942. Price, $3.50.

&o MUCH of the current scientific prog­ress lies in the field of chemistry, whether it be new cures for disease or means of producing better and bigger explosions, that it is quite understandable that a good half of this new book is devoted es­sentially to chemistry and what it is doing. Explosives, fuel, plastics, clothes, rubber, a g r i c u l t u r e , chemotherapy, vitamins, metals, magnesium, and glass all have chapters of their own. As a supplement to the continuing scientific reports o f our

daily press, magazines, and technical journals, many who are engaged i n scien­tific work will be interested in having a n d reading this book, a s the means o f broad­ening their base of information and remind­ing themselves of the progress' t h a t chemistry and physics, particularly, a r e making on a wide front.

"WATSON DA v i e

Willard Gibbs. Muriel Rukeyser. 4 6 5 pages. Doixbleday, Doran & C o . , Inc . , 14 West 40 th S t . , Ν. Ύ. City , 1942. Price, $3.50.

J. TOOK up this book: with a good deal of curiosity because it was written by o n e who, having written modern verse, h a d presumably been led to write about Gibbs b y what she h a d heard of t h e power of h i s imagination, even though i t was exercised i n a field in which s h e was unversed. B u t o n reading it I was disappointed, though n o t altogether surprised, to find many passages—even many pages—which bear little obvious relation to Gibbs and h i s achievements. For instance, the author sketches in a sort of background b y refer­ring frequently, and at length, to t n e writings of the Adams family, of Wil l iam James, of Melville, and of t h e poets Percival and Whitman, somewhat after t h e manner o f Van Wyck Brooks in h i s books dealing with t h e literary history o f Boston during the 19th century; b u t there i s no reason to believe that Gibbs' th ink ing w a s in any w a y influenced by any o f these contemporaries.

Indeed there is n o clear evidence t h a t anyone in America influenced him unless i t be his father, possibly also his friend a n d future colleague, the astronomer Hubert Anson Newton . The former, Professor o f Sacred Literature at Yale, was primarily a scientific philologist concerned wi th t h e precise meaning and use of words, a pioneer working alone, w h o began h i s most important work with the s ta tement f^Language is a cast o f the lauman mind". Compare this with th*:· statement " Mathe ­matics £§ a language", made by t h e son , likewise a lone pioneer, w h o is unexcelled i n his ability t o think and to express h i s thoughts in that language, a n d the kinship is evident; h e could also use ordinarv language with beautiful clarity a n d economy. In any case, genius, though unexplainable, certainly derives more from heredity than from environment, from Nature than from nurture, and part icu­larly so when i t is breaking o u t a n e w path.

Gibbs' physical life (1839-1903) was unusually uneventful; apart from student years in Germany, he lived a l l his life in New Haven in o n e house and never mar­ried. His intellectual life was highly adventurous, but he was a quiet man who retained very few papers and s o there is no record of i t apart from h i s published writings.

The author's stated aim i s to present "the truth, imaginative and factual"; the former kind predominates, particularly perhaps in her attempts to set u p the thesis that Gibbs, being imaginative, was there­fore repressed, hesitant, and out of har­mony with his time. To m e this is a distorted picture, true only in t h a t he sought perfection before publication and was ahead of h i s t ime, developing a philosophy for which there w a s then little experimental basis, as a consequence of which the importance of his work w a s not widely realized. He was undoubtedly aware of t h e significance and value o f his contributions, but was modest enough to prefer to l e t them speak for themselves to those willing to listen.

In endeavoring t o interpret them a n d to indicate their significance to t h e practical world, the author i s , as she is aware, under the disadvantage o f being unfamiliar with the whole matter; and this, together with her poetic license, permits her t o write such a sentence a s "These patterns persist* for the mind is indeed a system of vectors, and the century was a t its beginning ready with evidences of magnitude and direc­tion" (p. 334). N o r is th i s a lone instance, torn from i t s context, for there are fre­quent collocations of words chosen seem­ingly as sounding well rather than as conveying a clear idea to t the reader.

Nevertheless, t h e book does bring to­gether in o n e place substantially all that i s known, o r is likely to be known, about Gibbs, with a bibliography a n d consider­able material copied, or quoted, from what has been written about his work a n d its bearing on the progress of science and industry; with judicious skipping, par­ticularly in i t s first fifth (which is a sor t of sett ing of the scene, aa viewed b y the author, for Gibbs' appearance as a child o n the stage) the book can be read by any­one willing t o become interested and able t o distinguish factual from ''imaginative" truth. Yet I would hardly expect i t to appeal to many of those unacquainted with Gibbs* work, or appreciably to enlarge his reputation.

JOHN JOHNSTON

342 C H E M I C A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G N E W S

BEYOND THE FLYLEAF

^ W b a t i s S y n e r g i s m ? " y o u w e l l m a y ask. T o p u t i t s u c c i n c t l y , y o u m i g h t say t h a t s y n e r g i s m i s t h e f o r c e that can m a k e 2 + 2 = 5 ·

Synergism is not a new word. It has its roots in the classic Greek (Συν — t o ­gether; Ep7ox/ —work) and has long had its connotations for the chemist, the doctor and the theologian. Basically, it always has meant forces working together t o produce a whole greater than the sum of the parts.

JNow, '^Synergism*' emerges, in its larger sense, with a meaning for industry, bred of war accomplishment.

For the miracles of war production are in no small part due to the meeting of minds, working together as a creative stimulus—minds that "click," as we call it on the street-—so that the net result is always greater than the sum total of the individual ideas. From synergis­tic thinking, evolve the great mechanisms, the new synthetics, the magnificent product creations which comprise materiel for Victory.

Synergism may apply to individuals working together, to groups, to companies—across a table, in the labora­

tory, in the field. It is the newer concept for industrial mentality. Now, as never before, it is evident that industrial progress revolves about the stimulus created by minds working together to "click" creatively. Synergism is a much needed component for post-war development—not as an abstract philosophy, but as a practical working force.

H e r e at Atlas, we are "Synergism-minded." I n our own fields of chemical endeavor, we have acquired a degree of expertness which can be applied synergistically to prod­ucts now to create results far beyond present design expectations. Add synergism to cooperation and mir­acles become commonplace.

We would like to talk tvith you.

Industrial Chemicals Depar tment

ATLAS POWDER COMPANY W I L M I N G T O N , D E L A W A R E

Offices in Principal Cities Xjosr*

Industrial Explosives Activated Carbons

Copyright 1943, Atlas Powder Company

V O L U M E 2 1, NO. 5 »

• Industrial Finishes · • Industrial Chemicals

» M A R C H 1 0 , 1 9 4 3

Coated Fabrics · Acids • Ordnance Materiel

343

WANTED -More Synergism!

The Freezing Preservation of Foods. D. K. Tressler and C. F. Evers. 789 pages. Avi Publishing Co., Inc., 31 Union Square, Ν. Υ. City, 1943. Price, $8.00.

WHAT with the scarcity of metals for containers and the scarcity of manpower for the production of civilian goods, we turn to freezing preservation as the most generally available method of conser-ing perishables with the least expenditure of war resources. Here is a book which is oppor­tune and invaluable to each group of food freezers from the large commercial packer to the victory gardener who has a farm freezer in which she can store her surplus vegetables and fruits and hold the cock­erels from her chickenyard as broilers or roasters, not the tough roosters they grow into when not killed at the proper time.

Success in the preservation of food by freezing lies in treating each product in accordance with its particular require­ments. This book gives, clearly and ac­curately, what those requirements are, from the varieties of fruits and vegetables which are to be planted to the fundamental physical and engineering principles on which the freezer, be it a cold storage warehouse or a farm cabinet, must be based. The cold storage warehouseman, operating hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of refrigerated space, will turn to it for information on the preservation of un­usual products. The freezer locker man in the little town should have it on his desk for constant reference in time of in­decision or of possible catastrophe—per­ishables under improper freezer treatment can so easily be a total loss as foodstuffs.

The laboratory man will find here the approved methods for determining the quality of the preserved foods; the com­mercial distributor, invaluable advice on grades and marketing, including that complex and difficult matter, transporta­tion. The housewife has a fascinating chapter on cooking frozen foods, including fish, and the dietician is brought up to date on the nutritive values of foods pre­served by freezing. Quite aside from its factual completeness, this book will justify itself to the research man for i ts excellent and comprehensive bibliographies at­tached to each chapter. Last, but far from least, the style in which the book is written makes i t available to the layman and acceptable to the food technologist— a rare combination.

M. E. PENNINGTON

Literature Abstracts of Ceramic Glazes. J. H. Koenig and W. H. Earkart. 285 pages. Ceramic Industry, Chicago, 111. Price, $3.00.

I T IS a pleasure to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to the authors for this extremely useful reference book which will undoubt­

edly find a place on the working book­shelves of most ceramists interested iu glazes as well a s many of those engaged in the allied fields of glass and vitreous enamels, During the past 50 years the literature pertaining to scientific phases of the ceramic industries has expounded re­markably until i t has attained, a v e r y large volume. Excellent texts describ­ing the technology of the glass industry and the vitreous (porcelain) enamel in­dustry are available in our language as well as some continental tongues, fc>ut nowhere is there t o be found a comprehen­sive, authoritative text on the closely related topic of glazes. This book does not fulfill that function but it is an a i d . It is well printed, arranged, and indexed. Unfortunately there is no table of contents nor an author index, both so helpful to t h e busy reader.

The authors have presented a compila­tion of abstracts culled from approxi­

mately 30 domestic and foreign journals, published prior to 1941, devoted to the ceramic industries. All volumes of the current American ceramic technical jour­nals, The Transactions of the British Ceramic Society (formerly The Ceramic Society), and the Berichte der Deutsehen Keraroische Gesselschaft have been com­pletely surveyed. The following have been reported as of the volumes indicated: Pottery Gazette (Eng.), Vols. 45 to 62; Spreclxsaal, Vols. 2 9 to 7 3 ; Kerarnische Rundschau, Vols. 2 3 to 4 6 ; Tonindustrie Zeitung, Vols. 45 t o 62; Keramos, Vols. 4 to 1 0 . A miscellaneous collection has been gathered unsystematically from the lessor-well-known European, Russian and Japanese publications.

The book contains also: 19 topics per­taining to glazes, taken from the Collected Writings of Herman Seger; a list of 21 patents (American, British, German, and French.); a very brief and inadequate list

Bu Statist! cs \ X 7 " E ARE indebted to the Manufacturing Chemist's Association, 608 Woodward Bldg.,

Washington, D. C , for the following figures showing business conditions.

Monthly Statistical Report on Business Conditions

( B A S E 1935-39 = 100) Industr ia l p r o d u c t i o n 0

Chemical p r o d u c t i o n Steel p roduc t ion F r e i g h t car l o a d i n g s

( B A S E 1923-25 =* 100) Cons t ruc t ion contrac ts , res ident ia l

All other D e p a r t m e n t store sales, v a l u e

( B A S E 1939 = 100) Index of factory e m p l o y m e n t 0 :

All m a n u f a c t u r i n g Chemica ls D r u g s Fert i l izers C o m p r e s s e d gases

Index of fac tory p a y r o l l s ^ All m a n u f a c t u r i n g Chemicals* D r u g s Fert i l izers C o m p r e s s e d gases

( B A S E 1926 « 100) Wholesale p r i c e indexes :

All p r o d u c t s (except f a r m p r o d u c t s and foods)

Chemicals D r u g s and p h a r m a c e u t i c a l s Fertilizer m a t e r i a l s

Purchas ing power o f the d o l l a r : All p r o d u c t s (except f a r m p r o d u c t s and

foods) Chemicals D r u g s and p h a r m a c e u t i c a l s Fertilizer m a t e r i a l s

SEASONALLY- A D J U S T E D Jan. D e c . J a n . 1943 194& 1942

2006 197 1 7 1 2066 200* 1 5 6 225 221 2 0 9 135 134 1 4 0

W I T H O U T A D J U S T M E N T J a n . Dec . J a n . 1943 1942 1942

194* 193 166 205* 201 6 1 5 5 2 2 5 221 2 0 9 124 126 1 2 9

80* 1836

142*

Jan. 1948

164 .9 δ

160. 8* 153.6 113.9* 159 .1*

9 6 . 0 6

96 .9 165.4*

79 .0

$1.042* 1.032 0.6O4 1.267

91 243 125

8 2 67* 1 4 7 1495

1 3 8 111 6

D e c . 1942

1 6 4 . 6 1 6 1 . 1 1 5 2 . 3 1Û9.4 1 6 0 . 2

2 8 7 . 7 2 4 2 . 2 1 9 7 . 3 1 7 3 . 3 2 3 6 . 9

9 5 . 9 6

9 6 . 1 1 6 5 . 4

7 8 . 0

S 1 . 0 4 3 * 1.041 0 .604 1.267

77 6 8 190 1 1 9 222 108

J a n .

194^

1 3 9 . 8 1 5 2 . 8 1 2 9 . 9 1 1 3 . 2 1 4 8 . 3

2 0 0 . 7 1 9 9 . 3 1 4 8 . 3 1 4 2 . 2 2 0 3 . 1

9 4 . 6 9 5 . 3

1 2 6 . 3 7 8 . 6

S I . 0 5 8 1.049 0 . 7 9 2 1 .273

a Source of stat ist ics in first six items: Federal Reserve Board. b Prel iminary figures. c U. S. Depar tment of Labor. Preliminary payroll indexes -will no longer b e issued by the Labor

Dept., effective Jan. 1 , 1943- January figures will be included i n next month 's report. « Increase i n drug price index due to increased Federal tax o n alcohol, effective November 1, 1942.

344 C H E M I C A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G N E W S

ASBESTOS SWEEPING COMPOUND

At last a sweeping compound that quickly cuts away and removes gummy grease and oil deposits, thereby elimi­

nating fire hazards and the cause of accidents due to slippery floors. Also neutralizes and soaks up acids around pickling vats, storage battery spillage, cleaning solutions, etc.

It's FIRE-SAFE. Classified as Non-Combustible by Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc. It is used DRY; nothing to add; floors remain dry. r.asy to use. A good stiff brush is all equipment needed. Absorptive action; mildly abrasive. Inexpensive. May be used over and over until fully soaked.

Carey Grease Ball contains no acids or caustics. Does not harm hands, clothing or floors. NO critical materials. Prompt shipment in convenient 50-lb. bags from 45 branch warehouses.

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of reference books; a bibliography of 4 7 titles relating to Dinnerware; "China Specifications"; and a List of References and Periodicals, 83 items. Very slight attention has been paid to the aesthetic aspects and virtually none to the history of glazes.

C. W. PARMELEE

1 wo mimeographed bulletins, which in ­clude numerous tables of data as well a s illustrations, give a great deal of valuaMe information on a product that is becom­ing increasingly important in the United States. Lengthy bibliographies, totaling more than 600 references to books, jour­nal articles, and patents, are appended.

Wheat in the Third War Year. Major Developments, 1941-42. M. K. Ben­nett, H. C. Farnsworth, and R. Ή. Peirce. Wheat Studies, Vol. XI2C, No. 3, December 1942. Food Research Institute, Stanford University, Calif. Price, $1.00.

War Service of Consultants

iHB Proceedings of the War Service Meeting of the Association of Consulting Chemists and Chemical Engineers, Inc. , held December 7, 1942, at the Elec­trical Testing Laboratories, Inc., Ν. Υ. City, have been published as a 30-page booklet. This includes the talks given by Preston S. Millar, president of the Electrical Testing Laboratories, Inc., Colonel M. B. Chittick, deputy chief, Technical Division, Chemical Warfare Service, Colonel S. B . Ritchie, Ordnance Department, Captain W. C. Wallace, Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, U. S. Navy, and D. B. Keyes, Office of Pro­duction Research and Development, War Production Board.

THE PHILIP CAREY MFG. CO. Dependable Products Since 1873

Locldand, Cincinnati/ Ohio

IN CANADA: THE PHILIP ̂ AREy COMPANY, LTD.

OFFICE AND FACTORY: LENNOXVILLE, P.Q.

A prominent metals fabricator had serious floor condition due to drippings from steel sheets after oil treatment.

When the gummy, slippery mass of accu­mulated oil could not be removed by ordinary compounds, Carey Grease Ball was put to the test. Results were so satis­factory that a 10OO-lb. order resulted within two weeks.

The Chemistry and Technology of th.e Soybean and Its Derived Products. Klare S. Markley and Warren H. Goss. Part I, Chemical Composition a n d Properties of Constituents and Derived Products, 112 pages. Par t I I , Proc­essing of Soybeans and Soybean Prod­ucts, 69 pages. Bureau of Agricultural Chemistry and Engineering, U. S . Department of Agriculture, Washing­ton, D. C , 1942.

Correction—National Formulary I N THE review of the National Formulary, American Pharmaceutical Association [CHBM. E N G . NEWS, 20, 1541 (1942)], an error was made in stating the number of pages in the book. The book contains 690 pages, including index.

V O L U M E 2 1 , N O . 5 » » . M A R C H 10, 1 9 4 3 345