NEW BOOKS
1
BOOKS BEYOND THE FLYLEAF Dynamic Aspects of Biochemistry. 2nd ud. ERNEST BALDWIN, XX -f- 544 pages. Cambridge -University Press, 32 East 47th St., New York 22, Ν. Υ. 1952. So.00. Reviewed by YVM. MANSFIELD CLARK, Johns Hopkins University. THUS second edition of a deservedly popular book has much the same pattern and size of the first edition, but the text lias been thoroughly revised. The book is designed for a second course and ac- cordingly is specialized in that the em- phasis is on enzymology. Prof. Baldwin states that "this is essen- tially an elementary book." Apparently knowledge of facts looms large in his con- ception of what a student should be given. One possessing this book has a rich store of i n f o r m a t i o n but with rare exceptions a student will have difficulty in finding how investigators came by their information. This is not entirely the fault of the author; the subject has gotten out of literary con- trol. Some critics of the first edition will In; d i s a p p o i n t e d that the student is not directed to oustanding, critically impor- tant, original papers and that some of t h e reviews cited in the bibliography are merely annotated bibliographies. Apparently to create first impressions that have limited uses the author adopts the unorthodox concepts of bond energy and of the localization of free energy changes which are being exploited by a lew biochemists. He also short-cuts de- scription of the oxidation-reduction by using the convention of transfer "hydro- gen." Be it upon the heads of teachers who fail to do better if their students have îmieli to unlearn when they encounter occasions for rigorous treatments. As a brief compendium of information in a limited field the book deserves a place in the library of every budding bio- chemist; otherwise it is pedagogically poor, superficial in much of its theory, and uninspiring. The Essential Oils. Vol. VI. Individual Essential Oils of the Plant Families. ERNEST GUENTHER. xvi -f- 481 pages. D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., 250 Fourth Ave., New York, Ν. Υ. 1952. $9.75. Reviewed by LAWRENCE P. MILLER, Royc-e Thompson Institute for Plant Re- search, Inc. Tins is the sixth and final volume of a series, the first of which appeared in 1948. The? first two volumes deal with the his- tory, origin in plants, production, analysis, and constituents of the various essential oils, while Volumes III to VI are con- cerned with descriptions of the physio- chemical properties, chemical composition, and uses of individual oils. (Vols. I—V have been reviewed in C&EN, 26, 1864; 27. 1Ô47: 28, 350, 4494; 30, 2935.) The 22 plant IVmilies covered in Vol. VI bring to n\ the total for the scries. This is con- siderably less than the hundred or so taken up by Gildermeister and Hoffmann's "Die Atherischen Ole"; obscure oils, often of ill-defined plant origin, have been omitted from the present series. Among the more important oils included in this volume are those of birch, valerian, mustard, orris root, hops, calamus, lab- danum, chenopodium, oak moss., Abies alba Mill., and the American turpentines. The chapter on the latter was contributed by Leo A. Goldblatt. The aid of other ex- perts, some from foreign oil-producing areas, is also acknowledged. The value of the series is increased by the inclusion in Volume VI of a general index with entries for plant species and'for individual chemical constituents of t h e various oils. A table also provides ready access to the data of all volumes on a plant taxonomie basis. The completion of this work is a great credit to the author and recognition is also clue Fritzsche Brothers for their sup- port of such an extensive undertaking. Chemisch Weekblad— Dutch, Not German On page 3479 of C&EN for Aug. 18 a. story was published telling of the publica- tion of a special number of Chemisch Weekblad in celebration of the 100th birthday of the famous Dutch scientist Jacobus Henricus van't Iioff. The title erroneously referee! to Chemisch Weekblad as a German publication. It is published in Leiden, Holland. MEW BOOKS Atomic Power. WALTER ISARD, V. Ιί. WHITNEY. 235 pages. Blakiston Co., 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia 5, Pa. $4.75. Charting Statistics. M. E. SPEAR. 265 pages. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 330 West 42nd St., New York 18, Ν. Υ. $4.50. Chemical Apparatus in the U. S. A. Re- port by a Group of European Experts. 224 pages. Organisation for European Economic Cooperation. Columbia Uni- versity Press, 2960 Broadway, New York 27, Ν. Υ. $6.00. Detonation in Condensed Explosives. J. TAYLOR, xi -f- 196 pages. Oxford Uni- versity Press, 114 Fifth Ave., New Yorlc 11, Ν . Υ. $5.00. Engineering Metals and Their Alloys. C 11. SAMANS. 926 pages. Maemillan Co., 60 Fifth Ave., New York 11. Ν. Y. $10. An Explaining and Pronouncing Diction- ary of Scientific and Technical Words. W. E. FLOOD, M. P. WEST. 405 pages. Longmans, Green & Co., 55 Fifth Ave., New York 3, Ν . Υ. $2.25. General and Inorganic Chemistry for Uni- versity Students. 2nd ed. J. R. PART- INGTON. 947 pages. Maemillan Co., 60 Fifth Ave., New York 11, Ν. Υ. $5.50. Isotopes in Biochemistry. Proceedings of the Symposium Held in London Under the Auspices of the Ciba Foundation. C. E. Wolstenholme and others, editors. 288 pages. Blakiston Co., 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia 5, Pa. $5.00. Mixtures. The Theory of the Equilibrium Properties of Some Simple Classes of Mixtures, Solutions, and Alloys. E. A. GUGGENHEIM, Χ -f 270 pages. Oxford University Press, 114 Fifth Ave., New York 11, Ν. Υ. $8.50. Quantitative Chemical Analysis. L. F. HAMILTON, S. O . SIMPSON, xvii -f 529 pages. Maemillan Co., 60 Fifth Ave., New York 11, Ν . Υ. $4.50. Review of Coal Tar Technology, July- December 1951. Vol. Ill, Part 2. The Coal Tar Research Association, Oxford Road, Gomersal, Nr. Leeds, England 72 pages. 5s. Systematic College Chemistry. L. R. PARKS, W. II. STEINBACH. 692 pages. Blakiston Co., 1012 Walnut St., Phil- adelphia 5, Pa. $5.50. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS The following documents are available at prices indicated from the Superintend- ent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington 25, E>. C. When no price is indicated, pamphlet is free and obtainable from issuing organizations. Atomic Energy Commission Conductivity and Viscosity of Molten NaOH and KOH. KURT AHNDT AND GEORG PLOETZ. Expeditious Publishing of Scientific In- formation, Preliminary Report. Oak Ridge, Tenn., May 1952. Available from Office of Technical Services, De- partment of Commerce, Washington, D. C. Growth in Peacetime Uses of Atomic Energy. P. C. AEBERSOLI>. Reprinted from manual of all lectures presented at Inservice Training Course in Radio- logical Health by permission of Univer- sity of Michigan School of Public Health. Natural System of Atomic Nuclei and Element 61 Problem. N. A. NOVOSEL'- SKAYA. Department of Commerce National Bureau of Standards Extension and Dissemination of the Elec- trical and Magnetic Units by the Na- tional Bureau of Standards. F. B. SILSBEE. NBS Circular 531. 33 pages. 25 cents. A Guide to Tables of the Normal Proba- bility Integral. National Bureau of Standards Applied Mathematics Series 21, iv -f- 16 pages. 15 cents. Molecular Microwave Spectra Tables. PAUL KISLIUK AND C. H. TOWNES. NBS Circular 518. vi -\- 127 pages. 65 cents. Office of Technical Services Final Report, Investigation and Research Pertaining to t h e Development and De- sign of Electrolytic Capacitors for Low Temperature Operation. Γ Β 105600. 29 pages. $2.00 in microfilm and $3.75 in photostat form. Orders should be ad- dressed to the Library of Congress Photoduplieation Service, Publication Board Project, Washington 25, D. C. Enclose check or money order payable 1 to the Librarian of Congress. Department of the Interior Defense Minerals Administration Defense Minerals Exploration Program, ii -f· 20 pages. (Continued or\ /;<7«" 367Ή ) 3655 VOLUME 3 0, NO. 35 » SEPTEMBER 1, 1952
Transcript of NEW BOOKS
BOOKS
BEYOND THE FLYLEAF Dynamic Aspects of Biochemistry. 2 n d
ud. E R N E S T B A L D W I N , XX -f- 544 pages. C a m b r i d g e -University Press, 32 East 47 th St., New York 22 , Ν. Υ. 1952. So.00. Reviewed b y YVM. M A N S F I E L D C L A R K , Johns Hopkins University.
T H U S second edit ion of a deservedly popular book has much the same pat tern and size of the first edition, bu t the text lias been thoroughly revised. T h e book is des igned for a second course and accordingly is specialized in that the emphasis is on enzymology.
Prof. Baldwin states that "this is essentially a n elementary book." Apparently knowledge of facts looms large in his conception of what a student should b e given. One possessing this book has a rich store of information b u t with rare exceptions a student will have difficulty in finding how investigators came b y their information. This is not entirely the fault of the author; the subject has gotten out of literary control. Some critics of the first edition will In; disappointed that t he student is not directed to oustanding, critically important, original papers and that some of the reviews cited in the bibl iography are merely anno ta ted bibliographies.
A p p a r e n t l y t o create first impressions that have l imited uses t he author adopts the unorthodox concepts of bond energy and of the localization of free energy changes which are be ing exploited by a lew biochemists. He also short-cuts de scription of the oxidation-reduction by using t h e convention of transfer "hydrogen." Be it upon the heads of teachers who fail to do be t te r if their s tudents have îmieli t o unlearn when they encounter occasions for rigorous t reatments .
A s a brief compendium of information in a limited field the book deserves a place in the library of every budd ing biochemist; otherwise it is pedagogically poor, superficial in much of its theory, and uninspiring.
The Essential Oi ls . Vo l . V I . Individual Essential Oils of the Plant Families. E R N E S T G U E N T H E R . xvi -f- 481 pages. D. Van Nost rand Co., Inc., 250 Fourth Ave. , New York, Ν . Υ. 1952. $9.75. Rev iewed b y L A W R E N C E P. M I L L E R , Royc-e Thompson Insti tute for Plant Research , Inc .
T i n s is t h e sixth and final volume of a series, the first of which appeared in 1948. The? first t w o volumes deal with the history, origin in plants , production, analysis, and consti tuents of the various essential oils, while Volumes III to VI are concerned with descriptions of the physio-chemical properties, chemical composition, and uses of individual oils. (Vols. I—V have been reviewed in C&EN, 26, 1864; 27. 1Ô47: 28 , 350 , 4494; 30, 2935.) T h e 22 plant IVmilies covered in Vol. VI br ing to n\ t he total for the scries. This is considerably less than the hundred or so
taken u p by Gildermeister and Hoffmann's "Die Atherischen Ole"; obscure oils, often of ill-defined plant origin, have been omitted from the present series.
Among the more important oils included in this volume are those of birch, valerian, mustard, orris root, hops, calamus, lab-danum, chenopodium, oak moss., Abies alba Mill., and the American turpentines. T h e chapter on t h e latter was contributed by Leo A. Goldblatt . T h e aid of other experts, some from foreign oil-producing areas, is also acknowledged.
T h e value of the series is increased b y the inclusion in Volume VI of a general index with entries for plant species and'for individual chemical constituents of t h e various oils. A table also provides ready access to t he data of all volumes on a plant taxonomie basis.
The completion of this work is a great credit to the author and recognition i s also clue Fritzsche Brothers for their sup port of such an extensive undertaking.
Chemisch Weekb lad— Dutch, Not German
On page 3479 of C&EN for Aug. 18 a. story was published telling of the publication of a special number of Chemisch Weekblad in celebration of the 100th bir thday of the famous Dutch scientist Jacobus Henricus van't Iioff. T h e t i t le erroneously referee! to Chemisch Weekblad as a German publication. It is publ ished in Leiden, Holland.
MEW BOOKS Atomic Power. W A L T E R ISARD, V. Ι ί .
W H I T N E Y . 235 pages. Blakiston Co. , 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia 5, Pa . $4.75.
Chart ing Statistics. M. E. SPEAR. 2 6 5 pages. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 330 West 42nd St., New York 18, Ν. Υ. $4.50.
Chemical Apparatus in the U. S. A. Report by a Group of European Experts . 224 pages. Organisation for European Economic Cooperation. Columbia University Press, 2960 Broadway, New York 27, Ν . Υ. $6.00.
Detonat ion in Condensed Explosives. J . TAYLOR, xi -f- 196 pages. Oxford University Press, 114 Fifth Ave., New Yorlc 11, Ν . Υ. $5.00.
Engineering Metals and Their Alloys. C 11. S A M A N S . 926 pages. Maemillan Co., 60 Fifth Ave., New York 11. Ν. Y. $10.
An Explaining and Pronouncing Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Words . W. E. FLOOD, M. P. W E S T . 405 pages. Longmans, Green & Co., 55 Fifth Ave., New York 3, Ν . Υ. $2.25.
General and Inorganic Chemistry for University Students. 2nd ed. J. R. P A R T INGTON. 947 pages. Maemillan Co., 6 0 Fifth Ave., New York 11, Ν. Υ. $5.50.
Isotopes in Biochemistry. Proceedings of the Symposium Held in London Under the Auspices of the Ciba Foundation. C. E . Wolstenholme and others, editors. 288 pages. Blakiston Co., 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia 5, Pa. $5.00.
Mixtures. T h e Theory of the Equi l ibr ium Properties of Some Simple Classes of Mixtures, Solutions, and Alloys. E. A. GUGGENHEIM, Χ -f 270 pages. Oxford University Press, 114 Fifth Ave., New York 11, Ν. Υ. $8.50.
Quantitative Chemical Analysis. L. F . H A M I L T O N , S. O . SIMPSON, xvii -f 529 pages. Maemillan Co., 60 Fifth Ave., New York 11, Ν . Υ. $4.50.
Review of Coal Tar Technology, Ju ly-December 1951. Vol. I l l , Part 2 . The Coal Tar Research Association, Oxford Road, Gomersal, Nr. Leeds , England 72 pages. 5s.
Systematic College Chemistry. L. R. PARKS, W . II. STEINBACH. 692 pages. Blakiston Co., 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia 5, Pa. $5.50.
GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
The following documents a re available at prices indicated from the Superintendent of Documents , Government Printing Office, Washington 25 , E>. C . When no price is indicated, pamphlet is free and obtainable from issuing organizations.
Atomic Energy Commission
Conductivity and Viscosity of Molten NaOH and K O H . KURT AHNDT AND GEORG P L O E T Z .
Expeditious Publishing of Scientific Information, Preliminary Report . Oak Ridge, Tenn., May 1952. Available from Office of Technical Services, Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C.
Growth in Peacet ime Uses of Atomic Energy. P. C . AEBERSOLI>. Reprinted from manual of all lectures presented at Inservice Training Course in Radiological Health b y permission of University of Michigan School of Public Health.
Natural System of Atomic Nuclei and Element 61 Problem. N . A. NOVOSEL'-SKAYA.
Depar tmen t of C o m m e r c e National Bureau of Standards
Extension and Dissemination of the Electrical and Magnet ic Units by the National Bureau of Standards. F. B. SILSBEE. NBS Circular 531. 3 3 pages. 25 cents.
A Guide to Tables of the Normal Probability Integral . National Bureau of Standards Applied Mathematics Series 21 , iv -f- 16 pages . 15 cents.
Molecular Microwave Spectra Tables. PAUL KISLIUK AND C. H . T O W N E S . NBS Circular 518. v i -\- 127 pages. 65 cents.
Office of Technical Services Final Report, Investigation and Research
Pertaining to t h e Development and Design of Electrolytic Capacitors for Low Temperature Operation. Γ Β 105600. 29 pages. $2.00 in microfilm and $3.75 in photostat form. Orders should be addressed to t h e Library of Congress Photoduplieation Service, Publication Board Project, Washington 25, D. C. Enclose check or money order payable1
to the Librarian of Congress.
Department of the In ter ior
Defense Minerals Administration Defense Minerals Exploration Program,
ii -f· 20 pages. (Continued or\ /;<7«" 367Ή )
3655 V O L U M E 3 0, N O . 3 5 » S E P T E M B E R 1, 1 9 5 2
