538 JOURNAL O F CHEMICAL EDUCATION

classification of high polymers and the determination of physical- chemical properties. "Polyamides" discusses in some detail the production of 66-nylon and other salts of this type. "Polyes- ters" merely refers to cross-references under five other headings.

The petroleum industry is the giant in this volume, with cross- references to many petroleum plmducts discussed individually. The compoaition and origin of petroleum itre discussed exten- sively. A lengthy table gives compositions and properties of many petroleum produota. Separate sections are devoted to petroleum chemicals and to petroleum waxes. This section will he used frequently for its authoritative material on processes and products.

The inorganic chemist will find much of importance to him. Sections on peroxides and peroxy compounds (20), phosphorus and its compounds (52), phosphoric acids and phosphates (40), snd the platinum group metals (41). The analytical ohemist d l find sections an polarimetry (8) and polarography (14).

The organic chemist is interested in the sections on perfumes (331, peroxides and perox,ycampounds (30), pharmaceuticals (33), phenol and phenols (43), phenolic aldehydes and ethers (15), phosphorus compounds (16), phthalic acids (23), ss mvell as many of the organic industrial items. The physical chemist will find sections on the phase rule (13), photochemistry (9) and pho- toelectric cells (23). The chemical engineer will refer to sections an pilot plants (15), plant layout (7) and location (lo), as well ss oioes and valves (131.

ment, and the photographic process in general. All of us me pleased that Volume X i s not the end of E.C.T.,

hut we are looking forward to the completion of this valuable ref- erence set. I t is hoped that extensions and revisions of the orig- inal material are planned as a continuing program to better our chemical reference material.

KENNETH A. KOBE

0 WHAT IS SCIENCE?

Norman Campbell, physicist. Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1952. (Reprint of 1921 publication,) 192 pp. 13.5 X 20.5 cm. Cloth $2.50, paper $1.25.

0 MAN, THE CHEMICAL MACHINE

Ernest Borek, New York City College, and Research Associate in Biological Chemistry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. Columbia University Press, New York, 1952. xiv + 219 pp. 14 X 22.5 em. $3.

THERE is no dearth of books intended to explain to the high- school student or college freshman the nature of science or of some particular science, hoping to attract the student to t,he science by showing him what to expect from it. Some are an fanciful as the Sunday supplement or as trivial as some advertising copy-thers are on s. more restrained and adult level. Thew two books are of the latter t,vpe. The first attempts to answer the question "What is Science?" in part by asking and answering such other questions as "What is a. 'law' of science?" "How are laws discovered, explained, used?" "What is a theory?" ''What is measurement?" Its thesis is that the fundamental aim of science is to satisfy our purely intellectual desires. "It has ap- plications to practical life, only because i t is true; and its truth arises directly and immediately from its success as an instrument of intellectusl satisfaction" (page 158). The same thread runs through Professor Borek's book, but is embellished by many applications of hiachemistr,y. The author refers to two stages in the development of biochemistry. The first stage is a deserip- tive himhemintry in whieh the principal task is to identify the molecules taking pest in biochemical reactions. The second stage requires greater rigor, nkill, and ingenuity and is concerned

with discovering the relationships between molecular structure and cellular function. If the first stage is a kind of "molecular anatomy" then the second is "molecular physiology." Al- though this hook contains no chemical formulas, the author somehow convinces the reader that the future of biochemistry lies in "molecular physiology."

In the first chapter is an account of W6hler's synthesis of urea, its historical background and its significance in initistinq the rcienee of biochemistry. Later chapters deal with enzymes, vitamins, sugars, the use of isotopic tracers, amino acids and pro- teina, the blood, the defense of cells against toxic substances and hacteria, genes and the chemicd basis of heredity, and the chem- istry of nerve impulses. In a clear and easily followed style the author portrays the environment of biochemical investigation through an exciting and stimulating account of biochemical dis- coveries and their relation to each other.

Of the two books, Mr. Campbell's philosophical essay on the nature of science is the more mature and thought-provoking. Because of its comparative abstractness it is perhaps less suitable for beginners in science and of greater value in clarifying the thinking of those who already have some experience with one or s~veral of the sciences.

WALTER B. KEIGHTON SWARTRMORE COLLEOE

SaAn~nwonm. PENNBYLYAN~A

0 KINETICS AND MECHANISM

Arthur A. Frost and Ralph G. Pearson, Associate Professors of Chemistry, Northwestern University. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1953. vii + 343 pp. 51 figs. 38 tables. 15 X 23.5 cm. $6.

PROBABLY no branch of chemi~try holds more industrial and scientific interest today than doe- chemical kinetics, the subject of this hook. The conception of the equilibrium concentration of activated complexes crossing the harrier toward products (aside from the transmission coefficient effect) puts all of t,he methods of thermodynamics a t our disposal. Such considera- tions are a central theme in the presentation. Although, in principle, the deduction of mechanism is possible from theory, in fact, i t is usually arrived a t only after much careful consideration ot experiment. This procedure is well illustrated here. Enough exnerimental facts are usurtllv eiven so that one eets a mod air- . .. - ~" ~. ruw oi thc stntur of tht. pirtivulur rewtion under roniiJvrariwn. The hook i z s r i t rm judivi~u~lv w i t h iutrrwtinp IICW m>~rerill. Suvh H IrP~tmCnl of cheru-,I kiwtim i + a W C I ~ ~ P ~ddl l ion to student, teaeher, and research u-orker alike.'

HENRY EYRING U N I V S R ~ I T ~ OI UTAB

S m r L&xe C~rr . UTAH

0 THE BILE PIGMENTS

C. H. Gray, Professor of Chemical Pathology, University of London. Methuen & Co., Ltd., London; John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1953. xv + 142 pp. 26 figs. 11 X 17 em. $1.75.

"THE Bile Pigments" is another volume of Methuen's mono- graphs on biochemical subjects whieh measures up to the high standard set in earlier members of this series. These monographs demonstrate that it is possible to publish an adequate discussion of a biochemical topic in book form and a t a cost whieh is not prohibitive to the average reader. I n late years many fine scien- tific hooks, because of the expense involved, have been beyond the reach of many people who would like to own them.

In the early chapters of the present volume the structure of bilirubin, hiliverdin, urohilin, mesohilirubin, and other bile pig- ment derivatives me treated in detail. The hrillimt synthetic work of Hans Fiseher and his associates in Munich, to whom we are indebted far much of our knowledge of the chemisttry of bile