JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL
584
BIOLOGICAL STUDIES WITH POLONIUM,
•
RADIUM, AND PLUTONIUM
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Edited by Robert M. Fink, Professor of Physiological Chemistry,
University of California, Los Angeles, California. National Nuclear Energy Series, VI-3. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New
York, 1950, xvi + 411 pp. 96 figs, 129 tables. 16 X 24 cm.
$3.75.
The data collected by members of the Biological Chemistry
Section of the Division of Radioactivity in the Manhattan Department of the University of Rochester are presented, discussed,
and summarized in this volume of the National Nuclear Energy
Series. The problem under investigation was the comparison of
the biological effects of three alpha-emitting radioactive elements
—polonium, plutonium, and radium.
The plan and conduct of the directed research under the Manhattan District were often determined by the availability of
technical assistance, materials, and animals, but more frequently
by the pressure of time. A relatively small number of animals of
one species studied at a few dose levels and for a short interval of
time had to suffice for the initial pilot experiments. Although the
major portion of the work was done on rats, a few mice, one rabbit, and several tracer studies in humans were included.
The careful outlining of procedures and methods is preceded by
a valuable review of the literature dealing with polonium and radium toxicity. The excretion, retention, and tissue distribution
of these two elements were studied following intravenous and oral
administration. The subcutaneous administration, inhalation,
and skin absorption of polonium were also investigated. The experimental work designed to determine the intravenous lethal
doses and relative toxicities of the three elements is clearly described and presented in detail. The mortality studies are combined with hematological as well as gross and micropathological
investigations. The data are so presented that in many instances it is possible to follow the history of an individual animal
from the time of injection through its clinical course and final autopsy.
This pioneering work is unusual in several respects, not the
least of which is the vast amount of material collected by the combined efforts of many investigators over a relatively short period
of time. One is immediately impressed with the great care the
authors have taken to present their problems and sources of error
and with the voluminous data that are included.
MIRIAM
P. FINKEL
Argonne National Laboratory
Chicago, Illinois
•
FUNDAMENTALS OF CHEMISTRY AND APPLICATIONS
Charlotte A, Francis, formerly Instructor of Chemistry, and
Edna C. Morse, Assistant Professor of Home Economics (Chemistry), Teachers College, Columbia University. The Macmillan
Company, New York, 1950. xi + 545 pp. 99 figs. 15 X 22
cm.
$4.50.
This book is designed for students interested in an introductory
in chemistry leading to more specialized courses in nursing
practice, nutrition and home economics, medical technology, and
teaching of general science. In carrying out this design, nineteen
chapters, 264 pages, are devoted to general principles and inorganic chemistry at an elementary level. The remainder of the
book, twelve chapters, 261 pages, contains a much more extensive
treatment of organic chemistry than is found in the usual introductory college chemistry textbook.
The arrangement of the subject matter and general plan follows that of the first two editions but all chapters have been revised by the addition of new material and elimination of some of
the older concepts. Some chapters dealing with radioactivity
and the structure of matter have been rewritten in the light of
recent changes and additions to knowledge in these fields.
The authors are especially adept at introducing the subject
course
EDUCATION
of chemistry to the student in the terms of everyday language
which permits immediate understanding without the necessity of
introducing scientific terms. The use of the word substance and
the careful definition of it in the beginning is a good example of
this technique.
The general use of tables, listing together compounds similar
in properties and giving their corresponding formulas, makes the
book useful as a reference book at a technicians level. If these
tables had been numbered and listed in the index under a table
heading, its usefulness as a reference book would have been increased.
The inorganic section contains a limited discussion of atomic
structures with some emphasis on the relationship of molecular
structure to properties. The use of the Periodic Table has been
eliminated. The larger portion of this section is devoted to water,
colloidal and true solutions, ionization, and a complete discussion
of acids, bases, and salts.
The organic portion is very complete and begins in the conventional manner with a discussion of the aliphatic hydrocarbons and
their derivatives. This study led naturally into the discussion of
carbohydrates and fats.
A very short discussion of cyclic compounds, both carbocyclic
and heterocyclic, consists mainly of introducing basic ring structures which are used in building up the more complex protein and
alkaloid structures that appear later in the book. Tne remaining
three chapters, approximately 100 pages, are devoted to Chemistry of digestion; Function and fate of glucose, fats, and proteins in the body; and Important physiological functionings of
electrolytes, ail very thorough for a beginning text.
Teachers of introductory courses for students interested in becoming technical aids will find this volume attractive from both
The introduction of
a teacher’s and student’s viewpoint.
enough organic chemistry along with the excellent presentation of
the physiological applications make it a very good background
book for nurses, nutritionists, and teachers of general science.
JAMES F. CORWIN
Antioch College
Springs, Ohio
Yellow
•
INTRODUCTION TO
THERMODYNAMICS
CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING
M. Smith, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1949.
x + 386 pp.
64 figs. 25 tables. 16 X 23.5 cm.
$4.
7.
This book is a new addition to the McGraw-Hill Chemical
Engineering Series. As a text it is designed for the third or
fourth year of undergraduate work and for use in a two-semester
course
of average intensity.
The author states that the book is to present, from a chemical
engineering viewpoint, an introductory treatment of thermodynamics which is sufficiently simple and free from complicated
mathematical treatment that it may be understood by the average
undergraduate student, yet rigorous and sound enough to provide a firm foundation for more advanced work. The subject is
covered under the following twelve chapter headings: (1) Introduction to chemical engineering thermodynamics, (2) The first
law of thermodynamics (3) Pressure-volume-temperature
relations of fluids, (4) Ileat effects, (5) The second law of
thermodynamics, (6) Thermodynamic properties of fluids,
(7) Flow of fluids, (8) Production of work from heat, (9)
Compression and expansion process, (10) Refrigeration, (11)
Phase equilibria, and (12) Chemical-reaction equilibria. In
each chapter numerical examples are solved that illustrate very
well the various topics under discussion, and at the end of each
chapter there are lists of unsolved problems which are aimed
principally at chemical engineering applications.
The material covered in the twelve chapters generally follows
the usual approach. However, the author introduced two work
terms, one to represent work done by the system, and the other
OCTOBER, 1950
585
to represent work appearing in the surroundings. In the case of
irreversible processes, it is not clear just where the irreversibility is
to occur.
By the conventional definitions of system and surroundings (also those used in this text), this irreversibility occurs
in either one or the other. It would appear that, by using these
two work terms, the irreversibility is occurring at the boundary
between the system and the surroundings. This is apt to prove
confusing to the student and, at the same time, no apparent advantage can be seen for this approach.
The author waits until the last chapter to define “standard
states” while the concepts have actually been used in one form
or another from Chapter 3. The student generally is careless in
using standard states unless they are introduced early and are
carefully emphasized each time they are encountered. Also, it is
important to point out why a standard state is necessary in each
of the cases encountered.
In Chapter 11, equation (H-2) is not the definition of the
chemical potential as given by Gibbs. Reference is made to “The
Collected Works of J. Willard Gibbs,” Vol. I, page 89, Longmans
Green and Co., Inc., New York, 1931. As long as the author
uses partial free energies in the text, the introduction of the Gibbs
^-potential adds little, and may prove very confusing. The
author would have done better to have stated and discussed the
equilibrium conditions in terms of partial free energies instead of
introducing Gibbs’ treatment. Tliis would have circumvented
the discussion centering around equation (11-11) and the confusion that is certain to arise in the beginner’s mind as to just
what is the difference between the partial free energy and the
^-potential, if any.
Chapters 11 and 12 would have been greatly improved if the
author had expanded them. The author states in the Preface
that the book is designed for use in a two-semester course of
average intensity but may be used for a one-semester course by
omitting most of Chapters 11 and 12. On the basis of this
division it appears that supplemental material would be necessary in a two-semester course.
HARTLEY
C. ECKSTROM
Oil and Gas Company
Tolha, Oklahoma
Stanoi.ind
UNFAMILIAR OXIDATION STATES AND THEIR
STABILIZATION
•
These have stimulated some valuable research, but the surface
of the subject has hardly been scratched. The monograph by
Professor Kleinberg is therefore especially welcome and it is hoped
that it will do much to stimulate further interest in this important
field.
The opening chapter of the book clearly outlines the factors
which are important in different kinds of valence stabilization
and delineates the underlying principles. Succeeding chapters
discuss the low oxidation states of the elements of the aluminum
group, the superoxides, unusual oxidation states of the halogens,
and of copper, silver, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel,
and the rare earths. To many chemists, compounds of monovalent manganese or of trivalent copper and nickel will be new ^nd
exciting. Only a few examples are discussed, but they are well
selected and will suggest many interesting research problems.
Dr. Kleinberg has done a splendid job, both in the selection of
material and in his manner of presentation. The monograph is
a distinct addition to the literature of inorganic chemistry, and
should receive wide study.
JOHN C. BA1UAR, JR.
University of Illinois
L'rhana, Illinois
Thomas H. Dunans.
New York, 1950.
xv
"ixth edition.
+ 242
pp.
D. Van Nostrand Co.,
14.5 X 22
cm.
$6.
The title for this book should be “Solvents for Cellulose Nitrate,” although the acetate is occasionally mentioned. No
general discussion of solvent properties outside this specific field
is given, so the book will be useful only to one engaged in lacquer
formulation.
The book is divided into two parts, the first 74 pages being a
general discussion of solvent properties of importance in lacquers
and the second part a specific description of individual compounds in nine classes of solvents. An appendix gives trade
names, solubility tables for cellulose compounds and resins, and
plasticizer proportions.
The fifth edition was published in 1944, but only two references
in the sixth edition bear dates later than this. Frequent reference
is made to undated manufacturers’ circulars, and some of this
material may be more recent.
Jacob Kleinberg, Associate Professor of Chemistry, University
of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. University of Kansas Press,
Lawrence, Kansas, 1950. 131 pp. 8 figs. 17 tables. 14 X 22
cm.
SOLVENTS
•
KENNETH
A, KOBE
Texas
Austin, Texas
University
op
$3.
The stabilization of valence states of the elements has important implications, both in theory and in practice. It enters into
considerations of structure and reaction mechanism and is of
utmost importance in electroplating, in catalysis, in many analytical separations, and in oxidation-reduction reactions of all
sorts. Examples are abundant, and applications have been
used for many years. Thus, silver and gold, which are usually
inert to all but the strongest oxidizing agents, are readily oxidized by the air in the presence of potassium cyanide, because of
the formation of the [Ag(CN)2]_ and [Au(CN)a]“ complex ions,
and copper is dissolved by hydriodic acid because it forms the
stable [CuIjI- ion. In the presence of excess fluoride ion permanganate titrations yield manganese in the tripositive state
rather than in the more usual dipositivo state. Erbium is separated from the other rare earths through the formation of the
stable, insoluble, europous sulfate, while cerium is separated by
oxidation to the tetrapositive condition. Cobalt cannot be determined polarographically in the presence of nickel if the inert
electrolyte is a chloride bath, but the polarographic waves are
quite distinct when the bath contains an excess of thiocyanate.
In spite of the importance of the subject of valence stabilization, little was written on it until about a decade ago. During
the last few years it has attracted a considerable amount of attention and several brief reviews on the subject have appeared.
•
THE CHEMISTRY OF INDUSTRIAL TOXICOLOGY
B. Elkins, Chief of Laboratory, Division of Occupational
Hygiene, Massachusetts Department of Labor and Industries.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1950. ix + 406 pp. 24
$5 50.
figs. 43 tables. 14 X 22 cm.
Hervey
This book was written to "provide a convenient source of information on the basic properties of the common industrial
poisons; to stimulate the interest of the industrial chemist in
problems of occupational illnesses of toxic origin; and to encourage employers to utilize the knowledge and training of their
chemists and chemical engineers in protecting their workers
from the harmful substances to which they are exposed.” Since
control of occupational disability resulting from undue exposure
to toxic substances may best be made initially by chemical
methods, this book treats industrial poisons primarily from the
point of view of the chemist and engineer rather than from the
medical point of view.
The first two chapters cover general principles known to the
toxicologist and with which the industrial chemist should be
familiar. Chapters III, IV, and V discuss in general terms the
hazards associated with the elements and their chief industrial
compounds. Chapter VI deals with additional inorganic com-