Catalysis by nonmetals: rules for catalyst selection

Book Reviews CATALYSIS BY NONMETALS: RULES FOR CATALYST SELECTION, by Oleg V. Krylov. 283 pages, diagrams, 6 x 9 in. New York, Academic Press, 1970. Price,$14.00. Translated from the original Russian by four American technological scientists, Michael F. Delleo, Jr., George Dembinski, John Happel and Alvin H. Weiss, the book has been issued by Academic Press in 1970 as No. 17 of their series of monographs in Physical Chemistry. Nowhere in the book is it stated when the original Russian work was published; possibly it was in 1965. The results of the International Congresses on Catalysis in Philadelphia (1956), in Paris (1960) and in Amsterdam (1964) have been well incorporated into the book. The preface, however, makes it clear that the Congress in Moscow (1968) was unknown to the author (Krylov), when he wrote the book. Among the 690 literature citations at the end of the book, one may fmd (Ref. 2) given as the year 1969; however, the article cited is from 1960. There are many more discrepancies and mistakes of this kind, for example Ref. (155) isnot from 1957, but from 1937. Nearly half of the references are of Russian literature, which is one of the positive points of the book. Part 1 deals with general methods of catalyst selection. In the first chapter electroconductivity, work function, etc., as well as the color of solids are discussed. Then follows a chapter on acid-base reactions, where, for example, the excellent work of Topchieva is given; a shorter chapter on catalytic activity and structure of solids concludes the first part. Part 2 gives the principles of selection of catalysts for various reactions, including the- decomposition of alcohols and acids, dehydrogenation and hydrogenation, etc., it ends with polymerization reactions. The conclusions are well worth reading ; they are followed by an appendix, containing 10 pages of very useful tables. The main merit of the book is its practical set-up. It may be considered as a good guide for those whose task it is to find practical catalysts for industrial purposes. A second merit is to be seen in the

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presentation of the vast number of kussian contributions to this theme. J. H. DE BOER Laboratorium voor Chemisehe Technologie Technische Hogeschool Delft, Holland PROGRESS IN NUCLEAR PHYSICS, VOL. II, edited by D. M. Brink and J. H. Mulvey. 320 pages, diagrams, 6 x 9 in. New York, Oxford, Pergamon Press, 1970. Price, $19.00; $7.

Volume II represents the most recent member of this well-known series, now under new management ; a welcome innovation is announced in the preface, to the effect that articles destined for these volumes may, in the future, be published separately under soft cover aa soon as available rather than be delayed in the usual fashion until the last contribution is received. This constitutes a pleasant change. As in the past, the articles cover both the fields of low-energy nuclear physics and high-energy particle physics; four of the former and two of the latter are in the present volume. An excellent review on “Neutron capture y-rays” by two Swedish authors, I. Bergqvist and N. Starfelt,, starts the volume-the main emphasis being on both experimental and theoretical work bearing on the reaction mechanism of neutron capture; in other words, the level-spectroscopic aspects of this type of work are omitted. In view of the recent great theoretical interest in the question of mechanism, this seems like a timely decision. Compound, direct and semi-direct capture are discussed in turn, along with the experimental evidence as it exists. After a brief summary of experimental techniques, the authors discuss thoroughly the properties of radiative widths of neutron capture levels in the various mass ranges. A comparison between spectra of y-rays originating in (n.,n’y) and (,n,y) reactions is made, &s well as between (d,py) and (~z,y) reactions. One of the criticisms this reviewer feels compelled to make (which will hopefully be obviated in future volumes by the announced new policy

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