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Isotope in der landwirtschaft
Book reviews uses of r a d i a t i o n in agricultural research, food preservation a n d i n d u c t i o n of chemical reactions, b u t strangely not in teletherapy, T h e small-scale use of radionuclides is deliberately excluded, It is h o p e d t h a t the definition of the " r a d " as a u n i t of a m o u n t of r a d i a t i o n will be corrected in future definitions, T h e editor's i n t e n t i o n is t h a t the book will illumihate the b a c k g r o u n d from w h i c h future developments in use of waste r a d i a t i o n can emerge. I n this, despite the omissions noted, it is successful a n d is recommended. A. W. KENNY
50
sary waste of space. However, this is n o t h i n g to the t a b u l a t i o n in w h i c h no less t h a n 20 pages, or 10 per cent of the book~ are like the B e l l m a n ' s m a p , a perfect a n d absolute blank! This raises the question of b i n d i n g of a work of this kind. Since the tables will need considerable revision in five years time, a loose leaf system m i g h t h a v e saved expense. T h e cost of this work is depressingly high, a n d in view of this I find it difficult to r e c o m m e n d its purchase b y practising analysts, t h o u g h it should find a place in most reference libraries. H.J.M. BOWEN
E. BRODA: R a d i o a c t i v e I s o t o p e s in B i o c h e m i s t r y T r a n s l a t e d b y P. OESPER. Elsevier, 1960. x + 376 pp., 57s. 6d R. C. KOCH : A c t i v a t i o n A n a l y s i s Academid Press, 1960, 64s.
H a n d b o o k , " T i n s is a translation from the G e r m a n of Dr. BRODA'S
THIs t a b u l a t i o n of d a t a has a p p e a r e d at a time w h e n more a n d more analysts are exploiting the very h i g h sensitivity of the radioactivation technique. I n a brief i n t r o d u c t i o n in s o m e w h a t stilted language, Dr. K o c . gives a useful s u m m a r y of the u n d e r l y i n g theory. Practical points are only dealt with in the most general terms, a n d few u n i n i t i a t e d readers could a t t e m p t a n e x p e r i m e n t a l assay on the basis of this work alone. T h e b u l k of the book consists of tables of nuclear d a t a for all activation reactions investigated to date. T h e bibliography, w h i c h extends to S e p t e m b e r 1959, appears to be tolerably complete. Slow n e u t r o n reactions are given most p r o m i n e n c e , b u t a n import a n t feature of the tables is the collection of d a t a concerning activation reactions which h a v e not yet b e e n used m u c h for analysis, for example (n, 2n), (p, pn) a n d (d, p) reactions. O t h e r useful items are the lists of interfering nuclear reactions (though these are seldom i m p o r t a n t in practice) a n d the sensitivities of detection calculated from a s t a n d a r d set o f a s s u m p tions. It is not a simple, m a t t e r to use the tables w i t h o u t auxiliary d a t a (e.g. a wall c h a r t of the nuclides) ; in particular, it is difficult to find the halflives of the products of reactions o t h e r t h a n (n, 7) processes. T h e i n d e x a n d glossary aide incomplete. T h e former would h a v e benefited by giving fuller details of matrices in w h i c h different elements have been d e t e r m i n e d by activation, a n d the latter omits several i m p o r t a n t definitions e.g. b a r n , curie, a n d rad. T h e r e is no table of abbreviations. T h e i n t r o d u c t o r y type is good, b u t I would h a v e preferred the tables in larger print. T h e i n t r o d u c t o r y layout, with two columns per page, seems a n unneces-
i m p o r t a n t work. T h e references are no longer given as footnotes, b u t are collected at the end of each c h a p t e r : the text has not been m u c h altered since the G e r m a n edition, which was reviewed earlier in this j o u r n a l . T h e r e is little to a d d to the c o m m e n t s I m a d e there. T h e t r e a t m e n t is wide r a n g i n g b u t concise, a n d the literature has been t h o r o u g h l y abstracted. T h e book will b e indispensable to libraries a n d to all serious students of'the subject. T w o m i n o r criticisms involve the sections on radiation chemistry a n d on metabolism of inorganic elements. C h a p t e r V I , on r a d i a t i o n chemistry, is m u c h too short a n d the a c c o u n t of the r a d i a t i o n chemistry of w a t e r is misleading. T h e t r e a t m e n t of inorganic elements m i g h t also be e x p a n d e d with a d v a n t a g e . For example, the table of sensitivity of activation analysis includes a l u m i n i u m , strontium, silver, a n t i m o n y a n d gold, as elements of biochemical i m p o r t a n c e , b u t omits cobalt, m o l y b d e n u m a n d manganese. N e i t h e r of these points detracts m u c h from the m a i n purpose of this book, w h i c h is to review the i m p a c t of tracer techniques on the whole field of biochemistry. This purpose has been a d m i r a b l y achieved. H.J.
IV[. BowEN
H. LINSER a n d K. KAINDL: Isotope in der Landw i r t s c h a f t . Verlag Paul Parey, H a m b u r g , 1960. 442 pp., 86 D.?v[. M o s t of this book does not deal with agricultural research or problems particularly concerned with agriculture b u t with straight tracer t e c h n i q u e a n d
51
Book reviews
application of ionizing radiation, subjects which are dealt with in other books also in the G e r m a n language, T h e portion which is concerned with agriculture is of a very v a r i a b l e quality. Take for example the first chapters dealing with problems related to agriculture: C h a p t e r 13, p. 1 7 1 - - ' P r e p a r a t i o n of Labelled Compounds, M a i n l y Fertilizers'. Accent is here placed on labelling commercial products, b u t surely a sludcnt w a n t i n g to use radiochemical methods will not start with commercial products. If he wants to use, for instance, labelled m o n o - or di-calcium phosphate he will, if he is a sound experimenter, go to the s t a n d a r d m e t h od books for inorganic syntheses, where he will find m e t h o d s w h i c h with little modification can be used for p r e p a r a t i o n of labelled compounds. W h e n it comes to basic slag a n d m i n e r a l p h o s p h a t e no laboratory m e t h o d exists for the p r e p a r a t i o n of these, However, the authors m e n t i o n a l a b o r a t o r y procedure for p r e p a r a t i o n of basic slag labelled with pa2 suggested by Professor TR6MeL who is a n a u t h o r i t y on basic slag. This m e t h o d seems worthwhile trying b u t is b y no means a ready-to-use method. T h e same is true, only more so, for labelling m i n e r a l p h o s p h a t e by n e u t r o n irradiation. V e r y significant quantities of n o n - o r t h o p h o s p h a t e containing pa2 is formed d u r i n g this t r e a t m e n t a n d it is not at all likely t h a t this p h o s p h a t e is reverted to its original form by heat treatment, I t is a pity t h a t such scanty i n f o r m a t i o n is given on p r e p a r a t i o n of labelled s t a n d a r d c o m p o u n d s because such information is always useful, m u c h more so t h a n results of other people's work w h i c h one will have to look up in any case. T h e authors have a t t e m p t e d to compile the relevant literature a n d at the end of the book one finds a very long list (45 pages, nearly 1,400 references) of the literature u p to 1959. However, this list suffers from a serious drawback, n a m e l y t h a t the n u m b e r s of the pages on which the content of the papers is m e n t i o n e d in the book are not given. Surely it would have been a great help to the users if those n u m b e r s were given, a n d perhaps the literature references could h a v e been grouped according to the type of p u b l i c a t i o n (periodicals a n d books), a n d subject, A more serious defect of this list is the omission of i m p o r t a n t papers like S. L. JANSSON (1958): ' T r a c e r Studies on Nitrogen Transformations in Soil with Special A t t e n t i o n to M i n e r a l i z a t i o n - I m m o b i l i z a t i o n Relationships', Ann. Roy. agric. Sweden 24, 101-361. Such a n omission is h a r d to forgive, Considering the length of the book there are few misprints a n d only one w o r t h mentioning, w h i c h was found on page 418 (Mettingly should read .,VIattingly, as is spelt on page 242, the last line; incidently, M a t t i n g l y has p r o d u c e d several more papers on the subiect t h a n the review- m e n t i o n e d ) ,
In a second cdition of this book m u c h valuable space could be saved by omitting m a n y technical details which the reader should be cxpe(tcd to lind ii~ the a p p r o p r i a t c handbooks. S.I.XRSV:N
L . G . LAjTliA: The U s e o f I s o t o p e s in Haernatology. Blackwell Scientific Publications, ( )xford. 1961. 83 " x pp., 2Is. T i n s small m o n o g r a p h is i n t e n d e d primarily for haematologists a n d reviews the more i m p o r t a n t a n d well-established isotope techniques used in this b r a n c h of clinical pathology. Some sections, such as t h a t on the m e a s u r e m e n t of blood volume, will be of wider interest to surgeons a n d others concerned with clinical physiology generally. T h e first three chapters are concerned with the m e a s u r e m e n t of red cell a n d p l a s m a volumes, thc survival of transfused labelled red cells a n d the: metabolism of radiocobalt-labelled v i t a m i n B12. All the procedures described are well established, widely used in diagnostic work a n d here is now a good found a t i o n of clinical experience on which to base the evaluation a n d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the data. A h h o u g h the literature on the use of radio-iron in haematological studies is very extensive a n d n u m e r o u s diagnostic procedures using this isotope have been proposed, the subject is one w h i c h is by no means completely explored a n d the value of radio-iron as a diagnoslic tool remains uncertain. Dr. LAJrH:'~ has succeeded i,~ presenting a n excellent survey of the work which ha~ been done with radio-iron indicating both the possibilities a n d the aspects which require fu,'thcr elucidation. T h e r e are brief chapters on the labelling of white cells a n d platelets and on a u t o r a d i o g r a p h y of boJ~c m a r r o w cells. T h e a u t h o r has modestly given (omparatively little space to the latter subject a l t h o u g h it is one with which his n a m e is closely associatcd. I, m i g h t have been b e t t e r h a d he treated this subject more extensively, since it has not been well cow:red in other reviews a n d m o n o g r a p h s ; a n d the techniques can be used in most h a e m a t o l o g y laboratories without capital outlay on e q u i p m e n t or the collaboration of physicists a n d electronic experts. T h e reader is expected to look elsewhere for inform a t i o n of radioisotope m e a s u r e m e n t techniques a n d i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n . I n a book of this n a t u r e this policy is p r o b a b l y reasonable, since in this country at least it is usually possible for a haematologist to seek practical advice from a hospital physics d e p a r t m e n t , but iu view of the fact t h a t the prospective user m a y have to spend a considerable time a n d effort getting budgctary allocations for e q u i p m e n t it is tk'lt that a small
50
sary waste of space. However, this is n o t h i n g to the t a b u l a t i o n in w h i c h no less t h a n 20 pages, or 10 per cent of the book~ are like the B e l l m a n ' s m a p , a perfect a n d absolute blank! This raises the question of b i n d i n g of a work of this kind. Since the tables will need considerable revision in five years time, a loose leaf system m i g h t h a v e saved expense. T h e cost of this work is depressingly high, a n d in view of this I find it difficult to r e c o m m e n d its purchase b y practising analysts, t h o u g h it should find a place in most reference libraries. H.J.M. BOWEN
E. BRODA: R a d i o a c t i v e I s o t o p e s in B i o c h e m i s t r y T r a n s l a t e d b y P. OESPER. Elsevier, 1960. x + 376 pp., 57s. 6d R. C. KOCH : A c t i v a t i o n A n a l y s i s Academid Press, 1960, 64s.
H a n d b o o k , " T i n s is a translation from the G e r m a n of Dr. BRODA'S
THIs t a b u l a t i o n of d a t a has a p p e a r e d at a time w h e n more a n d more analysts are exploiting the very h i g h sensitivity of the radioactivation technique. I n a brief i n t r o d u c t i o n in s o m e w h a t stilted language, Dr. K o c . gives a useful s u m m a r y of the u n d e r l y i n g theory. Practical points are only dealt with in the most general terms, a n d few u n i n i t i a t e d readers could a t t e m p t a n e x p e r i m e n t a l assay on the basis of this work alone. T h e b u l k of the book consists of tables of nuclear d a t a for all activation reactions investigated to date. T h e bibliography, w h i c h extends to S e p t e m b e r 1959, appears to be tolerably complete. Slow n e u t r o n reactions are given most p r o m i n e n c e , b u t a n import a n t feature of the tables is the collection of d a t a concerning activation reactions which h a v e not yet b e e n used m u c h for analysis, for example (n, 2n), (p, pn) a n d (d, p) reactions. O t h e r useful items are the lists of interfering nuclear reactions (though these are seldom i m p o r t a n t in practice) a n d the sensitivities of detection calculated from a s t a n d a r d set o f a s s u m p tions. It is not a simple, m a t t e r to use the tables w i t h o u t auxiliary d a t a (e.g. a wall c h a r t of the nuclides) ; in particular, it is difficult to find the halflives of the products of reactions o t h e r t h a n (n, 7) processes. T h e i n d e x a n d glossary aide incomplete. T h e former would h a v e benefited by giving fuller details of matrices in w h i c h different elements have been d e t e r m i n e d by activation, a n d the latter omits several i m p o r t a n t definitions e.g. b a r n , curie, a n d rad. T h e r e is no table of abbreviations. T h e i n t r o d u c t o r y type is good, b u t I would h a v e preferred the tables in larger print. T h e i n t r o d u c t o r y layout, with two columns per page, seems a n unneces-
i m p o r t a n t work. T h e references are no longer given as footnotes, b u t are collected at the end of each c h a p t e r : the text has not been m u c h altered since the G e r m a n edition, which was reviewed earlier in this j o u r n a l . T h e r e is little to a d d to the c o m m e n t s I m a d e there. T h e t r e a t m e n t is wide r a n g i n g b u t concise, a n d the literature has been t h o r o u g h l y abstracted. T h e book will b e indispensable to libraries a n d to all serious students of'the subject. T w o m i n o r criticisms involve the sections on radiation chemistry a n d on metabolism of inorganic elements. C h a p t e r V I , on r a d i a t i o n chemistry, is m u c h too short a n d the a c c o u n t of the r a d i a t i o n chemistry of w a t e r is misleading. T h e t r e a t m e n t of inorganic elements m i g h t also be e x p a n d e d with a d v a n t a g e . For example, the table of sensitivity of activation analysis includes a l u m i n i u m , strontium, silver, a n t i m o n y a n d gold, as elements of biochemical i m p o r t a n c e , b u t omits cobalt, m o l y b d e n u m a n d manganese. N e i t h e r of these points detracts m u c h from the m a i n purpose of this book, w h i c h is to review the i m p a c t of tracer techniques on the whole field of biochemistry. This purpose has been a d m i r a b l y achieved. H.J.
IV[. BowEN
H. LINSER a n d K. KAINDL: Isotope in der Landw i r t s c h a f t . Verlag Paul Parey, H a m b u r g , 1960. 442 pp., 86 D.?v[. M o s t of this book does not deal with agricultural research or problems particularly concerned with agriculture b u t with straight tracer t e c h n i q u e a n d
51
Book reviews
application of ionizing radiation, subjects which are dealt with in other books also in the G e r m a n language, T h e portion which is concerned with agriculture is of a very v a r i a b l e quality. Take for example the first chapters dealing with problems related to agriculture: C h a p t e r 13, p. 1 7 1 - - ' P r e p a r a t i o n of Labelled Compounds, M a i n l y Fertilizers'. Accent is here placed on labelling commercial products, b u t surely a sludcnt w a n t i n g to use radiochemical methods will not start with commercial products. If he wants to use, for instance, labelled m o n o - or di-calcium phosphate he will, if he is a sound experimenter, go to the s t a n d a r d m e t h od books for inorganic syntheses, where he will find m e t h o d s w h i c h with little modification can be used for p r e p a r a t i o n of labelled compounds. W h e n it comes to basic slag a n d m i n e r a l p h o s p h a t e no laboratory m e t h o d exists for the p r e p a r a t i o n of these, However, the authors m e n t i o n a l a b o r a t o r y procedure for p r e p a r a t i o n of basic slag labelled with pa2 suggested by Professor TR6MeL who is a n a u t h o r i t y on basic slag. This m e t h o d seems worthwhile trying b u t is b y no means a ready-to-use method. T h e same is true, only more so, for labelling m i n e r a l p h o s p h a t e by n e u t r o n irradiation. V e r y significant quantities of n o n - o r t h o p h o s p h a t e containing pa2 is formed d u r i n g this t r e a t m e n t a n d it is not at all likely t h a t this p h o s p h a t e is reverted to its original form by heat treatment, I t is a pity t h a t such scanty i n f o r m a t i o n is given on p r e p a r a t i o n of labelled s t a n d a r d c o m p o u n d s because such information is always useful, m u c h more so t h a n results of other people's work w h i c h one will have to look up in any case. T h e authors have a t t e m p t e d to compile the relevant literature a n d at the end of the book one finds a very long list (45 pages, nearly 1,400 references) of the literature u p to 1959. However, this list suffers from a serious drawback, n a m e l y t h a t the n u m b e r s of the pages on which the content of the papers is m e n t i o n e d in the book are not given. Surely it would have been a great help to the users if those n u m b e r s were given, a n d perhaps the literature references could h a v e been grouped according to the type of p u b l i c a t i o n (periodicals a n d books), a n d subject, A more serious defect of this list is the omission of i m p o r t a n t papers like S. L. JANSSON (1958): ' T r a c e r Studies on Nitrogen Transformations in Soil with Special A t t e n t i o n to M i n e r a l i z a t i o n - I m m o b i l i z a t i o n Relationships', Ann. Roy. agric. Sweden 24, 101-361. Such a n omission is h a r d to forgive, Considering the length of the book there are few misprints a n d only one w o r t h mentioning, w h i c h was found on page 418 (Mettingly should read .,VIattingly, as is spelt on page 242, the last line; incidently, M a t t i n g l y has p r o d u c e d several more papers on the subiect t h a n the review- m e n t i o n e d ) ,
In a second cdition of this book m u c h valuable space could be saved by omitting m a n y technical details which the reader should be cxpe(tcd to lind ii~ the a p p r o p r i a t c handbooks. S.I.XRSV:N
L . G . LAjTliA: The U s e o f I s o t o p e s in Haernatology. Blackwell Scientific Publications, ( )xford. 1961. 83 " x pp., 2Is. T i n s small m o n o g r a p h is i n t e n d e d primarily for haematologists a n d reviews the more i m p o r t a n t a n d well-established isotope techniques used in this b r a n c h of clinical pathology. Some sections, such as t h a t on the m e a s u r e m e n t of blood volume, will be of wider interest to surgeons a n d others concerned with clinical physiology generally. T h e first three chapters are concerned with the m e a s u r e m e n t of red cell a n d p l a s m a volumes, thc survival of transfused labelled red cells a n d the: metabolism of radiocobalt-labelled v i t a m i n B12. All the procedures described are well established, widely used in diagnostic work a n d here is now a good found a t i o n of clinical experience on which to base the evaluation a n d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the data. A h h o u g h the literature on the use of radio-iron in haematological studies is very extensive a n d n u m e r o u s diagnostic procedures using this isotope have been proposed, the subject is one w h i c h is by no means completely explored a n d the value of radio-iron as a diagnoslic tool remains uncertain. Dr. LAJrH:'~ has succeeded i,~ presenting a n excellent survey of the work which ha~ been done with radio-iron indicating both the possibilities a n d the aspects which require fu,'thcr elucidation. T h e r e are brief chapters on the labelling of white cells a n d platelets and on a u t o r a d i o g r a p h y of boJ~c m a r r o w cells. T h e a u t h o r has modestly given (omparatively little space to the latter subject a l t h o u g h it is one with which his n a m e is closely associatcd. I, m i g h t have been b e t t e r h a d he treated this subject more extensively, since it has not been well cow:red in other reviews a n d m o n o g r a p h s ; a n d the techniques can be used in most h a e m a t o l o g y laboratories without capital outlay on e q u i p m e n t or the collaboration of physicists a n d electronic experts. T h e reader is expected to look elsewhere for inform a t i o n of radioisotope m e a s u r e m e n t techniques a n d i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n . I n a book of this n a t u r e this policy is p r o b a b l y reasonable, since in this country at least it is usually possible for a haematologist to seek practical advice from a hospital physics d e p a r t m e n t , but iu view of the fact t h a t the prospective user m a y have to spend a considerable time a n d effort getting budgctary allocations for e q u i p m e n t it is tk'lt that a small