Organic coating technology, vol. II: Pigments and pigmented coatings

Book Reviews Advanced Paint Chemistry P. M. FISK Leonard Hill (Books) Ltd: London, 1961. (viii+ 164 pp.; 4½ in. by 7 in.), 21s. THIS WORK sets out to provide a textbook of organic chemistry for the City & Guilds courses in surface coatings technology. It contains a survey of the principles of organic chemistry, the manufacture of raw materials from petroleum derivatives and from acetylene, the principles of polymer chemistry, the manufacture of polymers and plasticizers, and colour and constitution. The weakness of the book lies with its presentation of theoretical principles, which is often confused and contains definitions which are insufficiently precise. The con,fusion is particularly apparent in the treatment of reaction mechanisms; the distinction between polarization effects and polarizability effects is not made clear because of poor definition (or omission) of some of the terms involved, and primary and secondary steric effects are not considered; further, the section on addition polymerization omits the terms 'propagation' and 'chain transfer'. The account of the reactions of naphthalene could have been clarified by a discussion of bond multiplicities. There appears to the reviewer to be an inordinate preoccupation with the resonance theory, the reasons given for omitting molecular orbital descriptions being fallacious. Some of the diagrams are poor, and a number of them could have been clarified by the conventional use of curved arrows to denote mesomeric and electromeric effects. In spite of these criticisms the main part of the book, which is concerned with synthetic methods, is both comprehensive and succinct and should prove valuable to the young technologist. There are, however, a few surprising omissions even in these pages, e.g. the manufacture of phthalic anhydride, the alcoholysis process for alkyd resins, in situ processes for epoxidized oils, thermosetting acrylics and the chemistry of rosin. I. T. SMITH

Organic Coating Technology, Vol. H: Pigments and Pigmented Coatings H. F. PAYNE John Wiley & Sons: London and New York, 1961. (x+675--1399 pp.; 5 in. by 8 in.), 140s. As COMPAREDto Vol. I on the subject which dealt with the binder or polymeric part of the surface-coating, emphasis here is on the pigment, the component added for decorative or protective purposes. A great deal of very useful information has been collected in the present volume but its presentation often lacks direction. A good start is made on the subject of colour and its physical measurement. The Munsell Colour System and Colour Sphere show how a colour may be defined in terms of hue (red, yellow, green, etc.), lightness and purity (extent to 437

BOOK REVIEWS which greyness has been added to the colour). This system allows of a diagrammatic arrangement of all colours as well as a numerical classification, i.e. 7-5 B 6/8 is a blue containing some green, and having a lightness of 6 and purity of 8. A more accurate numerical designation of a colour is provided by the H a r d y system, this defining a colour in terms of dominant wavelength, percentage purity and percentage brightness. The great use of these systems is that they permit one to make a visual assessment of the colour, a thing difficult to do with the familiar X Y Z tristimulus values. Some progress has been made towards applying such colour measurement to the very practical problem of matching paint. Pigments used in paint manufacture are very fully dealt with under white and black pigments, extenders, inorganic and organic pigments. These chapters have been well written and provide all necessary information on pigment manufacture and properties. The great variety of shades and tints obtainable with modern colour manufacture becomes obvious from the text. The chemistry of colour manufacture is d e a r l y and well described. Since lightfastness is often a problem with pigments it is encouraging to note in this American book mention of the British Blue W o o l Scale as a standard for measurement of this property. One would have hoped the author would have followed his systematic treatment of pigments with a like study of media and solvents, appropriate to this volume. After pigments however, various media are mentioned and the subject is then dropped until the last chapter of the book when a fuller account is given of vinyls, polyesters, polyurethanes and such n~odern resins, in a section on chemically resistant coatings. The actual manufacture of paint is well described, mention being made of such modern equipment as the high speed impeller which in part can replace the familiar roller grinder. Surface preparation and methods of a p p l i c a t i o n receive full treatment. With regard to formulation most paints are dealt with under industrial or architectural finishes. Since the book is American, emphasis is placed on paints for exterior use to protect wood. A n interesting table provides information on the relative rates of disintegration of typical paints applied to a great variety of building woods. Besides writing on pigments and paints the author has philosophized by heading every chapter with words of wisdom. ' A n automobile has no resemblance to the man who made it, likewise creation gives no clue to the attributes of the Creator. Spirit is revealed only through spiritual approach.' All this may make some scientists throw up their hands in horror; however, it is the privilege o f the author to include in his work what he chooses. Let us end in the same vein with a quotation from Solomon 'the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord'. A . S . FPa~zno~

Chemical Crystallography. A n Introduction to Optical and X - R a y Methods (2nd ed.) C.W.

Bu~

Clarendon Press: Oxford University Press, London, 1961. (xiv+509 pp.; 5½ in. by 8½ in.), 60s. IT Is a pleasure to review such an extremely readable book as Chemical Crystallography : Second Edition by C. W. BUNN, the first edition of which soon established i t s d f as one of the accepted textbooks on the subject. The essence of this first edition was first that it integrated in a wholly satisfactory manner the optical and X-ray methods of investigating crystal 438