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Rocks for chemists
590
BOOK RF.VIEWS
FORMALDEHYDE,by J. Frederic Walker. Second edition, ACS monograph # 120, 575 pages, diagrams, 16 X 24 cm. New York, Reinhold Publishing Corp., 1953. Price,
$12.00. The second edition of Formaldehyde is a considerably enlarged version of the 1944 edition containing the same fine presentation of the material on the subject. The 21 chapters may roughly be grouped in 6 major categories. The first chapter deals with formaldehyde production. This is followed by 6 chapters on the various forms of formaldehyde, monomer, solutions, and polymers. Nine chapters are devoted to chemical properties and two are on analysis for formaldehyde and of formaldehyde solutions and polymers. A chapter on hexamethylenetetramine is included. The final two chapters deal with the uses of formaldehyde in its various forms. The enlargement is a general one. The majority of the sections have been expanded to greater detail with only a few short added sections. The only new chapter in the book is that covering reactions of formaldehyde with the nuclei of heterocyclic compounds, including furans, thiophenes, pyrroles, pyridines, and quinolines. The outstanding quality of this book is its systematic presentation in the arrangement of the chapters and sections and of the material within the sections themselves. No seetion contains all the material which might be required by one delving deep into a specific topic in formaldehyde chemistry. This would obviously require a work of many volumes. The author is, however, amazingly thorough in his treatment and seems to distribute the space well. References are extensive. Formaldehyde is a practical book written primarily from an industrial point of view. Numerous parts will, however, be of great help to anyone working with formaldehyde. The enlarged presentation and the fine organization make it a welcome addition to chenfical literature. M . H . BORTNER ROCKS FOR CHEMISTS, by S. James Shand. 145 pages, 32 plates, 15 X 22 cm. New York, Pitman Publishing Corp., 1952. Price, $4.50. This little book, written by Professor Shand, has three main goals: (a) To convince petrol-
IJ. I:. [.
ogists that the present nomenclature of rocks and minerals is highly inadequate and unsystematic; (b) To present the field of petrography and its nomenclature from the standpoint of chemistry; and (c) To try to interest the chemists in research in the relatively untapped field of rock and mineral genesis. The rocks are discussed in the following order: field rocks; rock-formlng minerals; active and underground lava ; eruptive rocks : plagioclase rocks; dioritic rocks; granitic rocks; syenitic rocks; feldspathoidal rocksheavy crystal-accumulate-forming rocks ; sedi mentary rocks; and metamorphic rocks (including their formation by dynamic, thermal, hydrothermal, and complex metamorphism). The author tries to systematically classify rocks and minerals according to the proportions of chemical elements and compounds they contain. Then, by means of phase diagrams, he shows how the many members of a rock family were formed as they cooled from the liquid state. At the end of the book, there is a series of pertinent photographs carefully selected by the author to pictorially emphasize his theories. There is also a list of suggested readings included for readers who wish more detailed information on some subject. The book is well written; however, in the opinion of the reviewer, the book would stimulate interest much more effectively if the author did not cover so much of the field in such all abbreviated volume. The book would also be more readable if Professor Shand had limited his presentation to only one family of rocks with only general reference to the many others. For chemists, there are so many new rock and mineral names to keep in mind that over-all interest in the field of petrography is lost. However, the book will be very provocative and immensely interesting (and hence is recommended) to chemically trained petrologists. DONALDH. RtrssEt.t. HIGHER TRANSCENDENTAL FUNCTIONS, Volume I, by Harry Bateman (compiled by the
staff of the Bateman Manuscript Project). 302 pages, 16 X 24 cm. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1953. Price, $6.50. "This work is dedicated to the memory of Harry Bateman as a tribute to the imagination which led him to undertake a project of
BOOK RF.VIEWS
FORMALDEHYDE,by J. Frederic Walker. Second edition, ACS monograph # 120, 575 pages, diagrams, 16 X 24 cm. New York, Reinhold Publishing Corp., 1953. Price,
$12.00. The second edition of Formaldehyde is a considerably enlarged version of the 1944 edition containing the same fine presentation of the material on the subject. The 21 chapters may roughly be grouped in 6 major categories. The first chapter deals with formaldehyde production. This is followed by 6 chapters on the various forms of formaldehyde, monomer, solutions, and polymers. Nine chapters are devoted to chemical properties and two are on analysis for formaldehyde and of formaldehyde solutions and polymers. A chapter on hexamethylenetetramine is included. The final two chapters deal with the uses of formaldehyde in its various forms. The enlargement is a general one. The majority of the sections have been expanded to greater detail with only a few short added sections. The only new chapter in the book is that covering reactions of formaldehyde with the nuclei of heterocyclic compounds, including furans, thiophenes, pyrroles, pyridines, and quinolines. The outstanding quality of this book is its systematic presentation in the arrangement of the chapters and sections and of the material within the sections themselves. No seetion contains all the material which might be required by one delving deep into a specific topic in formaldehyde chemistry. This would obviously require a work of many volumes. The author is, however, amazingly thorough in his treatment and seems to distribute the space well. References are extensive. Formaldehyde is a practical book written primarily from an industrial point of view. Numerous parts will, however, be of great help to anyone working with formaldehyde. The enlarged presentation and the fine organization make it a welcome addition to chenfical literature. M . H . BORTNER ROCKS FOR CHEMISTS, by S. James Shand. 145 pages, 32 plates, 15 X 22 cm. New York, Pitman Publishing Corp., 1952. Price, $4.50. This little book, written by Professor Shand, has three main goals: (a) To convince petrol-
IJ. I:. [.
ogists that the present nomenclature of rocks and minerals is highly inadequate and unsystematic; (b) To present the field of petrography and its nomenclature from the standpoint of chemistry; and (c) To try to interest the chemists in research in the relatively untapped field of rock and mineral genesis. The rocks are discussed in the following order: field rocks; rock-formlng minerals; active and underground lava ; eruptive rocks : plagioclase rocks; dioritic rocks; granitic rocks; syenitic rocks; feldspathoidal rocksheavy crystal-accumulate-forming rocks ; sedi mentary rocks; and metamorphic rocks (including their formation by dynamic, thermal, hydrothermal, and complex metamorphism). The author tries to systematically classify rocks and minerals according to the proportions of chemical elements and compounds they contain. Then, by means of phase diagrams, he shows how the many members of a rock family were formed as they cooled from the liquid state. At the end of the book, there is a series of pertinent photographs carefully selected by the author to pictorially emphasize his theories. There is also a list of suggested readings included for readers who wish more detailed information on some subject. The book is well written; however, in the opinion of the reviewer, the book would stimulate interest much more effectively if the author did not cover so much of the field in such all abbreviated volume. The book would also be more readable if Professor Shand had limited his presentation to only one family of rocks with only general reference to the many others. For chemists, there are so many new rock and mineral names to keep in mind that over-all interest in the field of petrography is lost. However, the book will be very provocative and immensely interesting (and hence is recommended) to chemically trained petrologists. DONALDH. RtrssEt.t. HIGHER TRANSCENDENTAL FUNCTIONS, Volume I, by Harry Bateman (compiled by the
staff of the Bateman Manuscript Project). 302 pages, 16 X 24 cm. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1953. Price, $6.50. "This work is dedicated to the memory of Harry Bateman as a tribute to the imagination which led him to undertake a project of