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Selected works of P. J. Flory
Polymer Photochemistry7 (1986) 417-420
Book Reviews
Selected Works of P. J. Flory. Edited by L. Mandelkern, J. E. Mark, U. W. Suter and D. Y. Yoon, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1985. ISBN 0-8047-1277-8. Price: US$165.00.
Flory is a pioneer and still a leading contributor to the development of the discipline of and the quantitative understanding of polymer science. He pervades the major achievements of polymer science both in industry and in academy. After gaining his PhD in 1934 he spent 11 years in industry and has spent 40 years in academy, resulting in a prodigious list of published papers, two books, prizes from many learned societies, eight higher doctorates and the Nobel prize for Chemistry in 1974. He has spent the last 24 years at Stanford University, and the University has chosen to commemorate his 75th birthday by publishing (in three volumes, containing 2633 pages) this selection of Flory's written work. Monumental though this selection of 350 papers may seem, it does not by any means include all his papers, and does not include his two standard texts: Principles of Polymer Chemistry (1953) and Statistical Mechanics of Chain Molecules (1969). It does, however, include the full text of his 1974 Nobel lecture 'Spatial Configuration of Macromolecular Chains'. There is also an autobiographical note. The editors have neatly arranged the reprinted papers into eight groups. 'Polymerisation'occupies 214 pages written mainly between 1936 and 1952. The emphasis is on molecular mass distribution in a range of polymerisations, such as condensation (with elaboration to include species having a functionality greater than 2, leading to theories of branching, and network formation), addition (identifying the importance of chain-transfer reactions and regularity in diene polymers), and ring opening. 417
Polymer Photochemistry (7) (1986)--~) Elsevier Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1986. Printed in Northern Ireland
418
Book reviews
'Frictional properties'--164 pages mainly from 1943 to 1954 focuses on the relationship between intrinsic viscosity and molecular mass, leading to the configurational characteristics of polymers in solution and the thermodynamic interactions between polymer and solvent. 'Thermodynamics of polymer solutions'--reported in 290 pages-reflects two periods, 1941-57 and 1965-72, with later reviews. Early papers develop the statistical mechanics of dilute solutions, leading to polymer-solvent phase equilibria. Later papers explore a theory of mixtures and the usefulness of an equation of state for the pure components in a mixture. The group of 109 papers (960 pages) on 'Chain configuration and dependent properties' (1949-83) is a tour de force containing virtually all the key relationships between molecular structure and the spatial configuration of macromolecular chains. The first quantitative treatment of the excluded volume interactions of real polymer chains is extended, using the rotational isomeric state theory, to embrace symmetric and asymmetric chains, and natural polymers, and then to describe radiation scattering, optical anisotropy and other configuration-dependent properties. 'Rubberlike elasticity' (1943-84) occupies 186 pages. Flory's original theory was developed for affine deformations. He saw the importance of energy, interpreted as the temperature coefficients of the network chain dimensions, and linked this with the rotational isomeric state theory. More recently he described the deformation dependence of modulus during compression, the equilibrium extent of swelling, and strain-induced birefringence. 'Crystallisation' occupies 300 pages written between 1947 and 1984. He outlines the development of statistical mechanical theories to describe the nature of the crystalline state of long-chain molecules, including synthetic and bio-polymers. Mechanisms of nucleation of crystallisation and the description of equilibrium between crystalline and amorphous regions are prominent achievements. The timely theme of 'Liquid crystals' (208 pages), occupied Flory between 1978 and 1984, although his earliest study in 1956 described the phase equilibria in solutions of rod-like particles. Later papers refer to orientation-dependent molecular attractions in terms of the anisotropy of molecular polarisabilities leading to a rigorous treatment of the nematic liquid crystalline state of rod-like particles in
Book reviews
419
terms of their chemical constitution. The latest work describes the statistical thermodynamic base of disordered versus ordered states of semi-flexible polymers and the nature of their disorder-order transitions. Finally, there is a group of 'Miscellaneous papers', some 142 pages reflecting ideas developed between 1940 and 1958. These embrace such topics as the melt viscosity of polymers as a function of temperature and molecular weight, and the nature of order and disorder in polymers, the latter with particular reference to biopolymers. The last two papers discuss multilinked polyamides and the theory of light-scattering of polymer solutions. This collection of papers would enhance any library. But more than most memorial tributes, it will serve to inspire the reader not only by the prodigious effort it represents but also by the breadth and depth of scholarship which it embraces.
Peter C. PoweH Polyvinyl Chloride Degradation. (Polymer Science Library 3). By J. Wypych (Series Editor, A. D. Jenkins). Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam, 1985.264 + x pp. ISBN 0-444-42549-7. Price: Dfl. 75.00. Whilst it may be argued that there are already too many books currently available on the degradation of polymers, notably for PVC, this particular book forms what is clearly part of a developing series of texts within a Polymer Science Library. Within the whole field of polymer degradation and stabilisation PVC is one of the most complex polymers, the processes involved in degradation being complicated by hydrogen chloride production. Consequently, stabilisation processes are more complex and often involve what we could reasonably argue are 'witches' brews'. This book is orientated more towards these complexities, and covers in some detail the chemical and kinetic processes involved in the degradation of PVC. The first chapter deals in some depth with imperfections, impurities and the structure of the polymer, while Chapter 2 covers the chemistry of degradation processes at low and high temperatures. Photo- and chemically induced degradation processes are dealt with in Chapter 3, followed by thermal stabilisa-
Book Reviews
Selected Works of P. J. Flory. Edited by L. Mandelkern, J. E. Mark, U. W. Suter and D. Y. Yoon, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1985. ISBN 0-8047-1277-8. Price: US$165.00.
Flory is a pioneer and still a leading contributor to the development of the discipline of and the quantitative understanding of polymer science. He pervades the major achievements of polymer science both in industry and in academy. After gaining his PhD in 1934 he spent 11 years in industry and has spent 40 years in academy, resulting in a prodigious list of published papers, two books, prizes from many learned societies, eight higher doctorates and the Nobel prize for Chemistry in 1974. He has spent the last 24 years at Stanford University, and the University has chosen to commemorate his 75th birthday by publishing (in three volumes, containing 2633 pages) this selection of Flory's written work. Monumental though this selection of 350 papers may seem, it does not by any means include all his papers, and does not include his two standard texts: Principles of Polymer Chemistry (1953) and Statistical Mechanics of Chain Molecules (1969). It does, however, include the full text of his 1974 Nobel lecture 'Spatial Configuration of Macromolecular Chains'. There is also an autobiographical note. The editors have neatly arranged the reprinted papers into eight groups. 'Polymerisation'occupies 214 pages written mainly between 1936 and 1952. The emphasis is on molecular mass distribution in a range of polymerisations, such as condensation (with elaboration to include species having a functionality greater than 2, leading to theories of branching, and network formation), addition (identifying the importance of chain-transfer reactions and regularity in diene polymers), and ring opening. 417
Polymer Photochemistry (7) (1986)--~) Elsevier Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1986. Printed in Northern Ireland
418
Book reviews
'Frictional properties'--164 pages mainly from 1943 to 1954 focuses on the relationship between intrinsic viscosity and molecular mass, leading to the configurational characteristics of polymers in solution and the thermodynamic interactions between polymer and solvent. 'Thermodynamics of polymer solutions'--reported in 290 pages-reflects two periods, 1941-57 and 1965-72, with later reviews. Early papers develop the statistical mechanics of dilute solutions, leading to polymer-solvent phase equilibria. Later papers explore a theory of mixtures and the usefulness of an equation of state for the pure components in a mixture. The group of 109 papers (960 pages) on 'Chain configuration and dependent properties' (1949-83) is a tour de force containing virtually all the key relationships between molecular structure and the spatial configuration of macromolecular chains. The first quantitative treatment of the excluded volume interactions of real polymer chains is extended, using the rotational isomeric state theory, to embrace symmetric and asymmetric chains, and natural polymers, and then to describe radiation scattering, optical anisotropy and other configuration-dependent properties. 'Rubberlike elasticity' (1943-84) occupies 186 pages. Flory's original theory was developed for affine deformations. He saw the importance of energy, interpreted as the temperature coefficients of the network chain dimensions, and linked this with the rotational isomeric state theory. More recently he described the deformation dependence of modulus during compression, the equilibrium extent of swelling, and strain-induced birefringence. 'Crystallisation' occupies 300 pages written between 1947 and 1984. He outlines the development of statistical mechanical theories to describe the nature of the crystalline state of long-chain molecules, including synthetic and bio-polymers. Mechanisms of nucleation of crystallisation and the description of equilibrium between crystalline and amorphous regions are prominent achievements. The timely theme of 'Liquid crystals' (208 pages), occupied Flory between 1978 and 1984, although his earliest study in 1956 described the phase equilibria in solutions of rod-like particles. Later papers refer to orientation-dependent molecular attractions in terms of the anisotropy of molecular polarisabilities leading to a rigorous treatment of the nematic liquid crystalline state of rod-like particles in
Book reviews
419
terms of their chemical constitution. The latest work describes the statistical thermodynamic base of disordered versus ordered states of semi-flexible polymers and the nature of their disorder-order transitions. Finally, there is a group of 'Miscellaneous papers', some 142 pages reflecting ideas developed between 1940 and 1958. These embrace such topics as the melt viscosity of polymers as a function of temperature and molecular weight, and the nature of order and disorder in polymers, the latter with particular reference to biopolymers. The last two papers discuss multilinked polyamides and the theory of light-scattering of polymer solutions. This collection of papers would enhance any library. But more than most memorial tributes, it will serve to inspire the reader not only by the prodigious effort it represents but also by the breadth and depth of scholarship which it embraces.
Peter C. PoweH Polyvinyl Chloride Degradation. (Polymer Science Library 3). By J. Wypych (Series Editor, A. D. Jenkins). Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam, 1985.264 + x pp. ISBN 0-444-42549-7. Price: Dfl. 75.00. Whilst it may be argued that there are already too many books currently available on the degradation of polymers, notably for PVC, this particular book forms what is clearly part of a developing series of texts within a Polymer Science Library. Within the whole field of polymer degradation and stabilisation PVC is one of the most complex polymers, the processes involved in degradation being complicated by hydrogen chloride production. Consequently, stabilisation processes are more complex and often involve what we could reasonably argue are 'witches' brews'. This book is orientated more towards these complexities, and covers in some detail the chemical and kinetic processes involved in the degradation of PVC. The first chapter deals in some depth with imperfections, impurities and the structure of the polymer, while Chapter 2 covers the chemistry of degradation processes at low and high temperatures. Photo- and chemically induced degradation processes are dealt with in Chapter 3, followed by thermal stabilisa-