The amazing petroleum industry

The amazing petroleum industry

July, I943.] BOOK REVIEWS. lO3 The first authenticated ascent in America was made June 24, I784, by a boy of only 13 years, Edward Warren, in a bal...

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July, I943.]

BOOK REVIEWS.

lO3

The first authenticated ascent in America was made June 24, I784, by a boy of only 13 years, Edward Warren, in a balloon. Almost ten years later J e a n Pierre Blanchard made the first actual aerial voyage in this country. George Washington was Blanchard's patron, and the voyage lasted 46 minutes from Philadelphia to Gloucester County, N . J . These and other events are vividly described by the author in more or less chronological order. Special attention is given to the events occasioned by outstanding men such as John Wise and others. An entire section is devoted to T . S. C. Lowe and the Civil War and it is interesting to note here that in 1859 Lowe had decided to attempt flight in a balloon over the Atlantic Ocean. The voyage was scheduled to s t a r t from New York but the New York Gas Company was unable to deliver hydrogen fast enough to effect full inflation of the balloon. Dr. John C. Cresson, President of the Franklin Institute and of the Point Breeze Gas Works, of Philadelphia, then invited Lowe to his city where he guaranteed sufficient speed of inflation. Weather conditions postponed the trip, however, temporarily and later postponement was made final due to the Civil War. The Civil War offered the first demonstration of the military value of the balloon. Lowe organized a balloon division in the Union Army and did valuable work which was recognized by Federals and Confederates alike. M a j o r General A. W. Greely, Chief of Army Signal Corps, stated " i t may be safely claimed that the Union Army was saved from destruction at the battle of Fair Oaks, May 3I to June 1, 1862, by the frequent and accurate reports of Professor Lowe." Not only did the Confederates try to eliminate Lowe's aeronautical corps but they even tried to organize their own balloon outfit. The book is a very interesting account that furnishes a background for those in aviation today and a fund of information for the layman. R. H . OVVERMANN. THE AMAZING PETROLEUM INDUSTRY, by V. A. Kalichevsky. 234 pages, diagrains, 13 X 19 cms. New York, Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1943. Price $2.25. There is a definite place in the literature for books of an informative character for general reading. Whenever a field of h u m a n endeavor becomes prominent enough to affect the lives of large numbers of people, there is a d u t y , educational if not otherwise, to make available to the people a means of understandiug the processes involved. The petroleum industry is such a field. Its position as one of the foremost branches of chemistry is undisputed. Measured in tonnage it is probably the country's largest supply of chemical raw materials. Measured in achievement, it ranks second to no other branch of chemistry as a supporter of the war effort, both in its role as a motor fuel and lubricant source, and as the a c t u a l savior of military transport through its basic contribution to the synthetic rubber program. Dr. Kalichevsky's book, therefore, is timely. The book embraces the entire imtustry including the production and nature of petroleum, its transportation and storage, and the processing of petroleum. Special sections are devoted to petroleum emulsions and natural gas, gasoline and crude oil distillations, cracking, hydrogenation and aviation gasolines, chemical treatment of light petroleum products, and chemicals from petroleum. The

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B o o k REVIEWS.

[J. F. I.

book is a non-technical resumd---understandable by anyone. I n the back there is a glossary of terms used in the industry. Readers of all kinds can profit by reading this book. Coming from a man closely connected with the industry for many years it is a n authoritative explanation. He rightly states that it "should be of assistance to college students, to young engineers beginning their careers in the petroleum industry, and to persons already connected with it but not directly engaged in production or refining of oil. R. H. OPPERMANN. VECTOR AND TENSOR ANALYSIS, by H o m e r Vincent Craig. 434 pages, diagrams, 16 X 23 cms. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, I943. Price $3.5o. In the preface of this book the a u t h o r refers to the economy of time in the training of engineers and physicists. While of course, this has been a n important item before educators for years, it is refreshing to see it brought out so boldly when considering a subject for study, especially so fundamental a subject as concerns this book. Vector analysis is undoubtedly the best introduction to certain related branches of mathematics. E v e r y student of theoretical physics, engineering, and differential geometry should have at least a reading knowledge of this subject. As to tensor analysis, this is a somewhat newer study and at present it can be said to be in a state of rapid expansion. The state of development is such t h a t a b r o a d and voluminous content is available. Nevertheless the book at hand undertakes to give an introduction to these subjects, sufficient to indicate their value as tools for the solution of practical problems and t h e i r flexibility of application. The book is divided into three parts the first of which is devoted to a mathematical background necessary for the main and later divisions. Here reference is made to the calculus of functions of two variables, parameterized arcs, determinants, the e-systems, and certain transformation equations. This t a k e s up roughly, one-quarter of the content of the book and prepares the way for the study of elementary vector analysis which is the second division. I t begins with a treatment on the algebra of vectors containing material basic for the examination of the simple N-dimensional space. Subsequently the differential calculus of vectors and integral transformations are taken up, followed by Stoke's theorem, proving for certain parameterized surfaces a modified form of the second of the two fundamental integral transformations. The third division of the book is devoted to the introduction of tensors and the explanation of extensions and the differential calculus of tensors. Division number four provides some material for practice reading in vector notation and covers classical dynamics based on the notion of absolute space and time, special relativity characterized by a three-dimensional Euclidean space and other concepts, and concluding with a formulation of the most important assumptions of general relativity. T o this division is appended a bibliography. The construction of the book is one of logical progression with careful selection of topics. Within limitations it is thorough and provides a course of study ior practical application. R. H. OPPERMANN.