- Email: [email protected]
The hydrogen bond
BOOK
The Hydrogen Bond. By GEORGE C. PIMENTEL, University of California, Berkeley, Calif., and A. L. MCCLELLAN, California Research Corporation, San Francisco, Calif. W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, Calif. 1960. xii + 475 pp. Price $9.50. The dust jacket on The Hydrogen Bond claims “A complete coverage of the subject.” The authors themselves are more modest, and their claims, in the Preface, are more nearly fulfilled: “We have written The Hydrogen Bond with emphasis upon the physical and chemical facts and with t’hree primary goals in mind. The first is to compile and summarize these experimental facts. , . The second is to present a critical discussion of the present state of the theory of this bond and its effect on physical and chemical behaviors. The third is to present a bibliography (comprehensive through 1956) which will aid workers in locating relevant studies.” The first and third of these goals are, I believe, fully attained. There are sections covering the theory of the hydrogen bond, all of the methods used in observing and measuring it, and the resulting observations. The bibliography includes approximately 2300 references; there are 96 figures and 110 tables in the body of the text and an addit,ional40 pages of tables in the appendices. On the basis of these statistics alone, it is clear that this book is of tremendous reference value to anyone concerned with the hydrogen bond. I am not sure that the authors have been as successful in achieving their second goal. They manage to find room, between the tables and the figures, for considerable discussion of the experimental results. However, most of this discussion is noncritical, consisting primarily of summarization. The authors are careful to offend no one, and few of their own thoughts emerge. Instead, one runs across sentences such as “Perhaps the safest summary concerning dyeing is that H bonds are probably important, although the proof of this and the details of their operation remain largely undocumented;” and “In conclusion, it is a safe expectation that the H bond has a role of many aspects in the chemistry of living systems.” It is a difficult book to read. One’s thoughts are continually being interrupted by references, tables, and awkward phraseology. Much of this is excusable in such a reference book. However, I was particularly annoyed by the use of the abbreviation “H” for “hydrogen,” for which the authors partially apologize and suggest that the reader vocalize “hydrogen.” No amount of vocalization, however, kept me from stopping and staring at such constructions as “a H bond,” “a large non-H bonding group,” and “H bondable groups.” By rough calculation, I estimate that this abbrevi-
155
REVIEWS
ation saved five pages of print-or, perhaps, five cents per copy. It wasn’t worth it. In summary, I believe that this book has filled a large gap by collecting under one cover much of the pertinent data-and where to find more-concerning “one of the most interesting frontiers of chemistry: the study of the H bond.” RICHARI)
E. MARSH,
Pasadena,
California
Physiology of the Retina and the Visual Pathway. By G. S. BRINDLEY, Fellow of King’s College and Lecturer in Physiology in the University of Cambridge. Edward Arnold Ltd., London, 1960. xii + 298 pp. Price. $7.50. This is an easy book to review for two reasons: It is good, and the author has included a preface, which itself is an excellent review. In it he states: “This is a tightly written book, very full of information.” Its “primary interest remains human,” though “necessarily, much of the evidence considered comes from vertebrates other than man.” This is a fine characterization. The book is surprisingly short (252 pages) for one covering so much of visual physiology. And it is well annotated, with 45 pages of bibliography and index. It concerns itself with the old and current literature in seven compact chapters, which could readily be treated as quasi-independent units. The first three deal with the photochemistry and electlrophysiology of the retina, and with the physiology of the central pathways, and they are concerned primarily with experiments on animals other than man. The last four chapters deal with sensory experiments on threshold and other visual functions, and with color vision. Here the experimental data are subjective, and hence obtained almost entirely with human observers. Until a few years ago, there was no authoritative, up-to-date book on visual physiology, written since the great classics of the nineteenth century. Lately, a number of persons have tried to fill this need. I believe that Brindley has been more successful than anyone else in writing a readable, comprehensive, yet crit,ical monograph. I recommend it highly to the general reader, as well as to the specialist. RIJTH
HIJBBARD,
Cambridge,
Massachusetts
Nucleoproteins: Proceedings of the Conference on Chemistry, Brussels, 1959. Edited by R. STOOPS, Bruxelles. Pub]., New York, N. Y., 1960.364 pp. This book assembles ten lectures 1959 Solvay Conference by Belozersky,
11th Solvay June 1-6, Interscience Price $10.50. given at the Brachet,
The Hydrogen Bond. By GEORGE C. PIMENTEL, University of California, Berkeley, Calif., and A. L. MCCLELLAN, California Research Corporation, San Francisco, Calif. W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, Calif. 1960. xii + 475 pp. Price $9.50. The dust jacket on The Hydrogen Bond claims “A complete coverage of the subject.” The authors themselves are more modest, and their claims, in the Preface, are more nearly fulfilled: “We have written The Hydrogen Bond with emphasis upon the physical and chemical facts and with t’hree primary goals in mind. The first is to compile and summarize these experimental facts. , . The second is to present a critical discussion of the present state of the theory of this bond and its effect on physical and chemical behaviors. The third is to present a bibliography (comprehensive through 1956) which will aid workers in locating relevant studies.” The first and third of these goals are, I believe, fully attained. There are sections covering the theory of the hydrogen bond, all of the methods used in observing and measuring it, and the resulting observations. The bibliography includes approximately 2300 references; there are 96 figures and 110 tables in the body of the text and an addit,ional40 pages of tables in the appendices. On the basis of these statistics alone, it is clear that this book is of tremendous reference value to anyone concerned with the hydrogen bond. I am not sure that the authors have been as successful in achieving their second goal. They manage to find room, between the tables and the figures, for considerable discussion of the experimental results. However, most of this discussion is noncritical, consisting primarily of summarization. The authors are careful to offend no one, and few of their own thoughts emerge. Instead, one runs across sentences such as “Perhaps the safest summary concerning dyeing is that H bonds are probably important, although the proof of this and the details of their operation remain largely undocumented;” and “In conclusion, it is a safe expectation that the H bond has a role of many aspects in the chemistry of living systems.” It is a difficult book to read. One’s thoughts are continually being interrupted by references, tables, and awkward phraseology. Much of this is excusable in such a reference book. However, I was particularly annoyed by the use of the abbreviation “H” for “hydrogen,” for which the authors partially apologize and suggest that the reader vocalize “hydrogen.” No amount of vocalization, however, kept me from stopping and staring at such constructions as “a H bond,” “a large non-H bonding group,” and “H bondable groups.” By rough calculation, I estimate that this abbrevi-
155
REVIEWS
ation saved five pages of print-or, perhaps, five cents per copy. It wasn’t worth it. In summary, I believe that this book has filled a large gap by collecting under one cover much of the pertinent data-and where to find more-concerning “one of the most interesting frontiers of chemistry: the study of the H bond.” RICHARI)
E. MARSH,
Pasadena,
California
Physiology of the Retina and the Visual Pathway. By G. S. BRINDLEY, Fellow of King’s College and Lecturer in Physiology in the University of Cambridge. Edward Arnold Ltd., London, 1960. xii + 298 pp. Price. $7.50. This is an easy book to review for two reasons: It is good, and the author has included a preface, which itself is an excellent review. In it he states: “This is a tightly written book, very full of information.” Its “primary interest remains human,” though “necessarily, much of the evidence considered comes from vertebrates other than man.” This is a fine characterization. The book is surprisingly short (252 pages) for one covering so much of visual physiology. And it is well annotated, with 45 pages of bibliography and index. It concerns itself with the old and current literature in seven compact chapters, which could readily be treated as quasi-independent units. The first three deal with the photochemistry and electlrophysiology of the retina, and with the physiology of the central pathways, and they are concerned primarily with experiments on animals other than man. The last four chapters deal with sensory experiments on threshold and other visual functions, and with color vision. Here the experimental data are subjective, and hence obtained almost entirely with human observers. Until a few years ago, there was no authoritative, up-to-date book on visual physiology, written since the great classics of the nineteenth century. Lately, a number of persons have tried to fill this need. I believe that Brindley has been more successful than anyone else in writing a readable, comprehensive, yet crit,ical monograph. I recommend it highly to the general reader, as well as to the specialist. RIJTH
HIJBBARD,
Cambridge,
Massachusetts
Nucleoproteins: Proceedings of the Conference on Chemistry, Brussels, 1959. Edited by R. STOOPS, Bruxelles. Pub]., New York, N. Y., 1960.364 pp. This book assembles ten lectures 1959 Solvay Conference by Belozersky,
11th Solvay June 1-6, Interscience Price $10.50. given at the Brachet,