of sections dealing with a description of chemical reactions along the lines of unit operations and unit processes; the metallurgy of copper, iron, aluminum, magnesium, and chromium; the chemistry of catalytic processes such as nitrogen fixation, production of sulfuric acid, petroleum cracking, etc; organic chem- istry including enzymes, vitamins, and carbohydrates; and an extremely super- ficial section on atomic structure and nuclear energy.

WILLIAM B. COOK Monlana State College

Bozeman

Toxic Phosphorus Esters

Richard D. O'Brien, New York Stste College of Agriculture, Cornell Univer- sity, Ithaca, New York. Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1960. xii + 434 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 x 23.5 em. $14.50.

Much of the pioneering work an toxic phosphorus esters was conducted in Europe in the development of nerve gases during the Seoond World War. In the past 15 years there has heen a tremendous interest developed in these eompounds far oestieide usaee. Chemists have been :trt~wly q m ~ l . r s i r i n ~ pho*phorus rittm whwvas wl~i t iv~ly little 1.m twtm h w on i~.v+.it~antitta their l~iodwrnietry and physiological properties.

The author has undertaken a com- prehensive review of the existing infoma- tion on the subject. The purpose of the book, as stated by the author, i p u t o be a source book on organophosphate re- search, and to show how our understanding of the events that follow organophosphate poisoning of animals can be understood in terms of events a t the molecular level." The author's accomplishment is admirable. Not only has he thoroughly and carefully reviewed his subject, i t has been done in such 8 manner a8 to be provocative reading. Although his conclusions are not always in agreement with those of co-workers in the field, they are based on a sound knowledge of available information. Also, he attempts to present both sides of every issue. Such controversial situ- ations, of whioh there are many, point out the inadequacy of our knowledge of the field. The author states, for example, that "the extreme selectivity of some organophosphates far some esterases re- main a complete mystery." Until there is s. full knowledge of events a t the molecular and whole tissue levels, 'the picture of what happens when whole animals are poisoned by these eompounds can not be constructed.

An introductorv chanter includes a brief historial account. nomenclnt,ure of es-

csnce of cholineaterase. Following is a chapter on nonenzymic reactions, two on enzymic reactions in vitra, one on effects on isolated whole t imes, one each oneffects in mammala, insects, and plants respectively, one on selective toxicity, and the last on techniques. The importance of technique

cannot be emphasized too strongly, ss many of the recorded differences in results o m he attributed to variations in methods. I n this chapter the author briefly discusses established techniques in radio tracer synthesis and analysis of metabolites, which should be of valuable assistance to the novice.

An appendix on electronic interpreta- tions is included a t the end of the book. The author realizes that this section is all too obvious for chemists, but the book is a180 written for biologists, some of whom may not be thoroughly grounded in chem- istry. Although there is a eansiderahle amount of chemistry involved in the discussions throughout the book, the interested bioloeist should he ahle t,o - ~ ~ ~~~-~ ~~

comprehend mwh oi the information presented.

This book fills a definite need, heing the first to exclusively and thoroughly treat this subject. Certainly it will be of value to all chemists and biologists with interests in the field and should be svail- able for their perusal. The price is rather high but perhaps necessary in a. hook with an expeoted narrow circulation.

ROBERT E. TREECE Ohio Agricdtural Ezperiment Station

Wooster

Von der Alchemie zur Grosrynthere. Grosse Chemiker

Rudolf Saehtleben and A ~ m i n Hermann, both of Munich. Ernst Battenberg Verlag, Stuttgart, 1960. 178 pp. Por- traits, figures, and charts. 19 X 27 em. DM 24 (linen); DM 38 (mo- rocco).

If the author of a his tor,^ of ol.emistry examines every facet and carefully ex- plores every side-road he is fairly oer- tain to end up with a rather dull book that is of interest only to the specialists and the reference librarians. For the teacher, student, and reader-at-large it is far better if the Little Jack Horner procedure is applied, and the plums ex- tracted from the large mass and joined by short explanatory essays to form a tasty digestible dish, which can he en- joyed by almost everyone. This selective method has been s~messfully employed by the authors of the very pleasant volume under review here.

Both of these authors t i n e had ample experience in presenting scientiho in- formation. Dr. Sachtleben has written on a wide variety of chemical topics, espeoially from the historical viewpoint, and is also well known as the chief of the chemical seotion of the great Deut- sches Museum in Munioh (J . CHEM. Eouc. 34, 283). His collaborator is the author of the companion volume "Grosse Physiker" which is now in its third edition. I n bath of these books little stress is laid on purely biographical details, in fact for even the greatest men this information is condensed into 3 or 4 lines as a kind of footnote.

As indicated by the title, the volume begins with the medieval period (repre- sented by Paracelsus) and comes dawn to

the present (Walter Reppe). The ma- terial is divided into 15 sections, and e x h section is prefaced hy an excellent account of what was accomplished in this particular area. Then a. group of men is selected far each section as heing the key figures responsible for the notable advance. Each of these notables is then allowed to speak, as it were, i.e. pertinent quotations are given from their erucid publications. In this way, the reader gets his information "straight from the horse's mouth." A notable feature of the volume is the col- lection of 45 full page likenesses of these "great chemists."

All phases and fields of ohemistry are included: theory and practice; organic and inorganic; biochemistry and mae- romolecular chemistry; discovery of the elements, periodic system, and synthetic elements; plant and animal products; chemotherapy, etc. In other wards, the general reader will derive a good idea of the development of the entire realm of chemistry and of the men who brought it to this high state.

Doubtless there will be objections re- garding the inclusion of some and the exclusion of others from this "Hall of Fame." A selection of this kind is so subjective in many instances that very fen will agree with respect to ail the choices. There are a good many Ger- mans in this list; the Amerioans included are Paoling, Seaborg, Langmuir. Chau- vinism has no place in any telling of the history of chemistry but there have been instances in the past xhen the text was slanted to suit nationalistic propaganda ends. -With respect to the present book, almost anyone acquainted with the field could justify the inclusion of more chemists with other national origins.

This is a ver,v useful and handsome hook. I t is enjoyable and informative. I ts reception has been so cordial that a second German edition is already in preparation. Steps are being taken to translate it into English.

RALPH E. OESPER University of Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio

Anorganirrhe Chemie. Band 1

Istvan Naray-Szabo, Budapest, Hungary Publishing House of the Hungarian Aeademv of Sciences. Budsoest. 1959. 664 pp: Figs. and ' tables: 18.5 X 24.5 om. U.

This is the first of a three volume ref- erence hook of inorganic chemistry. In the introduction the author states his purpose to write good medium siaed reference book, more extensive than the usual one volume type hut not as extensive as Gmelin and others; he has been suc- cessful in this as far as can be judged from the first volume. Under such con- ditions, i t has been necessary to leave out much of the history and occurrence of all but the most important rompounds.

Professor Naray-Szabo however has placed emphasis upon presenting in a very oondensed tahu1a.r form the physical

(Contiv~ued on page A4.94)

380 / lournal of Chemical Education