The ChemicalEngineering Journal, Elsevier Sequoia S.A. Lausanne.
Printed in the Netherlands
Book Reviews
An Introduction to Industrial Organic Chemistry.
By P. Wiseman. Applied Science Publishers Ltd.,
London, 1972. x + 337 pp.; price g4.00.
This book is intended for students of both chemistry
and chemical engineering. It is divided into eight
chapters. The first chapter introduces ideas associated
with the economics of large scale manufacturing; it
also describes the raw materials and processing
methods which are used in the industrial manufacture
of organic compounds. The following four chapters
deal with reactions of alkanes, oxidation, halogen
compounds and aromatic substitution. Chapter six
deals with some miscellaneous organic reactions and
the last two chapters discuss polymerisation reactions
and polymer properties.
Each chapter deals with the mechanisms of the
reactions under discussion and describes industrial
routes to commercially important chemicals. The
chemical equations are presented clearly. The
behaviour of catalysts is discussed in some detail,
especially in the sections on the cracking of hydro-
carbons and gas-phase oxidation. The text contains a
considerable amount ofcommercial data such as
current production rates of chemicals, reaction
processing conditions and reaction yields. Some of
these data will eventually become out of date but they
will help students to gain some understanding of the
industrial importance of organic compounds. A list of
articles for further reading is provided at the back of
the book together with an index. We felt that the
book would be improved if the index were to be
expanded slightly to make cross-referencing more simple.
In some sections the author assumes that the reader
will already have some knowledge of organic chem-
istry. Thus, students who are meeting organic
chemistry for the first time will need to supplement
their study of this book with reference to other texts.
The price is a little high for students who do not
intend to special& in industrial chemistry. These
students may prefer cheaper books which are less
comprehensive. However, the book does include
material which is not always presented in “competing”
books on this subject, for example, the account of the
structure and properties of polymers. Thus, some
Chem. Eng. J., 4 (1972)
teachers may decide to adopt the book as a course
text. In any event the book does make a contribution
to the teaching of industrial chemistry and multiple
copies should appear in the libraries of colleges,
universities and chemical companies.
K. G. Mason and B. W. Brooks
Electroplating Engineering Handbook. By A. Kenneth
Graham. Van Nostrand Reinhold, London and
New York, 3rd. edition, 1971. 845 pp.; price
g15.00.
The EPE handbook is a very useful publication. It
attempts a comprehensive survey of the technology
used in electroplating, and in general it succeeds. The
authors in the main are some of the leading U.S.
experts, and it is unfortunate that their contributions
cover the field unevenly. In fact, although the book
has been revised twice since 1955 it is still far from
up to date in certain’ areas. I would mention specific-
ally the “Plating on Plastics” section which deserves
more than a one-page treatment; similarly, the chapter
on “Automatic Equipment” is inadequate in that no
reference is made to the type of automatic equipment
which today interests most electroplaters-the
programmed trolley. Again no reference is made to
the newer methods of rectifier control although a
whole chapter is devoted to generators, which now
rarely find application in the electroplating industry.
The above are weaknesses, but the book has its
strengths.
The chapter on electro-chemical machining is very
good-a useful short summary with up-to-date
references for the man who wants to know more.
The chapter on electrophoretics is also a good survey,
but fails to some extent because of the absence of
references.
Generally speaking, the book is well laid out, nicely
produced and easy to read. The tables of data are
particularly comprehensive. The quality of photo-
graphs could, however, be improved. There are very
few errors and the headings on pages 109 to 125 are
exceptional in this respect.
J. E. Entwistle