81
BOOK REVIEWS
Chemotherapy
of Infections
H. 0. J. COLLIER. New York,John
Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1954,248 pp., $4.00
This small volume describes the general aspects of chemotherapy
and the various groups of chemotherapeutic
agents. Dr. Coffier discusses the application of
chemical substances used against microbes infecting the body, and though he
admits that his book ignores many interesting substances, the chemical agents
which are included are those in which important
results have recently been
achieved, and those compounds and experiments which clearly show the basic
principles of chemotherapy
and the historic development
of these principles.
Dr. Collier adequately illustrates the newer approach to therapy which may
be called “chemical pharmacology.”
The subject matter makes very interesting
reading and does not demand a great background in either chemistry or microbiology. This book will prove interesting and instructive to those who have the
authority to prescribe these drugs as well as those who wish to keep informed on
the progress of a neighboring science.
A Practical
Manual of Medical
and Biological
E. Guaa. New York, Interscience Publishers,
Staining
Inc., 1954,
Techniques
320 pp. $4.00
This is an excellent manual dealing with preparation
of material and staining
procedures in all phases of microbiology. It is well written, giving the maximum
information and directions in concise terminology.
The appendix contains formulas for stain preparation,
tables of stain solubilities, and tables of refractive indices of the solvents and oils used in microbiological work.
This book is highly recommended as the laboratory supplement to the standard texts on microbiology and cytology.
Statistical
Analysis in Chemistry
and the Chemical
Industry
C. A. BENNETP and N. L. FRANKLIN. New York, John Wiley and Sons,
Inc., 1954, 724 pp. $8.00
This book has been sponsored by the Committee
on Applied Mathematical
Statistics, National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. The
authors present those aspects of applied mathematical
statistics which will be
continually useful to both the chemist and chemical engineer. The subject matter is developed very completely with the theoretical basis, derivation of the
methods, and the computational
procedures.
The reader is given a good background of mathematical
theory so that he has a firm basis for judging application. The selection of methods is aimed specifically at the chemist and the
examples given are taken from many branches of chemistry and chemical industry. The more recent developments
in applied mathematical
statistics have
been included, with illustrations
of their application to chemistry.