Abstract
IN the preface to this book, the author directs attention to the lack of a recent American textbook of organic chemistry based on what he calls the “Atomic Linking Theory”. This somewhat misleading expression is intended to denote a theory based upon the Lewis-Langmuir conception of electronic linkages rather than upon the mere spatial orientation of the molecules as developed from the work of Kekulé, van't Hoff, and others. But the author soon encounters difficulties, and on page 10 he confesses that “the arrangement of electrons in ethylene and acetylene is not well understood”. He is therefore obliged to fall back upon a study of old-fashioned linkages and groupings, and abandons the idea of discussing electronic linkages. Very little stress is laid, however, upon the use of three-dimensional formulse and the description of optical activity is rather inaccurate. Thus the expression “straight chains of carbon atoms” is used, and an optically active compound is described as one “having the property of bending the plane of polarised light”. The chapter on the characteristics and analysis of compounds is a mere outline and would be more useful if it were illustrated with diagrams.
Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry.
By Prof. Harry F. Lewis. (International Chemical Series.) Pp. viii + 390. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.; London: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., Ltd., 1930.) 13s. Qd. net.
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Chemistry. Nature 128, 957 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/128957b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/128957b0