G. Ulich, Chemical Thermodynamics. An Introduction to the Theory of Chemical Affinity and Equilibria, translated by Yu. A. Boltyunov, I. N. Bushmakin, and K. P. Mishchenko, edited by K. P. Mishchenko, Goskhimtekhizdat, Leningrad, 304 pp., 5200 copies, price 6 rub. 75 kopecks, binding 75 kopecks.

The book under review is a greatly abridged and simplified exposition of Schottky, Ulich, and Wagner’s course.1 The book contains six chapters. In terms of the amount of information presented in the field of chemical applications, this book is fuller than the books by Partington and Hinshelwood previously translated into Russian. In the preface the editor notes that he sees the merits of the book in “a clear and simple presentation of the material, with a critical approach to it and a sound analysis of its relative value.” The specific weight of the information presented in the book in most cases does indeed correspond well to its practical value; in content the book gives a correct idea of the present state of chemical thermodynamics. Many critical remarks show the author’s great competence in current problems of chemical thermodynamics. But as for clarity and simplicity of exposition, here we cannot agree with the editor—the book by no means possesses these qualities, which are indispensable for any textbook. Clarity and simplicity in the exposition of such a deductive discipline as thermodynamics cannot be achieved if one neglects the precise definition of basic concepts and barely touches on the clarification of the essence of the fundamental laws. Ulich may be reproached for the fact that, instead of precisely defining the basic concepts (and there are many of them in thermodynamics), he confines himself only to explanations of them, and to explanations that are by no means always successful. On this basis, the author’s attempt to combine various methods of consideration and calculation has probably led to the result that none of these methods will be well assimilated by the reader. The author uses terminology and notation that mask the difference between the methods of Gibbs and Nernst. This helps the author to avoid discussing questions which, however, should not have been passed over in silence either from the scientific or from the pedagogical

from this point of view, such a purely external combination of methods cannot be justified.

It is doubtful that Ulich’s book can be successful as a textbook. It is not complete enough to serve as a reference book for practitioners. It certainly cannot lay claim to the role of an original scientific work and therefore will be of no interest to specialists.

Nevertheless, thanks to the well-chosen material and, on the whole, its correct exposition, the book will find a varied readership and will be of definite benefit; for this reason, and because of the importance of the subject, the publication of the book in Russian should be welcomed.

K. Putilov

1. Schottky, Ulich und Wagner, Thermodynamik, Springer, Berlin, 1929. I. Two fundamental principles of thermodynamics; II. Basic laws of the thermodynamics of chemical reactions; III. Applications of the thermodynamics of chemical reactions; IV. Nernst’s heat theorem; V. Thermodynamics of mixed phases; VI. Surface phenomena. ↩