C. N. HINSHELWOOD, Kinetics of Gas Reactions, translated from the English under the editorship of N. N. Semenov, GTTI, 1933, p. 191.

The first edition of Hinshelwood in English appeared in 1926. The third edition came out in 1933; it is almost twice as large as the first. Hinshelwood has also been translated into German. The Russian translation was made from the second English edition.

The kinetics of gas reactions belongs to the most interesting fields of modern physical chemistry. It is precisely in this field that much has been done in the last 10 years. Quite recently only two or three first-order reactions were known. Now about twenty are known. Quite recently (in the first edition¹) the radiation theory was seriously debated in connection with monomolecular reactions, and there was not yet any statistics of the use of a large number of degrees of freedom. In the third edition, by contrast, the radiation theory is mentioned as an error of days long past. In the first edition there is almost nothing about the chain theory (it does not even appear in the list at the end of the book). In the third edition the chain theory occupies a prominent place. In the first edition there is no wave mechanics, nor any mention of it. In the third edition it is shown how wave mechanics makes it possible to approach the calculation of activation energy. All this is very characteristic and very significant. It shows that we are dealing with a field being intensively developed, where new experimental material is rapidly accumulating, and where the inadequacy of the old theories is strongly felt.

Hinshelwood’s translation is, of course, needed. This book will be read with benefit by anyone who knows kinetics from textbooks of physical chemistry, where plainly insufficient attention is given to this important section. Hinshelwood’s book is good precisely as an introduction to kinetics, as a first acquaintance with an interesting range of questions.

The exposition of the general part is conducted in such a way that the author, wishing to be understood, sometimes sacrifices rigor of presentation. This applies, for example, to the Boltzmann law. Not everything in Hinshelwood’s book can be agreed with. To explain the fall in the rate of oxidation of nitric oxide with temperature, reference is made to a decrease in the duration of the triple collision, without any reservation. Further, the treatment of monomolecular reactions by Rice, Ramsperger, and other American scientists is criticized. Meanwhile, the latter have gone further than Hinshelwood on the question of monomolecular reactions.

Despite this, Kinetics of Gas Reactions on the whole deserves a favorable appraisal. One should simply not stop with this translation. After Hinshelwood one must also translate Kassel.* In this latter book the reader will find a more thorough and critical assessment of the present state of chemical kinetics.

It is annoying that the translation was made from the 2nd English edition and appeared somewhat later than the 3rd English edition. Meanwhile, the latter is considerably fuller and contains more new material. The same story has been repeated as with the translation of the first part of Eucken and Sommerfeld’s book. If the translation was made long ago, why did the book come out so late? If, however, the translation was done recently, then why did the translators not consult the author and introduce the numerous additions that are present in the third edition? On the second page we read that the manuscript was sent to production on March 15, 1932. The book actually appeared on the market at the beginning of October 1933. Thus, a year and a half elapsed between submission of the manuscript and the appearance of the book. Is such a period really necessary for a book of only twelve printed sheets?

Ya. Syrkin

* Kassel, Kinetics of Homogeneous Gas Reactions.