N. K. Adam. Physics and Chemistry of Surfaces, translated from the 3rd English edition (1941) by D. M. Tolstoy, edited by Prof. A. S. Akhmatov. State Publishing House of Technical-Theoretical Literature, Moscow—Leningrad, 1947. 552 pp., 62 figures. Price 24 rubles.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adam’s book has gone through 3 editions abroad (1930, 1938, and 1941) and is well known to all specialists working in the field of surface phenomena. The success of this book has been greatly aided by the exceptionally rapid growth of this branch of knowledge in recent decades and by the extremely small number of monographs reflecting its state with sufficient completeness.

These same reasons make it necessary to welcome the appearance of a Russian translation of Adam’s book, which eliminates a substantial gap in our literature, since Russian translations in this period have appeared only of the monographs by Rideal and Marcelin. Rideal’s monograph (incidentally, translated extremely unsatisfactorily) does not sufficiently cover the large body of experimental material in the study of surface monolayers and, moreover, is now out of date. Marcelin’s monograph does not even claim to cover the entire field of surface phenomena.

In addition to the “conjunctural” factor, the success of Adam’s book is undoubtedly promoted also by its merits, which include a very thorough exposition—taking into account the extensive journal literature—of a number of the main sections of the doctrine of surface phenomena. The level and character of the exposition reflect the author’s rich personal experience. The methodology of the measurements is presented in detail, with numerous references to the literature and with great competence.

However, the detailed exposition of a number of the principal sections of the doctrine of surface phenomena makes especially noticeable those substantial gaps that exist in Adam’s book.

As the editor of the translation, Prof. A. S. Akhmatov, rightly notes in the preface, exhaustive and at the same time covering the entire field of surface phenomena is a task scarcely within the capacity of a single scientist. This task proved beyond Adam’s powers as well. In connection with the field of his own research, the author has presented most fully and best the methodology and results of investigations of insoluble monolayers on the surface of a liquid (Chapter II) and, in part, of solids. Chapters III and IV, devoted to the study of surface tension and adsorption from solutions, are somewhat inferior.

Of considerable interest for the Soviet reader is the material presented in Chapter V, in particular that relating to the phenomenon of wetting, which has hitherto been insufficiently used among us. Here one should also note with satisfaction Adam’s self-critical remark regarding the interpretation, in the work of Adam and Jessop, of the hysteresis of wetting by means of the purely formal introduction of the force of static friction of the wetting perimeter. This is not only formal but also erroneous, since it gives, without any basis, the right to equate the equilibrium “adhesion tension” to the half-sum of its two hysteresis values.

The scope and character of the exposition in Chapters VII and VIII, devoted to adsorption from a gaseous medium, catalysis, and electro-surface phenomena, are not very satisfactory. The selection of material in these chapters is in places plainly accidental and does not correspond to the relative importance of particular phenomena. Thus, for example, a separate paragraph is devoted to the influence of electrification on the coalescence of jets or drops, while such an important question as the influence of electrostatic interactions on the stability of colloidal solutions is mentioned only in passing, without any consideration of the theoretical investigations of this question.

This critical characterization must be applied to an even greater degree to Chapter VI, which quite artificially combines questions of the spreading of liquids (including on liquid surfaces) and lubricating action. What is written concerning the mechanism of lubricating action is scarcely capable of helping to form clear ideas on the fundamental questions of this field.

A weak side of the book is the insufficient and in places superficial exposition of the theoretical side of the questions under consideration. Some

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misunderstanding is caused by the extremely drawn-out proof of the fictitiousness of the force of the surface tension of liquids and of the incorrectness of representing it by the tension of an elastic film. The distinction from the tension of an elastic film is sufficiently characterized by the independence of the surface tension of a liquid under equilibrium conditions from stretching and (within known limits) from the thickness of the liquid film; nevertheless, in solving problems of mechanical equilibrium, the analogy with an elastic film is appropriate and not useless, making possible even, in some cases (calculation of the force of adhesion of solids in the presence of liquid menisci), an easy avoidance of errors (of course, not necessarily so in a thermodynamic approach).

As for the “fictitiousness” of surface-tension forces, the author’s lengthy arguments still cannot convince one that this force is fictitious to a greater degree than any other.

There are also a number of inaccuracies in the presentation of other theoretical questions. For example, on p. 459 the overcoming of the energetic barrier of repulsive forces in the coagulation of sols is incorrectly associated with the “inertia of fast particles,” which is fundamentally at variance with Smoluchowski’s theory of coagulation. It should also be noted that the mention of linear tension in Langmuir’s theory of oil lenses on the surface of water, without indicating the calculated character of this representation, may lead to an incorrect conception of this quantity.

The conclusion on pp. 26–27 is outdated: namely, that the independence of the total surface energy from temperature (the equality of the total surface heat capacity to zero) supposedly proves the absence of structural features in the surface layer. In this connection it should be noted that there is direct evidence of structural features of the surface layers of liquids (especially pronounced at boundaries with solid surfaces).

In general, Adam’s ignoring of the special properties of polymolecular surface layers is, in the light of a number of works of the last decade, of little justified conservatism. Also incorrect, in the light of the most recent works on the surface tension of metals (the theory of A. G. Samoilovich and others), is the underestimation of the van der Waals–Bekker theory of the transitional liquid–vapor surface layer.

At the same time it should be noted that, along with such defects, the exposition of a number of other theoretical questions, including most thermodynamic ones, is of the proper standard.

The most substantial and at the same time extremely conspicuous defect of Adam’s book is that it consists mainly of an exposition or mention of the works of English and American authors. The works of French, German, and Swedish authors (Perrin, Devaux, Marcelin, Volmer, etc.) are set forth in considerably less detail. The works of Russian and Soviet authors are passed over almost in complete silence. Such silence with respect to works that could not have been unknown to the author of the book and have the most direct bearing on the questions treated in it is undoubtedly intentional and, irrespective of the subjective motives by which the author was guided, deserves extremely severe condemnation.

The editor of the translation, Prof. A. S. Akhmatov, tried in footnotes to correct this tendency of Adam’s; however, some significant gaps nevertheless remained. Thus, for example, unfortunately it is not noted that the Maxwell equation lying at the basis of the concept of parachor was found and published by A. I. Bachinsky long before MacLeod. I was also surprised by the absence of any mention by the editor of the extremely important method, for work in the field of surface phenomena, developed by A. S. Akhmatov himself, for cleaning surfaces with activated charcoal. It turned out that this, like a number of other notes by the editor of the translation, was removed by the managing editor—

...by A. E. Salomonovich was subjected to unjustified omission or abridgment.

One should express the wish that in the next edition the zeal of the managing editor be directed in another direction.

In conclusion, one should note the exemplary execution of the translation with respect to accuracy and literary language.

Among the few defects is the placement of Fig. 56 many pages after the text it illustrates.

All these shortcomings, however, do not alter the basic conclusion: the excellent translation of Adam’s valuable book is exceedingly timely and will bring great benefit to all specialists working in the field of the physics and chemistry of surfaces.

B. V. Deryagin